BlueOrchard press releases & news
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30.03.2012 BlueOrchard Finance and BlueOrchard Investments have decided to pursue their activities separately in the future:
BlueOrchard is pleased that the outlook for microfinance investments is positive for 2012, even in light of challenging global financial markets. Microfinance institutions continue to grow; progress is made in the fields of regulation and client protection, and investors are regaining confidence in the sector.
For the last ten years, BlueOrchard has successfully managed microfinance investments in various market environments and has continuously positioned itself as the leader in serving the needs of this rapidly changing industry. BlueOrchard Finance launched in 2001 by investing debt in microfinance institutions. In 2007, a separate company, BlueOrchard Investments, was created to make private equity investments in microfinance institutions and networks globally.
With the strategic goal to responsibly build on their core competencies, BlueOrchard Finance (Fixed Income) and BlueOrchard Investments (Private Equity) have decided that each company will pursue their activities separately in the future. This allows both companies to take hold of the powerful market opportunities by focusing more intentionally on deploying the unique expertise of their respective investment teams.
This natural division of BlueOrchard allows the two companies to operate separately and will streamline the governance to best serve the interests of their clients and investors.
The decision has no immediate impact on the daily operations, teams, portfolio companies or investors of BlueOrchard Finance or BlueOrchard Investments since both companies were already working independently since inception under the unified brand. However BlueOrchard Investments and its related companies (BlueOrchard Capital; BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund) (private equity activities in microfinance) will operate as a central part of the leading impact investment firm “Bamboo Finance” (www.bamboofinance.com).
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19.12.2011 Happy Holidays from BlueOrchard!:
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This year, instead of an individual gift to our partners, BlueOrchard is very happy to make a donation to the Kenyan association Jukumu Letu. Started as a local initiative, Jukumu Letu (“Our Responsibility” in Kiswahili) is a daycare kindergarten situated in a small village close to Nairobi. The center aims at helping vulnerable children who come from difficult backgrounds and are often supported by single mothers working hard to survive. Jukumu Letu offers daycare services and primary education to children, enabling their mothers to work worry-free. The center also provides assistance to HIV-positive women. As a cooperative model, each mother must contribute to the life of the center both by paying an affordable tuition fee (0,10 € per day) and by cooperating as part of the center’s staff. For more information, please visit: www.jukumuletu.com Share:
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24.11.2011 BlueOrchard contributes data for an unprecedented analysis on client protection practices:
Implementing Client Protection in Microfinance The State of the Practice, 2011 [+] More
The Smart Campaign recently published a progress report (Rozas 2011) on the implementation of the Client Protection Principles offering a first systematic look at the actual client protection practices of MFIs across the world, something that had not been done before. BlueOrchard, together with Incofin, Symbiotics Triple Jump and microfinance rating agencies contributed the body of data on which the report is based. The data we shared was collected through the implementation of SPIRIT [1] our social performance assessment tool. One of the scorecard’s five dimensions- the most heavily weighed of all- examines MFI client protection principles and practices.
The results of the study covering 300 MFIs show that a basic level of client protection is widespread in the practices of many MFIs. Results also indicate that Sub-Saharan Africa lags in client protection, while the MENA region leads. Also, the report shows no significant difference in client protection by institutional type (Banks, NGOs, Non-banking financial institutions, cooperatives) but does indicate relative weakness in client protection for very small MFIs (with less than $2 million in assets). The report provides some differentiated analysis per client protection principles, read the complete report.
The Client Protection Principles were launched in 2008 and the Smart Campaign a year later to help the industry implement these principles. The Campaign now has over 2,300 endorsers from 130 countries,
including 700 microfinance institutions (MFIs) . As a next step the Smart Campaign will be launching a client protection certification in early 2012, in partnership with the specialized rating agencies.
BlueOrchard was pleased to participate in this study and share data on MFI client protection practices. We believe collaborative efforts like this one that aggregate and analyze MFI social performance data will help the microfinance industry build and uphold better practices . We also strongly encourage partner MFIs to make active use of the Smart Campaign’s resources and tools for CPP implementation (over 50 are available in several languages www.smartcampaign.org ). MFIs are also encouraged to respond to the campaign’s Call for Tools to present and share their CPP implementation tools with peers.
