Gossip Column: Human interest and individual players in microfinance

[MicroCapital Society]

Keep up on the latest from the "movers and shakers"

[MicroCapital Society]

Thursday, May 14, 2009 from MicroCapital.org

ACCION International’s CEO Maria Otero To Be United States Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs


The White House has nominated the president and CEO of ACCION International, Ms. Maria Otero, to assume the position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs in the US Department of State. Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet to approve the nomination, Ms. Otero has indicated that she will accept the position should her nomination be successful. Ms. Otero has been profiled in MicroCapital’s Who’s Who in Microfinance series in May 2007. Her position at ACCION International will be filled temporarily by Ms. Catherine Quense, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, while a committee searches for Ms. Oteros successor. Ms. Diana Taylor, Vice Chair of the ACCION Board, comments, “Her nomination as Under Secretary comes as no surprise to those of us who know her and her deep commitment to social and economic justice, and we know that she now has an even more effective platform from which to help build better lives for the world’s citizens.” Ms. Otero was born and raised until the age of 12 in La Paz, Bolivia, whereupon she and her family moved to Washington DC. She holds a BA in Literature from the University of Maryland and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins. She has been with ACCION since 1986 and became CEO in 2000. ACCION International is a microfinance organization founded in 1961 and consisting of 27 partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 20 countries. The position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs was established under Section 161(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995. In total, there are five Under Secretaries of State in the Department of State, headed by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Prior to leading ACCION, Ms. Otero managed the organization’s lending program in Honduras. In 1989, she opened ACCION’s office in Washington, D.C. ACCION reports that during Ms. Otero’s tenure as president, the number of microentrepreneurs served by the organization has increased to 3.7 million from 460,000. The active loan portfolio across ACCION has increased to USD 3.6 billion from USD 274 million. Initially an organization focused on Latin and Central America, ACCION has expanded to Africa, India, and China under the leadership of Ms. Otero. The number of staff has also increased to 220 from 65. In addition to being CEO, Ms. Otero currently chairs the board of ACCION Investments and sits on the boards of three of ACCION’s partner MFIs: Mibanco of Peru, BancoSol of Bolivia, and Compartamos of Mexico. Recently, ACCION has been raising a great deal of capital. In 2007, the MFI Compartamos placed 30 percent of its shares up on the Mexican Stock Exchange for the first time and raised USD 468 million in capital. ACCION held 18 percent of Compartamos’ shares and sold 9 percent, raising USD 134.9 in capital (p18). In 2007, ACCION Investments raised USD 30 million in equity capital with ACCION International contributing the most (p12). In a 2007 Annual Report, Ms. Otero remarks that the organization attained the goals of the 2004–2008 strategic plan one year early (p3). She has also helped designed a 2008-2011 strategy that will now be implemented by Ms. Quense.

The 2008-2011 strategic plan (p14-15) features several facets. ACCION plans to invest an undisclosed amount ithrough Strategic Ventures and Alliances, a new ACCION initiative that connects private-sector partnerships with borrowers. ACCION will also expand into new areas including Inner Mongolia, China and Nigeria. In addition, ACCION will also expand into existing project sites like Brazil, Colombia, India, Ghana and China (p14). ACCION also plans to train 3,000 experts in microfinance products and services (p15). ACCION will also promote the Center for Financial Inclusion, which focuses on developing sustainable commercial microfinance (p15).

Ms. Otero is an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is a board member of the Calvert Social Investment Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, and BRAC Holding of Bangladesh. In addition, she is currently Coordinator of the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, a group of 18 equity investment funds. Ms. Otero has served as the chair of the MicroFinance Network, an association of 35 microfinance institutions, from 1995 to 2005 and chaired the board of Bread for the World, a Christian anti-hunger movement, from 1992 to 1997. She has worked in USAID’s Women in Development office on microenterprise development in Latin America and has been an advisor to the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP). Former president Bill Clinton appointed her Chair of the Inter-American Foundation, a foreign aid agency, in 1994. Ms. Otero left this position in 2000 and now serves on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative. Ms. Otero also served for five years for the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), a non-profit family planning association that seeks to empower women. Hispanic magazine has offered her the Latina Excellence Award in 2000 and Newsweek has voted her one of the 20 most influential women in the US in 2005. In 2008, she received the Notre Dame Prize for Distinguished Public Service in Latin America from the University of Notre Dame and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. MicroCapital reported on her receipt of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2009, she will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College. She co-edited the book, The New World of Microenterprise Finance: Building Healthy Financial Institutions for the Poor.

The Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs is responsible for working on such global issues as democracy, human rights, labor, environment, health, refugees, women’s issues, disease, and trafficking in persons. Several bureaus and offices are classified under the office of the Under Secretary. The Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs tackles the environment and health issues. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor handles human rights and labor rights. The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is coordinates refugee assistance and admissions programs. The Avian Influenza Action Group maintains a network of organizations that work to combat avian influenza and to diminish its impact in case of an epidemic. The Office of the Science and Technology Advisor helps ensure that various government programs are informed by developments in science and technology. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons manages anti-trafficking initiatives. The Office of the Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea focuses on supporting human rights in North Korea. Past Under Secretaries for Democracy and Global Affairs include Timothy Wirth (1994-1997), Frank E. Loy (1998-2001), and Paula Dobriansky (2001-Present).

