MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: University of Zurich’s Center for Microfinance (CMF) Establishes Microfinance Investment Indexes to Track Performance in EUR, USD

The Center for Microfinance at Switzerland’s University of Zurich has established two new microfinance investment indexes (MFIIs) to track the performance of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) [1]. The MFIIs, which comprise MIVs investing in euros and US dollars, respectively, are intended increase transparency in the microfinance investment sector. The Center for Microfinance calculates the value of each index on a monthly basis using performance data collected through a voluntary survey of participating MIVs.

As of April 2015, 17 funds participate in the MFII EUR, and 11 report to the MFII USD. In the future, the university is considering creating additional indexes for particular types of MIVs and incorporating social performance in the calculations.

By Jeff Pierce, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Microfinance Gateway: “New Microfinance Investment Indexes (MFII),” http://www.microfinancegateway.org/sites/default/files/announcement/investment_brief_2015_current_state_of_the_mf_investment_landscape_1.pdf

[2] University of Zurich, Center for Microfinance: “Microfinance Investment Index (MFII),” http://www.cmf.uzh.ch/MicrofinanceInvestmentIndex-disclaimer/MicrofinanceInvestmentIndex.html

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