Symbiotics SA Information, Consulting and Services Switzerland, a microfinance investment intermediary, and Triodos Investment Management, a group managing four microfinance funds, recently invested the equivalent of USD 14 million in LOLC Micro Credit Ltd. (LOMC), a Sri Lankan microfinance institution. Symbiotics arranged USD 10 million, and three Triodos funds, Triodos Microfinance Fund, Triodos Fair Share Fund and Hivos-Triodos Fund, loaned a combined EUR 3 million (the equivalent of USD 4 million) [1]. It was not announced how much money was loaned from each fund.
About LOLC Micro Credit Ltd.
LOLC Micro Credit Ltd. (LOMC) provides individual and group loans for microentrepreneurs in Sri Lanka’s agricultural districts. Founded in 2009, LOMC is the microfinancing arm of Lanka ORIX Leasing Company (LOLC), a Sri Lankan financial services provider incorporated in 1980 that started offering microfinancial services in 2003. As of 2008, LOLC has total assets worth LKR 34 billion (the equivalent of USD 295 million). As of 2008, LOMC has approximately 22,000 clients and a gross loan portfolio of USD 20 million.
About Symbiotics SA Information, Consulting and Services
Founded in 2005, Symbiotics SA Information, Consulting and Services provides investment intermediary services to the microfinance industry as well as business services to investors and practitioners of micro- and small sized enterprise development. The organization offers a large variety of services, including market information, consulting, and investment brokerage to microfinance institutions and microfinance investors.
About Triodos Investment Management
Based in the Netherlands, Triodos Investment Management manages several funds that focus on the development of financial sectors in developing countries, renewable energy finance, and venture capital. Triodos manages four microfinance investment funds. These funds are the Hivos-Triodos Fund, the Triodos-Doen Foundation, the Triodos Fair Share Fund, and the Triodos Microfinance Fund. As of 2008, Triodos had assets under management of EUR 3 billion (USD 4.1 billion) and a net profit of EUR 10.1 million (USD 14 million).
About the Triodos Microfinance Fund
The Triodos Microfinance Fund invests 80 percent of its portfolio in established microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 20 percent in start-up institutions. The fund allocates approximately 30 percent to equity and 70 percent to loans and debt securities. Investors include the Netherlands-based insurance company Achmea, a fund manager for charities in the UK; CCLA Investment Management Limited; and The Waterloo Foundation, a UK-based independent grant-making foundation.
About the Triodos Fair Share Fund (TFSF)
The Triodos Fair Share Fund (TFSF) is offered by Triodos Bank, a fully licensed independent bank with branch offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and Spain. The Fund, founded in 2002, is a closed mutual fund held by private Dutch investors. The Fund invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries and in Central and Eastern Europe. The Fund’s main lines of business are loans and equity investments.
About the Hivos-Triodos Fund
The Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF) was created in 1994 through a joint partnership between Triodos Bank, a private bank of the Netherlands investing in social investment, and the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos), a non-government organization (NGO) also based in the Netherlands.
By Eric McKay, Research Assistant
Bibliography
[1] “Foreign funding boost for LOLC Micro Credit”, February 9, 2010, http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/business/127-local/3197-foreign-funding-boost-for-lolc-micro-credit.html
Additional Links
MicroCapital Universe Profiles:
LOLC Micro Credit Ltd: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=LOLC+Micro+Credit+Ltd.+%28LOMC%29
Triodos Investment Management: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Triodos+Investment+Management
Triodos Microfinance Fund: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Triodos+Microfinance+Fund
Triodos Fair Share Fund: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Triodos+Fair+Share+Fund+%28TFSF%29
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