ACCION International claims to have served 7.7 million clients from 1998 to 2008 and disbursed USD 23.4 billion in loans, with a 97 percent repayment rate. In 2008, the organization counted 3.74 million total clients., USD 5.14 billion in disbursed loans, a USD 3.57 billion active portfolio, 802,000 clients with savings accounts, 1.2 million deposits, and a 13.8 percent growth in savers, excluding ACCION US. Net revenues for 2007, the most recent year of reporting, were USD 324.9 million and total 2007 expenses, USD 27 million. Total current assets stood at USD 140.4 milllion and total long term assets, USD 212.2 million. Total liabilities and net assets amounted to USD 352.6 million (p20). 2007 saw an increase of USD 297.8 million in net assets (p21). ACCION Investments reported total microfinance investments of USD 50 million and a total investment portfolio of USD 22.92 million in 2007. Financial Indicators for ACCION partners during the last quarter of 2008 can be found here.

Ms. Otero’s interim successor, Ms. Quense, joined ACCION International in 1983 as the assistant to the executive director. Ms. Quense went on to be ACCION’s CFO from 1985 to 2008 before assuming the role of Chief Administrative Officer. During Ms. Quense’s tenure as CFO, ACCION’s net worth rose to USD 250 million from USD 1 million. In her current position, Ms. Quense is in charge of human resources, global office operations, information systems, legal services, and risk and performance management programs. She also coordinates the organization’s global expansion. In addition to her duties at ACCION International, Ms. Quense serves on the board of ACCION Chicago and Centro ACCION Microempresarial in Colombia. She holds an Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in international development from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as a BA in Latin American studies from Yale University. Before beginning her career with ACCION, she worked as a special assistant to the national director of the Americorps VISTA volunteer program and in the purchasing and the credit insurance divisions of Prudential. Ms. Quense has also been a Partner of the Americas Fellow in International Development, funded by the Kellogg Foundation.

Additional Resources:
ACCION International
ACCION: Maria Otero Bio
ACCION: Catherine Quense Bio
ACCION: 2007 Annual Report
“Obama Administration Nominates Microfinance Leader as U.S. Under Secretary of Global Affairs, Department of State”, ACCION Press Release, May 2009
Office of the Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs
Leigh Bureau: Maria Otero Bio
Source Watch: Maria Otero
BN Americas Hall of Fame: Maria Otero

[MicroCapital Society]

Friday, September 30, 2005 from MicroCapital.org
Dr. Yunus Goes Big Time while his US Spin-off Announces $50 Million Guarantee Fund for Microfinance Investment

Dr. Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi microbank, sat down with the likes of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Secretary General KofÌÐ Annan, World Bank Group President Paul Wolfowitz, and Omidyar Network founder Pierre Omidyar at Clinton’s Global Summit. The Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA), a non-profit spin-off of Dr. Yunus’ Bangladeshi microbank, took the opportunity to announce the launch of its $50 million guarantee fund, $5 million of which is already committed by Ms. McKinley, a California philanthropist who made her money as the director of Capital Research and Management Company. GFUSA seeks to hit its $50 million target within the next year.

Additional Resources

1) “Clinton Global Initiative.”
2) “New Fund Featured in Clinton Global Initiative Book Offers up to $50 million to Guarantee Microfinance Loans for the Poor.”
3) “California Couple Donates $10 Million to Combat Poverty Around the World.”
4) “Insight 15: Bridging the Finance Gap: ACCION’s Experience with Guarantee Funds for Microfinance Institutions.”
5) “IFC Supports Financiera Compartamos Bond Issue in Mexico through Partial Credit Guarantee First Investment Grade Bond Issue to Finance Microfinance Activities in Mexico.”
6) “Microcredit Development Fund Helps Transform Household Scraps into Sustainable Entrepreneurship.”

[MicroCapital Society]

Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at MicroCapital.org
Mr. Zidane Goes to Bangladesh for Micro-Enterprise Investment

Drishtipat Group Blog, a Bangladeshi human rights group, brings us this microfinance news in the wake of the strange ending to a great World Cup futbol tournament where French player Zidane was the hero:

The great Zidane is headed for Bangladesh in November. Does anyone know Mohammed Yunus sufficiently well to get me an autograph of Zizou?? I will be your best mate for ever.

ZZ will be acting as an ambassador for french company Danone who are setting up a joint-venture project with Grameen to establish a plant in Bogra.

The plant will produce energy-giving yoghurt to meet the nutritional needs of the children, and around 50 such plants will set up in different parts of the country if the yoghurt produced by the plant is successful in reducing the nutritional deficiencies of the children in poverty-stricken Bangladesh.

[MicroCapital Society]

Wednesday, September 27. 2006 from Microcapital.org
Microfinance Institution Women's World Banking Hires new CEO

Women's World Banking, (WWB) the global of network of 55 MFIs that focus on lending to women announced recently the appointment of Mary Ellen Iskenderian as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. She replaced Nancy Barry who had been on the board of trustees of the organization since 1981 and acted as its president since 1990.

