Social Investors

Comment

Comment by Laura Foose on August 19, 2010 at 9:30am

Dear colleagues,

We would like to invite you to reserve Thursday the 23rd of September in your agendas for the following event:


Expert Meeting for Social Investors on Tools to Assess MFI ESG Performance and kick-off of investor working group on tool sharing and harmonization

Date and time: Thursday 23 September, 9:30-17:00

Location: De Balie, Kleine–Gartmanplantsoen 10 (near Leidseplein), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Meeting coordinated by: Triple Jump in cooperation with Oikocredit

Meeting open to: Microfinance Social Investors who use or plan to use an Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) / Social Performance (SP) assessment scorecard or tool
(by invitation, max 2 participants per organization).

Objectives: Share knowledge on ESG assessment tools for social investors and stimulate cooperation among investors. Set agenda for future cooperation and developments. Possibly agree on common core set of due diligence questions?

Please let us know if you are interested in joining this meeting.
In preparation for the meeting, could you please let us know if you have a scorecard, tool or questionnaire which you are willing to share with the participants of the meeting on the 23rd? Please also let us know if you’d be willing to present this tool during the day (if we have a large number of possible presenters, we may make a selection).
In advance, we would like to organize a small mapping of the scorecards and tools which are presently being used by investors. In order to do this in time for the meeting, we would need you to send your tool/ scorecard/ questionnaire before August 27th.

More details to follow soon!!

Kind regards,

Jessie Greene and Ging Ledesma

Comment by Laura Foose on August 5, 2010 at 12:26pm

Hello,

Dr. Klaus Maurer of Finance in Motion has brought to my attention that we need to make a correction to the minutes that we posted for the Investor Roundtable meeting in Bern. The minutes will be updated to reflect the following change:

Box 1 which presents the main findings of study on over-indebtedness in Bosnia has some crucial numbers that need to be corrected. I refer to the third bullet point where the quoted figures on over-indebtedness are much too high. The correct sentence should read as follows:

17% of clients are over-indebted (debt service to income more than 100%) and 11% are seriously at risk of becoming over-indebted (debt service to income between 75% and 100%).

Comment by Laura Foose on July 21, 2010 at 11:24am

2010 Microfinance Social Investors Meeting

On June 29, 2010, CGAP and the Investor Group of the Social Performance Task Force organized the Microfinance Social Investor Meeting. More than 40 investors gathered, including many microfinance investment intermediaries (MIIs), banks, a pension fund and several development finance institutions. Together they represented more than half of assets under management in the microfinance sector.

The meeting built upon the results of two previous CGAP Investor Roundtables held in Paris
(2008) and Madrid (2009) and the results of the investor working group to advance
transparency on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

This year the group looked at microfinance investment in the context of the impact investment movement and global trends in socially responsible investing (SRI), with an opening presentation by Mark Campanale on the relative lack of focus on social enterprise within the SRI sector, and the concept of a social stock exchange. CGAP presented the ESG data collected from MIIs in its annual survey. The discussion highlighted the differences in expectations and risk-return profiles among investors. Analysis of investor-reported data brought into focus the importance of improving quality and validation of information submitted by microfinance investees as well. The group also discussed the early experiences in rating MIVs.

A second focus of the meeting was investor responsibility in driving the implementation of the client protection principles in microfinance (a critical dimension of social performance) and broader concepts of investor responsibility. This included unveiling a draft version of the updated Investor Guide for implementing client protection (with a built-in due diligence checklist) and a spirited discussion of investor roles in preventing and addressing overindebtedness in selected markets, including thorough collective action.

As a conclusion of this year‘s meeting the Investor Group and CGAP have agreed to:

Clarify goals, expectations, and social performance metrics of the microfinance
investment intermediaries.
Share knowledge on investor tools and reporting templates of investees‘ social
performance.
Explore how investors can tackle over-indebtedness by sharing country and MFI-level
analysis of the MFI market and coordinating investor responses, beginning with a
Latin American country pilot.
Comment on draft Investors‘ Principles (that go beyond client protection to articulate
broader responsibilities of investors in microfinance) and working towards their
eventual endorsement across the investor community and implementation.
The Investor Group also formulated recommendations to the broader Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) to focus on standards of reporting, clarify SPM tools available, continue to make the business case for SPM, and improve communication efforts.

Comment by Laura Foose on July 21, 2010 at 11:06am

Message from Antonique Koning, CGAPImplementing the CPP Technical Guide - Update 13 July 2010.doc

Dear Colleagues,

Following up on last week's message with the conclusions of the Social Investor Meeting in Bern, I am sending you the electronic copy of the Technical Guide for Investors on Implementing the Client Protection Principles and the accompanying Client Protection Due Diligence Checklist (in annex 2, pg 28-31). Unlike stated in the previous message, they are not yet posted on-line as we would still like to incorporate investors' feedback. We invite you to use the checklist and guide and send your feedback by September 15, 2010 to Kate McKee: kmckee@worldbank.org.

Sarah Leshner of Blue Orchard is coordinating a country level overindebtedness discussion on the occasion of the REDCAMIF annual meeting in Costa Rica at the end of next month. Sarah proposes to explore the situation in either Mexico City/Chiapas or Peru during lunch on August 26 12.30-14.00. If you are interested in joining this "investors only" meeting, please send an email to Sarah Leshner at Sarah.Leshner@blueorchard.com by July 28.

