Posted on February 26, 2009

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Grameen Foundation Releases Social Investing Guidelines for Microfinance

The Grameen Foundation has announced the release of guidelines to help institutional and individual investors evaluate the social returns on their microfinance investments.

Microfinance group Oikocredit used the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool created by Microfinance Risk Management, to develop guidelines (1 page, PDF) that will enable funders to analyze how well their social investments are helping microfinance clients in the same way that financial industry benchmarks inform the success of investments in individual stocks or baskets of stocks. PPIs are country-specific and have so far been implemented in fifteen countries, including the Philippines and Peru, with thirty more to be implemented by the end of 2009.

"As more investors looking for social impact turn to microfinance, they need to ask the right questions about how well the microfinance institutions are meeting their social mission, which has traditionally been more difficult to measure and benchmark than their financial performance," said Grameen Foundation president and CEO Alex Counts. "Using this new microfinance investing checklist, investors can better ensure that their investments are reaching the poorest people and helping them to escape poverty."

“GF Announces New Social Investing Guidelines for Microfinance.” Grameen Foundation Press Release 2/24/09.

Primary Subject: International Affairs/Development
Location(s): National

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