Isis Fund / Women’s World Banking
Date: 2011/12 | Country: Global | Sector: Microfinance | Amount in USD: 30 million | Client: Women’s World Banking
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is one of the pioneers of microfinance capacity building, active for some 35 years, and (as at the the end of 2014) having a network of 34 women-focussed MFI members in 24 countries. In order to assist its network members with capital as well as capacity-building services, WWB set out to raise a fund which could provide equity capital to both members and other women-focused microfinance providers. We assisted WWB and fund co-manager Triodos Investment Management to structure and market a 10-year private equity fund.
A very differentiating aspect of the $30 million first close was that alongside development finance institutions (KfW, IDB Finnfund and Norfund) and a specialist microfinance investors, Triple Jump, there were two pension funds present, the Dutch fund Achmea and the Scandinavian Storebrand fund.
A critical structuring aspect of the fund was the ability to ring-fence monies invested in Latin American MFIs for the benefit of the Inter-American Development Bank, which has a strict geographic mandate.
As at the end of 2014, the fund size stood at some $50 million, against an original target of 60 million.