Many thanks in advance

Warm regards,
Antonique

Comment by Laura Foose on July 21, 2010 at 11:02am

Message from Cecile Koller, Ging Ledesma, David Dewez, Xavier Reille and Antonique Koning

Dear Colleagues,

It was a pleasure to see you all back in Bern. We had a very productive meeting and clear recommendations for follow up actions.

Report
We posted a summary and report of the meeting on CGAP investor's corner where you can also find the various powerpoint presentations of the meeting and the drafts of the Client Protection Due Diligence Checklist for Investors and the Technical Guide for Investors on Implementing the Client Protection Principles. You may also want to check out a post on the meeting on CGAP's microfinance blog, which we of course welcome comments on.

Next Steps
In terms of next steps, several priorities were identified during the meeting. We have categorised the actions that got most votes into the following priorities and invite you to actively participate in:
Review and comment:
1. Investor principles - send your feedback on the proposed draft Principles and your potential interest in endorsing them to Marilou van Golstein Brouwers, Triodos (Marilou.vanGolstein@triodos.nl ) by July 31, 2010. Please also indicate if you would like to receive an invitation to October 13 meeting
2. CGAP's due diligence check list on client protection and Technical Guide for Investors on Implementing the CPPs - use the checklist and guide and send your feedback before September 15, 2010 to Kate McKee, CGAP, kmckee@worldbank.org so that they can be incorporated and shared among investors.

Join one (or more) working group(s):
1. Profiling MIVs - Clarifying MIV intent, expectations on social performance and risk-return profile (“peer grouping”). CGAP will lead this working group that will start in October based on available data on financial and social performance of MIVs. Send an email to Xavier Reille, xreille@worldbank.org in case you are interested in joining this working group.
2. Tool sharing and harmonization - Share tools on social performance screening and due diligence and reporting templates used to collect SP data from MFIs to improve and align them better. Kick off meeting scheduled on September 23, 2010. This working group is led by Jessie Greene, Triple Jump, Jessie@triplejump.eu . Please let her know if you are interested in joining the working group and/or the meeting.
3. Country level analysis of market level over- indebtedness – Organise ad hoc working group on a country basis to explore how investors can tackle over indebtedness and coordinate responses. If you want to propose a country initiative, please send an invitation for a call to the relevant investors.
The working groups are expected to have a conferences call a few times a year and comment on proposals, ideas by email. They will be reporting throughout the year on progress made and hopefully the working groups will be able to come up with concrete actions and proposals by next year's meeting.

Research:
Analyse trend of reporting to investors – CGAP will discuss this proposal with IAMFI and seek to develop a research project together.
Feedback on SPTF Steering Committee
Based on your recommendations during the meeting we provided feedback to the SPTF on its priorities going forward (see also notes). The SPTF Steering Committee will focus on SPTF governance; streamlining indicators and reporting; and communication on social performance among SPTF members and externally. We will continue to emphasise the data quality and validation concerns in working together with the MIX to refine the reporting framework.

Those organisations that participated and have not yet joined the SPTF may want to sign on so in which case you become part of the SPTF Investor Group.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue with all of you and appreciate the open spirit of sharing and learning in the Investor group. We also welcome your suggestions for other activities to be undertaken in 2010-11.

Warm regards,
Cecile Koller, Ging Ledesma, David Dewez, Xavier Reille and Antonique Koning

Comment by Social Performance Task Force on March 23, 2010 at 2:16pm

Where: Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, New York, NY
When: May 24-26, 2010

Please download this document for more information: Global Microfinance Investment Congress.pdf or visit their website at: http://www.microfinancecongress.com/

Comment by Isabelle Barres on October 11, 2009 at 3:19pm

Excuse the posting - I realize that Alexia may not be on this group.
Laura, do we have the list of all investors point persons for the SPTF so that we can encourage them to participate in this working group and revive it?
best-

Comment by Isabelle Barres on October 11, 2009 at 3:17pm

Hi Alexia,
Is there a more detailed workplan for this group at this stage?
Best,
Isabelle

Comment by Laura Foose on September 24, 2009 at 10:52am

Hi Investors,

Just want to make sure that you saw the announcement on New Tool for Investors: Implementing the Client Protection Principles
Just this month, CGAP released a new tool for investors to promote the integration of client protection principles in their internal systems and processes. The Guide for Investors presents seven recommended action steps that follow approaches and sample templates currently in use or under development by investors and fund managers. http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/Page.aspx?pid=1821

Comment by Laura Foose on September 9, 2009 at 3:01pm

Investors roundtable June 4_Madrid_notes (2).pdfDear Investors,

Thank you to many of you for attending the Investor round table on responsible finance in Madrid. The meeting was part of the Social Performance Task Force week in June and organized with the valuable support of AECID.

The workshop combined presentations on the SRI market as well as debate and exchanges on the implementation of client protection, social performance reporting and MIV disclosures. Thanks to the preparatory work of the different investor working groups, the meeting was very productive. We came up with a clear vision and a concrete work plan to advance our responsible finance agenda.

Please find attached a summary of the discussions with conclusions and next steps. For those of you who attended this meeting you already received these minutes, but I wanted to take the opportunity to send it to all the investors who are part of the social performance task force so that you are aware of the ongoing work.

We will be providing an update on the working groups in the coming weeks and welcome your participation and feedback.

Best to you,

Laura Foose
Chair
Social Performance Task Force

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