SKS Microfinance, a for-profit, publicly traded microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, recently reported total income of INR 3.85 billion (USD 83.8 million) and a 38 percent drop in net profit to INR 341 million (USD 7.4 million) for the period October-December 2010. A 30-percent fall in the share price of SKS has also been recorded since October 2010 [1].
Category: Trends/Challenges
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equitas Microfinance of India to Reduce Loan Portfolio to $187m by March 2011
Equitas Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) that was established in Chennai, India, in 2007, recently announced plans to reduce its loan portfolio from INR 9.5 billion (USD 210 million) to INR 8.5 billion (USD 187 million) by its fiscal yearend of March 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) Releases “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011” Report, a Survey of Microfinance Risk
The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), a nonprofit think tank that was established in the United Kingdom in 1993, recently published “Microfinance Banana Skins 2011,” CSFI’s third survey of the global microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s World Banking (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Host Second Annual Advanced Leadership Program
Women’s World Banking (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership, an organization that provides technical and advisory services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) affiliated with WWB, and the Aresty Institute for Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business recently partnered to host the second annual Advanced Leadership Program, a multi-day course focusing on trends and best practices in the microfinance industry.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Liberty Mutual Offers Low-Cost Health Insurance in Colombia, Includes Payment Through Gas Company
Liberty Mutual, a US-based insurance provider that has subsidiaries across Asia, Europe and Latin America, has recently started offering health insurance policies to poor people in the slums of Barranquilla, Columbia. Micheal McCord, founder of the Microinsurance Centre, a for-profit organization that designs insurance policies for the poor, stated that while microcredit helps the poor in starting businesses and earning profits, an event such as serious health problem or death in the family can wipe out the profits earned if the entrepreneur is uninsured [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Risk Management Develops “Simple Poverty Scorecard for Jordan,” Expanding Range of “Progress Out of Poverty” Index
Microfinance Risk Management Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) recently developed a simple poverty scorecard that can be used to track the poverty level of individual households and hence the poverty rate of communities in Jordan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) of India to Investigate Claims of Improper Handling of Mutual Benefit Trusts (MBTs) by SKS Microfinance, SHARE Microfin and Spandana Sphoorty
The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a trade association of Indian microfinance lenders, has set up a committee to investigate claims that SKS Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI); SHARE Microfin, a regulated non-banking finance company (NBFC); and Spandana Sphoorty, another for-profit MFI, took advantage of clients through the use of mutual benefit trusts (MBTs) to converting the institutions into for-profit entities.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Participants at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 in Davos, Switzerland, Discuss Non-Payment in Andhra Pradesh, Consumer Protection, Microfinance Regulation
Participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011, which was held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 26 to January 30, discussed the future of financial services for poor people in a session called “Financial Inclusion: Beyond Microfinance.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Book From Asian Development Bank (ADB)—Rural Finance in Poverty-Stricken Areas in the People’s Republic of China—Suggests Reform of China’s Microfinance Industry
A new book from Asian Development Bank (ADB)—Rural Finance in Poverty-Stricken Areas in the People’s Republic of China—pushes for reforms in China’s rural finance industry, including its microfinance industry, that it argues would help small businesses and alleviate poverty.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Want Access to Credit Reference Bureaus
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Kenya are looking to gain access to the credit information of borrowers that is stored by local credit reference bureaus (CRBs), which allow only commercial banks to access such information in accordance with a regulation implemented in 2008.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL REPORT: “Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance” Launched at Responsible Finance Forum in The Hague, Netherlands
A group of 40 global investors in the microfinance industry, including US retirement planning firm TIAA-CREF and several microfinance investment vehicles (MIV), recently launched a set of guiding principles for investing in the microfinance industry at the Responsible Finance Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. The initiative – titled “Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance” – is reportedly the brainchild of Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, and a core group of Dutch investors, including; Triodos, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV); Goodwell, a for-profit social investment outfit; Oikocredit, a cooperative investment fund; PGGM, an investment and pension firm; and SNS Asset Management, an institutional investment group. The group and Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima developed the principles together with CGAP and the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a network of international investors created to promote the practice of responsible investing.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opportunity Fund Launches “GreenforGreen” Loans to Promote Sustainable Businesses in San Francisco, USA
Opportunity Fund, a provider of microloans and microsavings in San Francisco, California, recently launched a “GreenforGreen” loan with the assistance of a USD 3 million grant from US-based financial services company JPMorgan Chase. The loans are intended to assist low-income entrepreneurs in making their businesses more environmentally friendly.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mission Markets Announces First Microfinance Investment on Its Impact Investment Platform
Mission Markets Incorporated, a New York-based financial services outfit that operates online platforms connecting investors with socially oriented businesses, recently announced the posting of its first investment offering in microfinance. In this case, the offering is to purchase assets from Envest Microfinance, a cooperative based in the US state of Wisconsin that reported USD 500,000 invested in Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs) as of 2008.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Over-Indebtedness and Microfinance: Constructing an Early Warning Index; by Vivien Kappel, Annette Krauss and Laura Lontzek; published by Center for Microfinance, University of Zurich, responsAbility Social Investments AG, Triodos Bank and Council of Microfinance Equity Funds
By Vivien Kappel, Annette Krauss and Laura Lontzek; published by Center for Microfinance and the University of Zurich, responsAbility Social Investments AG, Triodos Bank and Council of Microfinance Equity Funds; December 2010; 53 pages; available at:?http://www.triodos.com/downloads/276627/over-indebtedness-report-full-st…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “Microfinance Market Report for Latin America and Caribbean 2010”
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that provides business, financial and operational information on the microfinance sector, has recently released the “Microfinance Market Report for Latin America and Caribbean 2010”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Microfinance Network (IMFN) Launches in Pakistan, Will Serve Shariah Microlenders Worldwide
Islamic Microfinance Network (IMFN) has recently launched in Pakistan with the aim to provide a common platform for Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. Headquartered in Lahore, the network is also looking to establish regional offices in Ghana, Mauritius and the Middle East.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Number of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Nation of Georgia Grows to 47 in 2010
The number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the nation of Georgia grew from 38 to 47 in 2010, an increase of 24 percent, according to the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). Microfinance is popular in Georgia reportedly because small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to meet the cash flow requirements imposed by commercial banks. Despite this, risk in the sector is reportedly low: the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Georgia, an arm of the US-based MFI network FINCA International, reports a current delinquent loan rate of 0.3 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Bank Receives Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2011 for “Self-Help Group (SHG) Initiatives – Urban Financial Inclusion”
Skoch Consultancy Services Private Limited, a strategic planning and management consulting firm based in India, has presented Indian Bank, a bank owned by the government of India, with the Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2011 for its work serving self-help groups (SHGs) in urban areas.