Founded in 1994, the Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation, a microfinance investment vehicle, was created out of 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. The Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation is managed externally by Triodos Investment Management, a fund management division with Triodos Bank, and internally by a Supervisory Board that is appointed by Hivos.
Hivos was founded in 1968 by members of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, a humanist and ideologically-based driven organization. Partnered with over 750 organization based in the developing word, Hivos works as a financial provider and political support to economic development initiatives. In 2005, Hivos channeled over USD 103.9 million, at today’s exchange rate from the Dutch government, the European Union, and private institutions and investors to its 750 organization partners.
The fund has operations in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Hivos-Triodos holds USD 42.1 million in total assets. The fund has 70 investments, 43 of which are with microfinance institutions (MFIs). In 2006, Hivos-Triodos provided loan investments to 20 new MFIs not financed by the fund previously.
Frank Streppel is Fund Manager of the Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation. For the United Nations’ International Year of Microcredit 2005, Mr. Streppel has been a member of the Netherlands National Committee. In 2003, Mr. Streppel was also a member of the investment committee for the AfriCap Microfinance Fund, an equity investment fund with an investment portfolio of USD 15 million.
Pieter van den Kerkhoff, Pauline Bieringa, Philip de Haan, Manuela Monteiro, Herman Schoenmaker, and Marc Woltering all serve as members of the Supervisory Board for Hivos-Triodos, with Mr. Kerkhoff as its chairman. Mr. Kerkhoff also serves on an advisory board for the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, a government agency. He is also a managing secretary of Hoofdproductschap Akkerbouw, a Dutch agriculture company.
Outside of his work with Hivos-Triodos, Mr. Haan is known for his contributions to Inside Zambia, a book on Zambian rural development published by Stichting Werkgroep Zambia, a Netherlands-based volunteer organization. No further information on Mr. Haan is available.
Ms. Bieringa is a member of the Supervisory Board of Open Universiteit Nederland, a university in the Netherlands. Ms. Bieringa is Director of Institutions at Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten, a Dutch bank. Prior to 1990, Ms. Bieringa was a marketing manager for the municipal government of The Hague in the Netherlands. Between 1990 and 2001, she worked in various positions within ING Bank International and ING Barings. From 2001 to 2004, Ms. Bieringa was Managing Director for ING BHF-Bank in Germany.
Ms. Monteiro is a member of the executive board of the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (NOW-WOTRO). Between 1973 and 1993 she filled various positions within Hivos, a social development organization, including programme director and programme coordinator in Africa, and eventually Adjunct Director of Programmes. In 1993, she became Director of PSO, a German health research organization. Ms. Monteiro returned to Hivos in 2002 and was appointed Executive Director, a position she currently holds.
Mr. Schoenmaker is a product manager for Information and Communication Theory Group, a research group of the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology. No further information is available on Mr. Schoenmaker.
Mr. Woltering is a product manager for The Hague, specializing in governmental administration. In 2006, he served as a Netherlands’ representative to the European Union and was a delegate to the European Forum of Official Gazettes, an association of European news publishers. Mr. Woltering has also served in the Netherlands’ Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations. He has also worked for the Information and Communications Technology Unit, the group responsible for the internet-based infrastructure of the Dutch Government.
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