WWB was founded in 1979 with the mission of helping women developing countries by improving their access to financial services. It accomplishes this by helping its 55 member organizations obtain funding through direct loans as well as offering a loan guarantee to encourage investment in its affiliates. Beyond helping with financing, the WWB also offers technical support and lobbies for pro-MFI policy change. According to its MIX profile, 70% of its funding comes from public grants, 20% from private donations, and 10% from investment income. It has a total annual budget of over $10 million.

Previously, Ms. Iskenderian was Director of Partnership Development, Director of Global Financial Markets Portfolio, and Director of the South Asia Regional Department at the International Financial Corporation (IFC). The IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank and finances projects in the developing world. In her first comments after becoming president, Ms. Iskenderian emphasized the importance of commercial bank investment in MFIs as a key to growth for the network’s member organizations.

Ms. Barry was a key player in the growth of WWB, which had a budget of $2 million dollars when she first joined. Before that, she headed up the World Bank's Small Enterprise Development program. She was ranked #98 on Forbes Magazine's list of the World's Most Powerful Women for 2004 and 2005 and won the Executive Women's Forum Trailblazer award in 2003. WWB's website had little to say about the reasoning behind the switch.

Additional Resources

Harvard Business School: Alumni Achievement Awards, Nancy Barry

Yahoo Finance: Women's World Banking Appoints New CEO (Press Release)

MicroCapital Blog:" What Works in Microfinance: Dominican Republic Micro-lender Shows That Local Managers Are the Difference" (On WWB member)

[MicroCapital Society]

Thursday, October 5. 2006 from MicroCapital.org
Making Music of Microfinance

Bangladeshi newspapers have reported that a Los Angeles based organization called ‘The Green Child Foundation’ is going to make a music video on Grameen Microcredit.

The song is titled ‘Hear me now’ and follows the life of a microcredit borrower Monika Rani. A group from the organization has been shooting the video in several Bangladeshi villages and is said to feature preschool children from ‘Grameen Shikkha’. A portion of the income from the music video will be distributed across various Grameen organizations.



Resources

1) The Daily Star: ‘A Music Video on Grameen Microcredit’

2) Grameen in Bangladesh: Home Page

[MicroCapital Society]

Friday, October 13, 2006 from MicroCapital.org
Open the Capital Flood Gates: Mohammed Yunus of the Grameen Bank Wins Nobel Peace Prize

In the October issue of the MicroCapital Monitor, we reported that “we may look back on September 2006 as the catalyst month for microfinance.” From the microcapital perspective, the Peace Prize awarded to Mr. Yunus will take us from catalytic moment to a flood of capital more quickly than most anticipated.

Are we ready? On this day of great celebration, we urge caution.

Mr. Yunus has traveled the world tirelessly to promote “credit as a human right”, inspiring audiences and global leaders alike with his unflappable charisma and compelling message. To see him is to believe him; to understand his message is to be called to action. The Nobel committee aptly states that he “has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people [because] lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.” For over 30 years, microfinance entrepreneurs like Mr. Yunus have overcome all naysayers to prove the practice: Micro-credit works.

However, for years now, business-minded microfinance luminaries committed to eradicating global poverty in our lifetimes have cautioned us that “microfinance lacks capacity”. This is to say that micro-banks currently lack the institutional strength to become large (“scaled”) organizations due to unprofessional management, opaque governance, and meager balance sheets. Poverty continues to dwarf micro-banks. In short, micro-banks as a class are still immature.

Mr. Yunus’ micro-bank, of course, does not lack capacity. Since 1983, when the Grameen bank was founded, it has lent the equivalent of USD 5.72 billion to some 6 billion Bangladeshis in 70,000 villages. It has a gross loan portfolio (as of December 2005) of USD 424 million on a total asset base of USD 646.5 million, upon which it returned 0.32%.

Such powerful micro-banks are the exception to the rule. Of the estimated 10,000 micro-banks operating around the world (no one knows the actual number), almost all are small “mom and pop” outfits unprepared to handle the coming flood of capital. Around 100 have the capacity of the Grameen Bank. However, this cautionary reality will be lost, lost when millions of people today flock to the wires to learn about microfinance after Mr. Yunus’ long-overdue recognition.

Broad and deep institutional capacity is required to deliver credit as a human right. Until recently, donors have bank-rolled this development. Indeed, Grameen is a success story propelled by millions of dollars in donations and subsidies. However, those days are over. Now that microfinance has turned the corner, such donations and subsidies wreck progress by distorting competition and retarding the institutional capacity of emerging micro-banks. The job of being a responsible donor in microfinance has become very complicated.

Accordingly, microfinance investors also face huge challenges to success. Now that the flood gates have opened, we will soon start to see melt-downs of microfinance sectors in specific countries due to over-investment, be it investments for a return on capital, or subsidies, or donations which continue to flow contrary to established best-practices.

The flood of interest by the Peace Prize will require investors to seek innovation like never before. Examples of buy-side products to watch include: TIAA-CREF’s equity investment, Citigroup’s fund committed to “second-tier” or emerging micro-banks, or Gray Ghosts’ secondary market activity. Donors too are innovating (often led by CGAP); examples of donor innovation include Kiva’s peer to peer lending or the Grameen Foundation’s guarantee fund.

