In 1998, Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg created the SICAV Dexia Micro-Credit Fund, the first commercial investment fund designed to refinance microfinance institutions specialised in financial services to small companies in emerging markets.

Dexia Micro-Credit Fund represents a new class of assets that combines both social impact and an attractive risk/return profile. Investors in the fund (retail banking customers, private banking clients, institutional investors and funds of funds) are attuned to the concept of socially responsible investment and North-South cooperation. It is active in 27 developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, and finances 78 institutions, which serve well over one million micro-entrepreneurs.

To manage its microfinance portfolio, Dexia Asset Management relies on BlueOrchard Finance SA, which is specialised in managing assets of this type. BlueOrchard selects the microfinance institutions through a comprehensive network of contacts in multilateral development institutions, national cooperation agencies, and non-governmental organisations working in the field. On the basis of BlueOrchard's on-site evaluations, its credit committee decides whether to invest or not. If so, the institution reports on a monthly basis over the whole life of the investment and is visited every year. Selection criteria are always based on an analysis of the quality and pertinence of the work of each microfinance institution.