Source: Incofin.
Original press release not available online.
ANTWERP, July 4 – Incofin, a specialised microfinance investment manager with Head Office in Antwerp, Belgium, announces that the results of the build-up of the VDK MFI Loan Portfolio are in line with the targets of the facility. Incofin started assisting VDK Savings Bank in the development of its portfolio of direct MFI debt investments in February of 2007. By the end of 2007 the outstanding portfolio attained USD 34 million. By June 2008, following a very strong development in the second quarter in which VDK Savings Bank disbursed USD 18 million, the portfolio had grown by another 60 percent, topping USD 55 million.
The facility now serves 19 MFIs in 12 countries. Largest outstanding positions include the Microfinance Bank of Azerbaijan, FIE Fondo Financiero of Bolivia and Agroinvest from Montenegro. Both Incofin and VDK expect the pace of the build-up will be continued in the third quarter as new transactions are being closed with MFIs in Peru, Cambodia and Mexico.
“Our assignment for VDK Savings Bank is of great importance”, says Loïc De Cannière, Managing Director of Incofin. “VDK Savings Bank is a regional retail bank, and lends out on balance to MFIs. This provides great flexibility in timing of disbursements and availability of funds. In today’s market environment our clients MFIs highly value that aspect”, adds Geert Peetermans, Incofin’s Chief Investment Officer.
VDK Savings Bank, a Belgian savings bank with headquarters in Ghent, has total assets exceeding USD 4 billion. Johan De Schamphelaere, CEO of the bank comments: ‘VDK Savings Bank is rooted in the tradition of the Christian labour movement and has, in the course of its 80 years of existence, been very much involved in supporting social initiatives. Investing in microfinance is both part of the bank’s business activities and a realisation of its core social values.’
Incofin is Belgium’s first microfinance investment manager and its funds under management display one of the fastest growth rates in the industry. Today Incofin manages 4 microfinance facilities, with combined microfinance assets of USD 150 million and investor commitments of USD 250 million. Its core group of investors include DFIs (development finance institutions) as well as private institutional investors, mainly from Belgium and Germany. Incofin services over 60 MFIs worldwide.
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