In conclusion, Mr. Yunus, thank you so very much for your leadership. The microfinance watershed is upon us thanks to great leaders like you and everyone who has labored for so long to prove that micro-credit works. The next stage, the stage when we provide responsible financial services to the global majority at a good price, will depend on world-class risk management.

[MicroCapital Society]

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 from MicroCapital.org
Today’s Editorial in the New York Times: A Flashy False Dichotomy with a Happy Ending

Today’s New York Times runs an editorial entitled “Shopping for a Nobel” by John Tierney.

The argument made by Mr. Tierney is that Mr. Walton of Wal-Mart has done more for world peace than Mr. Yunus of the Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Prize recipient. What is the connection between Wal-Mart and the Grameen Bank? Same old story: Shamelessly selling newspapers.

Controversy about Wal-Mart (and Grameen Bank) aside, overcoming global poverty requires both “macro” and “micro” solutions. One does not exclude the other. On the contrary, creating wealth for a global majority requires both huge corporations and micro businesses. Mr. Tierney, if you want to argue the social value of Wal-Mart, then please make such an argument on its own merits.

Mr. Tierney is particularly disingenuous when he opens: “I don’t want to begrudge the Nobel Peace Prize”. (A quick review of Mr. Tierney’s editorials reveals that he often abdicates himself in this way when sensationalizing).

The New York Times name was dragged through the mud today and Mr. Yunus’ with it. Doubtful that Mr. Walton would approve either.

Why is Mr. Tierney indignant, albeit childishly? Indignant that business is not recognized as a social good. Many of us share that righteous indignation. The ultimate indignity for a man like Mr. Tierney is that bankers as business people are often painted as devils by social workers. Now, a “micro-banker” walks off with the saint’s prize. Such are the ironies of globalization, sir, please do try to keep up with the market.

Take heart, Mr. Tierney, it turns out that the very genius of a “social entrepreneur” like Mr. Yunus is that he recognizes the social value of business. He makes it work. Have you heard of Grameen Phone? The cellular carrier who is making huge profits? In simplistic terms: Mr. Yunus is Mr. Walton in Bangladesh. You shamelessly juxtapose these men and belittle Mr. Yunus’ awesome accomplishments to sell a paper? Dead wrong. Take personal responsibility, Mr. Tierney, that is the future. The global age of capitalism must be imagined civilly if we are to succeed.

[MicroCapital Society]

Monday, November 27. 2006 from MicroCapital.org
Microfinancier Vikram Akula Wins Indian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award

The CEO and Founder of SKS Microfinance, one of India’s emerging microfinance firms was awarded the 2006 India Social Entrepreneur of the year award at the India Economic Summit, a congregation of Indian Business, political and civil society leaders. This is yet another significant recognition for Vikram Akula, a former McKinsey consultant and Fulbright scholar, who has featured in Time magazines ‘100 people who shape our world’. He was also part of the Wall Street Journal cover page story on for-profit microfinance that we covered here.

According to the SKS website, SKS microfinance has a current outstanding loan portfolio of USD 38.7mn with 170 branches servicing 370,198 customers. It has clocked a 161% growth rate over the last year SKS aims to reach 700,000 clients by March 2007.

-Anirban Gongopadhyay, MicroCapital Writer

Resources:

World Economic Forum: Press Release

Time Magazine: Vikram Akula

MicroCapital Blog: ‘Remember this Day: For-Profit Microfinace Blazes Front Page of Wall Street Journal’

[MicroCapital Society]

Monday, December 4. 2006 from MicroCapital.org
BusinessWeek Praises the Involvement of the ‘Tech Elite’ in the Microfinance Sector

Since MicroCapital first started tracking the news wires, we have never seen anything close to amount of microfinance press currently being published. BusinessWeek recently contributed to this continuing flood of coverage with a special report highlighting the involvement of the “tech elite” in the microfinance sector. The piece opens, as many of the articles do: with praise of Clinton Global Initiative’s and the Gates Foundation’s grants to industry players and a tribute to recent Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus’ MFI, Grameen Bank. It then continues with an example of how microfinance can change lives, in this case referencing a Malawian woman who used loans from the NGO, Opportunity International, to grow her business.

After this introduction to the sector, the article proceeds into its core focus. It zooms in on the tech elite, those multi-billionaires who made it big in the world of technology, and how they have contributed their money and business skills to “bringing scale, efficiency and transparency” to the microfinance sector. It specifically focuses on the actions of Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael and Susan Dell, and Pierre and Pam Omidyar, whose foundations have granted and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the industry. Such investments have tended towards helping microfinance institutions (MFIs) become profitable. Pierre Omidyar is especially focused on this goal, and is quoted as saying, “to scale [up], to get to 500 million people, I believe, is going to come from the for-profit side, because there isn't enough nonprofit capital to get there."

These individuals have also provided resources for the increased use of technology within microfinance. Such projects include Opportunity International’s research into biometric smart cards for microfinance clients, and Grameen’s MFI information management software Mifos.