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[1] SPIRIT (Social Performance Impact Reporting & Intelligence Tool) on site assessments conducted between December 2010 and April 2011.
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21.11.2011 BlueOrchard señala la maduración del sector como fuente de oportunidades:
Construir un mundo mejor a la par que ganar dinero es posible con las microfinanzas [+] More
Estamos en un buen momento para invertir en microfinanzas. Una tesis que defendió Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, director y consejero delegado de BlueOrchard en la I Conferencia sobre el “Presente y futuro de inversión en microfinanzas”, organizada por la firma de inversiones alternativas Finenza, la gestora de microfinanzas BlueOrchard, Planet Rating y FundsPeople y celebrada recientemente en Madrid. Entre las razones, el experto señaló la ausencia de acceso financiero para todo el mundo, la maduración del sector y su crecimiento a un ritmo más sostenible, el hecho de que los gestores están afinando la percepción del riesgo y la atractiva rentabilidad que ofrece.
“El sector está más regulado, auditado, organizado, es más transparente y se ha reenfocado al control de calidad. Tras el calentamiento de los años anteriores, hay un back to basics”, comentó De Schrevel, añadiendo que ahora existe una forma más metódica, “con mejores prácticas y responsabilidad”, de construir las carteras. Los números apoyan su tesis pues el fondo que gestiona para Dexia –Dexia Micro-Crédito, lanzado en 1998 y que invierte en instrumentos de deuda con un plazo máximo de 3 años emitidos por instituciones de microfinanzas en Asia, África, Europa del Este y Latinoamérica, con liquidez mensual-, puede presumir de no haber finalizado ningún año con pérdidas. Además de este fondo, gestiona otros para otras casas como Rothschild o BBVA, así como un fondo de EEUU en Latinoamérica. BlueOrchard planea lanzar un nuevo producto con liquidez trimestral.
El experto también señaló las oportunidades de negocio que se abren en el sector, como fondos con riesgo cambiario (para aprovechar la apreciación de las divisas emergentes frente al dólar y el euro) o de capital riesgo (por ejemplo, para beneficiarse de oleadas de fusiones y adquisiciones). Todo ello, con la base de realizar una inversión social y con una clara fórmula: “Pretendemos hacer un mundo mejor siendo un agente catalizador de un capital comercial inteligente y humano”.
En el acto también participó José Antonio Monedero, director de microcréditos de AECID, que destacó el riesgo de sobreendeudamiento y el pequeño universo de firmas de microcrédito, si bien indicó que pese a la crisis, el nivel de inversión del Fondo estatal de Concesión de Microcréditos no ha bajado, aunque sí se ha frenado la inversión de otros actores y la oferta. “Además, las instituciones de microcréditos son más conservadoras, llevando la cartera a créditos más seguros”, afirmó. Monedero ofreció datos de 2009 que cuantificaban la inversión en microcréditos en 21.300 millones de euros, concentrados sobre todo en América, aunque África y Asia van ganando terreno, y sobre todo en sector terciario y en las áreas urbanas.
El impacto social
Del desempeño e impacto social en microfinanzas habló Ximena Escobar de Nogales, de BlueOrchard, mientras Emmanuelle Javoy, directora de la agencia calificadora especializada en microfinanzas Planet Rating, comentó las tensiones y sinergias entre el desempeño financiero y el social para las instituciones microfinancieras. “Es importante medir tanto uno como otro para no perder el enfoque”, indicó la experta, indicando su compleja relación. “El desempeño social lleva a un desempeño financiero más sólido a largo plazo, aunque a corto plazo tenga costes. Pero a su vez, para que haya un impacto social, es necesario el financiero, es decir, los recursos”, comentó. “Tener los dos es comaptible pero requiere elegir a veces de forma razonable. Con una buena definición de objetivo de gobierno se pueden combinar”, apostilló. En este sentido, Francisco Neri Crespo, de Finenza, defendió el doble motivo económico y social de la inversión en microfinanzas.
By Alicia M. Serrano - Funds People
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