MICROFINANCE: THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY: SMALL LOANS. BIG RETURNS.

JULY 14-15, 2008, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES

The Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) and Financial Research Associates offer this event on investing in institutions that provide banking services to the poor. A pre-conference workshop will cover the basics of microfinance, while the main event will offer presentations from 60 experts including Elizabeth Funk of Dignity Fund, Vinod Khosla of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Pierre Omidyar of philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network. Session topics are to include:

* Strategies for reducing portfolio volatility with microfinance
* Benchmarking microfinance against other sectors
* Local microfinance best practices and lessons learned from top regional experts
* The implications and opportunity of foreign exchange and in microfinance investing
* Due diligence and risk management in microfinance
* How technology jumpstarting poverty alleviation at an amazing rate
* Microfinance institutions going beyond microfinance

Standard registration fees are USD 1795 plus USD 300 for the introductory workshop. Discounts of over 50% are available to government representatives and institutional investors, and discounts of 15% are available to SVMN members. Registration and more information are available via the conference website or +1 800 280 8440. Email may be directed to Joanne Miner, Vice President, Registrations & Operations at jminer@frallc.com.