By Drew Rifkin, MicroCapital Writer

Additional Resources

MicroCapital: Wall Street Journal Column Explodes Waning Definition of Microfinance

MicroCapital: Tunisian Techies Take Note: Open Source Meets Microfinance with Grameen Foundation’s Mifos Initiative

MicroCapital: Unitus Equity Fund, Bellwether Microfinance Fund and the Dell Foundation Make Microfinance Investment in Indian Ujjivan Financial Services

MicroCapital: The Gates Foundations Grants $6.7 Million to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and $2 Million to WOCCU’s Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions

[MicroCapital Society]

Thursday, December 21. 2006
Pro Mujer Names Ben Moyer Its First Chief Executive Officer
As stated in a press release, Pro Mujer named Ben Moyer, Senior Consultant with Wainwright Investment Counsel, an independent investment consulting firm, its first Chief Executive Officer. Lynne Patterson and Carmen Velasco, Pro Mujer’s founders, will work with Mr. Moyer to develop the future path of the organization as well as now fully dedicate themselves to the network’s geographic and service expansion and to cultivating deeper relationships within the donor community.


Mr. Moyer is a Senior Consultant with Wainwright Investment Counsel which is based in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Moyer also serves as a director and member of the Audit Committee of Ferroviaria Oriental, a publicly traded cargo and passenger transportation company in Bolivia. His international career started as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia. He joined First National Bank of Boston in 1968 and served as an officer of the Bank in Boston, Australia, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Panama and Taiwan. Mr. Moyer is a Yale University graduate and received an MBA in finance from Cornell University.


Pro Mujer is an international microfinance network, offering an integrated package of financial services, business training and healthcare to Latin America’s poorest women entrepreneurs. Beginning in Bolivia in 1990, Pro Mujer now also operates in Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. It has disbursed $246 million in small loans averaging $253. Pro Mujer clients have saved $8.9 million in individual accounts. Total assets for Pro Mujer International globally equaled $25.15 million at the end of 2005.

Financial data can be found for Pro Mujer Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru individually on the MIX Market, the microfinance institution informational clearinghouse. As recorded at the end of 2005, Pro Mujer Bolivia had 64,517 active borrowers. Its gross loan portfolio equaled $11.16 million, total assets equaled $13.16 million, and total equity was $8.24 million. The debt to equity ratio was 59.73%, return on assets equaled 6.67%, and return on equity equaled 10.26% at the end of 2005.

Pro Mujer Mexico recorded 12,641 active borrowers at the end of 2005. Its gross loan portfolio equaled $2.77 million, total assets equaled $3.49 million, and total equity equaled $1.40 million. Its debt to equity ratio was 149.0% at the end of 2005. Return on assets and return on equity data is not available on the MIX Market.

Pro Mujer Nicaragua had 13,815 active borrowers at the end of 2005. Its gross loan portfolio equaled $2.54 million, total assets equaled $3.15 million, and total equity equaled $2.00 million. The debt to equity ratio was 56.92%, return on assets equaled 12.97%, and return on equity was 18.28% at the end of 2005.

Pro Mujer Peru had 28,071 active borrowers as recorded at the end of 2005. Its gross loan portfolio equaled $3.43 million, total assets equale $4.09 million, and total equity equaled $2.42 million. The debt to equity ratio was 69.21%, return on assets equaled 12.81%, and return on equity equaled 22.47% at the end of 2005.

by Lori Chang, MicroCapital.org Writer

Sources:

1) ProMujer: Press Release

2) ProMujer: Homepage

3) ProMujer: 2005 Combined Financial Statement

4) MIX Market: Pro Mujer Bolivia Profile

5) MIX Market: Pro Mujer Mexico Profile

6) MIX Market: Pro Mujer Nicaragua Profile

7) MIX Market: Pro Mujer Peru Profile

[MicroCapital Society]

Tuesday, January 16. 2007 from MicroCapital.org
Who’s Who in Microfinance: Unitus

Unitus, a US nonprofit organization supporting microfinance internationally, was founded in 2000 by Bob Gay, Mike Murray, Joseph Grenny and Todd Manwaring with the goal of fighting global poverty through increasing access to microfinance. Unitus provides capital investments and consulting services to financially sustainable MFIs worldwide. As of May 2006, Unitus has ten MFI partners in Mexico (Pro Mujer), Argentina (FIS) and India (ASA-GV, Bandhan, BSS, Grameen Koota, SKS, Swadhaar, Ujjivan) that, as of March 31, 2006, combined to have a total gross portfolio of USD 49.6 mn.

Unitus projections estimate a client base of 1.16 mn microentrepreneurs through its partners at the end of 2006.

Management includes the following: Geoff Davis who is the President and CEO of Unitus. Mr. Davis holds a B.A. in international relations from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in development economics and public policy from Harvard University. He has been working in the microfinance industry since 1995. Mr. Davis joined Unitus after working for the Grameen Foundation USA. He sits on the Board or Advisory Board of the Dignity Fund; Kiva, an internet-based MFI; and Swadhaar and Bandhan, Unitus microfinance partners in India.

Vice President of capital markets Kylie Charlton was previously Vice President in the Project & Structured Finance Group at Citigroup. She received her B.A. from the University of Canberra and an M.B.A. from Oxford University where she was a student ambassador for the U.N. 2005 Year of Microcredit.

Vice President of finance of operations Kate Cochran holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA. She previously founded and served as Chief Operating Officer (CEO) and Director of Leadership Development for Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley, nonprofit organization formed in 1999 focused on developing leadership in the Silicon Valley community through initiatives such as arts education in public schools. Ms. Cochran was also a consultant with Towers Perrin, a global professional services firm, a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and a press manager for a United States Senator. She now manages Unitus’s relationships with donors and internal policies and procedures.

