MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Launches 2nd Private Equity Fund, Seeking to Invest $300m in Financial Inclusion of 30m Poor Households, MSMEs

BlueOrchard Finance, a Switzerland-based member of the UK-based Schroders Group, recently launched its BlueOrchard Financial Inclusion Fund, seeking to invest USD 300 million as private equity in providers of financial services to households as well as micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The investees of the fund are to span MSME lenders, microinsurers and adjacent technology firms, impacting 30 million clients in low- and middle-income countries.

Founded in 2001, BlueOrchard’s goal is “generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming at providing attractive returns to investors.” As of March 2022, BlueOrchard has disbursed USD 8 billion in private debt. The firm’s previous private equity fund was directed at microinsurers and fully deployed in early 2022. Of the clients served by BlueOrchard’s investees, 80 percent are women, two thirds live in rural areas and 130,000 are students and educational institutions.

Schroders Group manages USD 990 billion in assets as of December 2021.

By Ben Greissman Research Associate

Sources and additional resources

BlueOrchard press release
https://www.blueorchard.com/blueorchard-launches-flagship-inclusion-private-equity-strategy/

BlueOrchard financial inclusion fund description
https://www.blueorchard.com/investment-solutions/blueorchard-financial-inclusion-fund/

BlueOrchard description
https://www.blueorchard.com/about-us/

Schroders homepage
https://www.schroders.com/

Previous MicroCapital article on BlueOrchard
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-blueorchard-executes-iif-equity-buy-into-forte-insurance-to-boost-agricultural-microinsurance-in-cambodia/

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