Online Guide
SEPM Guide
Discover our Guide for Social and Environmental Performance Management
Discover
Resources
Publications
Strengthening Governance for Responsible Finance: Examples from European Investment Funds
Brief No. 2 from the e-MFP Brief Series explores examples of the increasing role microfinance investment funds (MIVs) are playing to improve governance, both across the sector through investor coordination, and at the MFI level through operational tools. The Brief focuses on the microfinance sector's renewed commitment to the double bottom line. MIVs are collecting more social performance data than ever before. This enthusiasm, however, does not reduce the risks that MFIs face. Strong governance would help decrease such risks. MIVs play an important role in governance. They carry considerable weight at the sector level, channeling USD eight billion in investments to MFIs worldwide. They have the potential to influence strategy and operations at the MFI-level. Examples in the Brief include: GCAMF and Triple Jump conducted joint due diligence and proposed a syndicated loan to MFI MBK Ventura in Indonesia; ADA and PlaNIS-responsAbility conducted joint due diligence of ProMujer in Argentina; ResponAbility, Triodos, and the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds are co-financing a research team to explore over-indebtedness;
Publications
Does good client protection impact financial performance
This brief presents the results of a robust analysis into the relationship between client protection and financial performace. The findings indicate that while the positive relationship between financial returns and some elements of client protection is clear, the relationship between client protection on the one hand and operating costs and credits risks on the other, is less straightforward. Clarifying the causal link will only be possible once the sector has sufficient historical data.
Case studies & Field examples
Satyaâs social mission, social goals, SMART objectives, and its indicators
Chart showing Satya Microcapital's mission, social goals, SMART objectives and indicators.
Guidelines
LabODD: AccĂšs Ă lâĂ©nergie: Un cadre commun de mesure des rĂ©sultats est-il possible?
Entre mai et juillet 2021, le Groupe Energie a menĂ© quatre ateliers autour dâune question primordiale : est-il possible de sâaligner sur un cadre commun de mesure des rĂ©sultats dans un secteur aussi diversifiĂ© que celui de lâaccĂšs Ă lâĂ©nergie ? CERISE publie un article pour prĂ©sente les principales conclusions de ces ateliers.
Guidelines
LabODD: Access to energy: Is a common framework for outcome measurement possible?
Between May and July 2021, the Energy Group conducted four workshops around a crucial question: is it possible to align with a common framework for measuring outcomes in a sector as diverse as energy access? CERISE publishes an article that presents the main conclusions after these workshops
Guidelines
Imp-Act/MicroSave Strategic Planning Guidance Note
This briefing offers guidance on how to ensure that social performance is included in strategic planning processes, as well as how to address three key challenges: clarifying long-term social goals, specifying short-term social objectives, and underpinning its social intentions with appropriate measurement systems.
Case studies & Field examples
Opportunity Bank Uganda's Social Goals, Strategic Activities and Indicators
This table provides an example of how Opportunity Bank in Uganda translates social goals into strategic objectives, activities and indicators.
Publications
Over-indebtedness and Microfinance: Constructing an Early Warning Index
This study examines the conditions that can lead to over-indebtedness and crisis in microfinance in order to create an early warning system for such events. This system constructs a composite index for predicting over-indebtedness crisis in the microfinance industry, using macro-level, microfinance market, firm-level, and household-level indicators. Leveraging an industry consultation process, Daniel and Sam have consolidated investorsâ own emerging principles and procedures in assessing potential buyers, and used the findings to produce a Conceptual Framework for Buyer Selection in financial inclusion equity exits. This framework serves as a resource for investors embarking on an equity sale, providing them with a concrete, industry-recognized framework to evaluate an exit. Additionally, it can: Guide investor discussions with external organizations that assist them in exit trajectories (investment banks, advisory firms, etc.); Assist new categories of impact investors that have little experience in exits; and serve as a guide to potential buyers to help understand selection criteria and prevent interested (but unsuitable) buyers from spending time on a futile due diligence process.
Case studies & Field examples
How to IPO Successfully and Responsibly: Lessons From Indian Financial Inclusion Institutions
Initial public offerings (IPOs) are widely viewed as markers of commercial success. However, in the financial inclusion industry, IPOs are sometimes viewed with suspicion, if not alarm. This paper examines the 2016 IPOs of two Indian microlenders â Equitas Holdings and Ujjivan Financial Services â and how âhardwiringâ their missions into their operations and corporate culture helped drive their success. The experience of these two companies suggests how a responsible financial services company can position itself to go public while maintaining its social mission.
Guidelines
Caveat Venditor: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Buyer Selection in Responsible Microfinance Exits
This paper goes beyond raising questions, and seeks to provide a template to help investors navigate the complex terrain of âresponsible exits.â The paper is co-authored by Daniel Rozas and Sam Mendelson and is part of a joint research project on buyer selection in responsible exits of NpM, Netherlands Platform for Inclusive Finance, along with the Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC) and the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP). Caveat Venditor focuses on one particularly tricky part of the exit process â selecting a buyer that is suitable for the microfinance institution (MFI), its staff and ultimately its clients.
Download