Senior Vice President Donna Cordner co-founded and was the Managing Director of Uplift Uganda, a non-profit organization supporting microfinance in western Uganda, and served as Managing Director and Global Head of Telecom and Media Structured Finance at Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney. Most recently, Ms. Cordner served as CEO of HOFOKAM Limited, the largest rural microfinance institution (MFI) in Uganda. She was also the Managing Director and Head, Telecom and Media Project and Sectoral Finance for the Americas, at Société Générale, international investment bank. She has held executive positions at ABN-AMRO, a provider of investment and wholesale banking products and services, Republic National Bank of New York, and Chase Manhattan Bank. Ms, Cordner is on the board of Tele2, a European telecom operator, and Millicom International Cellular, an international telecommunications investor. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina with a master’s degree in international political economy.

Sandeep Farias serves as Vice President and India Country Director. Mr. Farias is a faculty member at the Management Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and holds an integrated arts and law honors degree from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He has previously worked at law firm Nishith Desai Associates as the head of the corporate sector practice and development sector.

Dawn McGee, the General Counsel and MFI Transformation Manager, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She previously served as an associate at law firms in San Francisco and New York and as general counsel for a private Swiss bank. She also served as the Lead Analyst for Underdog Ventures, LLC and Global Partners, LLC,.

Chris Brookfield is the Investment Director of Unitus Investment Management Company. He was formerly a Senior Associate and Managing Director at Northwest Venture Associates (NWVA). In 2004, he co-founded Open Water Investors, a private investment company. Mr. Brookfield was also an associate at Redleaf Venture Management and a board member of several companies, including Action Engine, AdRelevance, IPFabrics, NetMotion Wireless and Wireless Services. He holds a B.A. in Geology at Williams College where he graduated with Honors.

Elizabeth Funk became Unitus Board Chair in January 2007, replacing co-founder Mike Murray. Mrs. Funk, President and CEO of CML Global Capital, an international real estate investment firm, co-founder and CEO of The Dignity Fund, a private fund investing in microfinance institutions, and board member of Deutsche Bank’s Global Microfinance Consortium also serves on the board of a Unitus microfinance partner in India, Ujjivan.

Other Board of Directors members include: Clair Jenkins, Selection Committee Chair, who co-founded Alerton Technologies, Inc., a commercial buildings control systems manufacturer, where he managed sales, marketing and global product distribution for 23 years. He holds a B.S. in business management and marketing from Brigham Young University.

Dave Richards is the Acceleration Committee Chair. Mr. Richards is also a principle with Fast Forward Consulting Services, a management consulting group. He serves as a board member with Mutual Interest, a nonprofit that provides security deposits to homeless families moving into permanent housing, Off the Map, a nonprofit which he co-founded, and Vineyard Community Church, a faith-based organization that provides social services to local low-income families. He was previously a business unit executive with RealNetworks. Before that, he held management positions with Sybase and Symantec. Richards writes about global poverty on his blog, Defeating Global Poverty. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Colombia with a major in finance and a minor in computer science.

Geoff Woolley, founding partner of Dominion Ventures and Executive Chairman of European Venture Partners, is Unitus’s Capital Markets and Committee Chair and Treasurer. Woolley is also the Chairman of MACC Private Equity. His previous experience employers include Ceina, Coinstar, Hotmail and Human Genome Sciences. He has also been the founding chairman of the NAMES Project Foundation, the AIDS Memorial Quilt. He founded and chairs the University Venture Fund at the University of Utah, a student-led venture fund. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in business management and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Utah.

Lorene Arey is the President and founder of the Clara Fund, an organization focused on creating economic opportunities for women. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Count Me In for Economic Independence, a fund for female ventures, The Women’s Edge Coalition, an organization that shapes U.S. policy to benefit poor women worldwide, and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Ms. Arey also serves on the Advisory Boards for TransAria, Inc. and 463 Communications. She was previously the head of Worldwide Corporate Communications at Cisco. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Steven C. Funk is the founder and Chairman of Grand Marais Investments Ltd., a private equity investment company. He is also the Chairman of Imperial Parking (Hong Kong) Ltd., Aspen Properties Ltd., and CML Global Capital Ltd., controlled by Grand Marais. He is a member of the World President’s Organization (WPO), a director of the WPO Foundation, and a founder, director and officer of the President’s Action Network Chapter of WPO. He co-founded the Dignity Fund, a microfinance debt fund, with his wife Elizabeth. Dr. Funk graduated with Honors from Purdue University and earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Iowa.

Bob Gay, co-founder of Unitus, is the retired managing director of Bain Capital, a private investment firm with approximately USD 40 bn in assets. He was formally the Executive Vice President of the General Electric Capital Markets Group, the Vice President and Principal of Kidder Peabody’s Merchant Banking Group, and a manager at McKinsey & Company. He taught economics at Harvard University. Mr. Gay graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. from the University of Utah and earned his Ph.D. in business economics from the Harvard Business School.

Joseph Grenny, co-founder of Unitus, is also the co-founder and President of VitalSmarts, a corporate training organization, where he co-authored and contributed to six books. He served as President of California Computer Corporation and was an executive for the Covey Leadership Center. Mr. Grenny graduated with a B.A. in international relations from Brigham Young University.

Dave McClure has worked as a programmer and database consultant for several Silicon Valley firms, including Intel and Microsoft. Mr. McClure started Aslan Computing, an internet and e-commerce consulting firm, in 1994. He is currently an advisor and investor in several startups including Feedster, HealthUnity and WellFund. Mr. McClure served as director of marketing for PayPal Developer Network program and SimplyHired.com, an employment search engine. He founded and served as co-chair of the SDForum Search SIG, a technology user group, and is currently a member of the Full Circle Fund, a San Francisco area nonprofit. Dave McClure graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Les Moore is Executive Vice President of Bain Capital. He has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hawaii’s Polynesian Cultural Center, EA Sween Company and Steward Sandwiches. He was a financial analyst at UARCO. He currently sits on the board of several organizations, including Nutraceutical, Diamacron, KPH, Contentwatch, TEXU and American West Heritage Foundation. Mr. Moore graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in economics.

Mike Murray is a co-founder of Unitus and served as the Board Chair from 2001-2006. He has worked with firms such as Apple Computer, where he helped launch the Macintosh, and at Microsoft, where he served as corporate Vice President for Human Resources and Administration. Mr. Murray holds an engineering degree and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Tim Stay, co-founder of Unitus, is also a co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Know More Media, an online business media publishing company. He also co-founded Bizcradle, a business incubator. He volunteers as Community Council Chairman for a local public school. Mr. Stay graduated Brigham Young University with a civil engineering degree, and M.B.A. and a M.A. in international relations, with a focus on economic development in developing countries.

- Lisa Kalajian, Microcapital.org Writer


Additional Resources:

1) Unitus: “Fact Sheet”

2) Unitus: “Management”

3) Unitus: “Press Release: Unitus Welcomes Microfinance Leader and Business Executive Elizabeth Funk as New Board Chair”

4) Dignity Fund: Homepage

5) Haas Global “Microfinance Speakers”

6) “Dawn McGee”

[MicroCapital Society]

Monday, February 12. 2007 from MicroCapital.org.
Who's Who in Microfinance: BlueOrchard Microfinance Investment Managers

BlueOrchard Microfinance Investment Managers is an asset manager specialized in microfinance. The fund is based in Switzerland and was founded in 2004.

Leadership includes:

Jack Lowe, Chief Executive Officer, holds an MBA in Finance from Stanford University. Before coming to BlueOrchard, Mr. Lowe opened several franchise businesses in Europe, including McDonald’s in Switzerland and Midas in France. He later sold these businesses, became a partner at Montgomery Securities. After Montgomery was sold to Bank of America, Mr. Lowe acquired several medium side businesses in Europe and other emerging markets.

Jean-Philippe de Schrevel is a co-founder and managing director of BlueOrchard. Mr. de Schrevel also serves as the Dexia Micro-Credit Fund Manager at Dexia Asset Management. He has served as a Junior Team Economist in Romania for an EU PHARE technical assistance program, a Field Consultant in Microfinance for a Belgian NGO, an Associate with McKinsey & Co., a private professional services firm, the Operations Director of a private MFI in Argentina, and a consultant for the UNCTAD Microfinance Unit in Geneva. Mr. de Schrevel has an MA in Economics from Université de Notre-Dame de la Paix in Belgium and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Antoine Melo, Director of Administration and Finance, came to BlueOrchard from Universal Corporation, a US-based commodities trading firm, where he was the Finance and Administrator. Mr. Melo has also served as a Project and Operation Support Executive at Reuters. He holds an MA in Engineering from the Swiss Federal School of Technology in Switzerland and an MBA from the HEC of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Lisa Sherk serves as BlueOrchard’s Director of Investment Analysis. Previously, she Ms. Sherk was a managing director at the Atlantic Advisors, a New York-based fund advisory firm. She also held positions at Wasserstein Parella Emerging Markets, and the Asset Management Group of Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS). Ms. Sherk has conducted various microfinance consulting assignments with Gray Ghost Microfinance LLC, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), and Pro Mujer International. She holds a BA in Economics and History from McGill University, Canada and an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, USA.

Anne Miles is the director of the US office and has previously managed the Financial Products and Services team of Women’s World Banking, a New York-based nonprofit global network of MFIs. Ms. Miles has also served in several positions at Citigroup, a global financial institution, and has founded the Microfinance Club of New York. She recently joined the Board of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) International. Ms. Miles holds a BA in Economics and French Literature from Drew University, USA.

Board of Directors Executive Committee members:

Ernst A. Brugger is the chairman of the board. Mr. Brugger is also the President and founding partner of BHP – Brugger and Partners Ltd, a consulting firm specializing in sustainability strategies for both private and public organizations, the chairman of Sustainable Performance Group, a Swiss sustainability mutual fund, member of the executive committee of the International Red Cross, Vice President of the Board of the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, and a Professor at Zurich University. He earned his PhD in Economic Geography at the University of Zurich.

The Vice Chairman of the board is Melchior de Muralt, who also serves as a Partner of the Swiss Private Asset Management Company de Pury, Pictet, Turrettini & Co., the main distributer of the Dexia Micro-Credit Fund. Mr. de Muralt previously served in several positions in Lombard Odier & Co, a private bank, eventually becoming the Senior Vice President. Mr. de Muralt holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Université de Lausanne in Switzerland.

Marc Beajean is an associate director of McKinsey & Co, Inc., private professional services firm, based in Brussels, where he is also the leader of their European Insurance & Asset Management Practice. Mr. Jeajean has a B.A. in Applied Economics from ULG, Belgium, and an MBA from Colombia University, New York.

Martin Velasco is an entrepreneur in the electronic communications industry. Mr. Velasco serves on the board or advisory board for several technology start-ups, including Speedlingua SA where he is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He also serves on the Business Steering Committee of the Global Business Dialogue for Electronic Commerce and is the Founder and Chairman of the charity Infantia Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit foundation. Mr. Velasco has a degree in electrical engineering from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland and a post graduate diploma in Data Processing and an MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration.

Other board members include:

Bülent Gültekin is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of Business at the University Pennsylvania. He previously served as Governor and as the Director General for Research and Planning of the Central Bank of Turkey. Mr. Gültekin was also the Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Turget Özal and to Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. He was the Undersecretary of State and the President of the Housing Development and Public Participation Administration, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sumerbank Holdings, A.S., an industrial banking conglomerate. Mr. Gültekin was the Chief Advisor to the Plenipotentiary of Ownership Changes at the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Privatization in Poland and advised the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia, Governments of Egypt, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the State Property Fund of the Russian Federation, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Governments of Ukraine and Belarus. He also advised President Turgut Özal, President Nursultan Nazerbaev, and President Islam Karimov. Mr. Gültekin also served as a senior advisor to the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an advisor to the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Finance Corporation, and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. He has also been a consultant for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Rothchild & Cie, IBM, Merk, Citicorp, Chemical Bank, Merrill Lynch, Anheuser-Bush, Pennsylvania Bell Telephone Co., and the American Bankers Institute. Mr. Gültekin currently serves as a director on the boards of the Grossman Currency Fund Ltd. and GlobalNetFinancial.com, as a senior advisor and Chairman of the Board for the Global Euro Net Group, a private equity fund. He is a trustee of Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey and the American University in Bulgaria. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Robert College, Istanbul, an MBA from Bogazici University, Istanbul, and a Ph.D. in Finance and Statistics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kathryn Imboden was previously employed at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Chad, the OECD Development Center, the Club du Sahel, and the US Treasury Department. Mrs. Imboden also chaired the Executive Committee of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and served as Policy Change Manager at Women’s World Banking (WWB). She led the policy work program for the 2005 International Year of Microcredit in the UN Capital Development Fund. She is currently the acting director of Policy for the Aga Khan Agency, a Swiss nonprofit development organization. Mrs. Imboden holds a B.A. in economics from Mount Holyoke College, USA, and a Diploma from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, France.

André Roelants also serves as the Chairman of Clearstream International, a division of Deutsche Börse. Mr. Roelants is the founder and President of the Board of the Dexia Micro-Credit Fund and has previously chairman of the board of Dexia Asset Management, Banque Labouchère, Dexia Direct Bank, and of Dexia Banque Privée France. He also also worked for Banque Bruxelles Lambert, the Royal Bank of Canada, Chase Manhattan, Bank of American International, and Cregem International Bank. Mr. Roelants has a B.A. in commercial and finance sciences from the Catholic University of Mons, Belgium.

After serving in the French military, Alexandre de Lessups became a television producer with TelFrance in Paris, InterTel in Munich and Telvetia in Switzerland. Mr. de Lessups also served as the CEO of InterTel USA Inc. and Tanit Productions in Los Angeles, California. He was the President and Founder of Les Laboratoires de l’Atlantique, a French personal care manufacturer. Mr. de Lessups is also the President of Coral Capital Limited of London and Pandaw Investment Holdings in Hong Kong, both emerging markets investment firms. He began his education in Khartoum and finished in Northwestern University in Chicago.

Pierre Boppe is also the President of The Stein Group, a pan-European hotel operator, the Deputy Chairman of Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd, a travel company, and a Board member of the HongKong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd. Mr. Boppe has a civil engineering management from Stanford University, California.

Anne Chevalley is a consultant to Banco Santader Central Hispano (Suisse) and is Deputy Director of the Holding Parasant. Mrs. Chevalley previously served as Deputy Director of the legal department of JP Morgan (Suisse). She also served as General Manager and member of the Board of Interconsulter, a Saudi Arabian oil-trading company. She has been a Representative at the Geneva Parliament.

Michael Southam, founding partner of Rockliffe Partners, a Swiss-based asset brokerage service, has also served as an independent business development consultant in Geneva’s financial community. Mr. Southam served as the Senior Advisor for Business Development by 21i.net Private Wealth Partners, a private wealth management firm. Before then, Mr. Southam has worked with Southam Inc., a Canadian publisher. He has also founded a number of companies including Kalvin K. Associates, Rating Capital Partners, a fiduciary risk rating agency, Bisange, a small cap finance firm, Blue Orchard, a microbank finance firm, and CPM, a private wealth advisory firm.

- Lisa Kalajian, Microcapital.org Writer