News

With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting every industry in the world, including the microfinance sector, Symbiotics and CGAP have partnered to publish a series of briefs that explore how Covid-19 has affected the microfinance sector based on Symbiotics’ data and our analysts’ expertise. Four briefs that

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged a USD 6.25 million and VND 234 billion (USD 10.1 million) Green Bonds for EVNFinance.

EVNFinance, a Vietnamese non-bank Financial Institution regulated by the State Bank of Vietnam and listed on the UPCoM Stock exch

This latest update confirms that global microfinance recovery continues, especially in Africa, but pandemic’s longterm impact remains uncertain.

Read the latest snapshot : Snapshot: MFIs During the Crisis – July 2021

About this snapshot
This snapshot is part of a series published by CGAP an

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged a USD 15.1 million Green Bond for Seylan Bank PLC (“Seylan”).

Seylan will use the proceeds of the Green Bond for financing renewable energy projects within Sri Lanka, such as mini hydro power plants up to 25MW,

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged with Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited (“Samunnati”) its first Green Bond whereby the proceeds of USD 4.6 million in local currency equivalent are fully allocated towards climate sma

Symbiotics completed on 30 June 2021 its first independent verification demonstrating that its impact management process is aligned with the Operating Principles for Impact Management. The verification was conducted by Tameo Impact Fund Solutions.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) launc

REGMIFA, the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa, has attracted a further USD 10 million from Dutch-based entrepreneurial development bank FMO. This additional funding will support the growth of Africa’s MSME sector and foster economic development through employment creation, inco

The fourth and final SME Finance Loans for Growth (LFG) impact report shows how SMEs in emerging and frontier markets benefit from access to finance, as well as how they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

After four years of annual data collection, we find a positive relationship bet

Hassan Romani, Senior Investment Analyst, Europe, Central Asia & MENA 

With the pandemic hitting the Middle East in the first quarter of 2020, Jordan was one of the first countries to swiftly implement strict travel restrictions and to introduce both full and partial lockdowns. While these m

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged a USD 14.5 million Sustainability Bond for AraratBank.

Proparco, the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group), has made a USD 5 million subscription to this Sustainabilit

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged the first Sustainability Bond ever issued in Georgia by raising USD 5 million in Georgian Lari equivalent for JSC MFO Crystal (“Crystal”).

The proceeds of the Sustainability Bond will be used to finance both Soc

This latest update confirms that the microfinance sector remains resilient and on its way to a cautious and gradual recovery, but the pace depends on type of institution, region, and capital buffers.

Read the latest snapshot with a spotlight on Latin America: Snapshot: MFIs During the Crisis – Ap

The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) established by the Danish Government has partnered with Symbiotics to provide debt financing to between 15 and 20 financial institutions in Africa through a multi-currency impact bond. The main impact objective of this investment is to foster develo

Symbiotics is pleased to announce the launch of Tameo Impact Fund Solutions, a new company offering reference products to impact investors and fund managers, centered around research solutions (surveys, indexes, benchmarks, publications), impact solutions (labelling, reporting, measurement, verifica

Joint interview with Roland Dominicé, CEO of Symbiotics and Jonathan Normand, founding Director of B Lab Switzerland.

Symbiotics is one of the pioneering and leading actors in the field of impact investing. Could you please tell us a little bit more about the company?

Roland Dominicé: We sta

Symbiotics is proud to announce that the firm has completed the process to become a Certified B Corporation®, joining a global community of companies assessed on the highest standards of social and environmental performance and ethical business practices.
Symbiotics was certified by the non-profit

We are delighted to announce that the Green bond we structured for Pan Asia Pan Asia Banking corporation in Sri Lanka, for a total volume of LKR 1.42 billion (USD 7.75 million), won the Award for innovation – bond structure (green bond) category in Environmental Finance’s 2021 Bond Awards.

FIRS

Shefali’s travel notes, Investment Analyst in Singapore
When I arrived in India a couple weeks ago, after many months confined in Singapore, the most bizarre thing of all that struck me was how normal things appeared. At least superficially. The usual hustle and bustle on the streets has resumed

This update confirms that MFIs remain resilient. A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, liquidity concerns in the microfinance sector have not materialized as anticipated. Where loan payments moratoria ended, repayments rates have been encouraging. Disbursements are also picking up again, closer to what

REGMIFA, an impact investment fund advised by Symbiotics, has attracted a further EUR 20 million from German-based KfW to promote private investment under the G20 Compact with Africa program, initiated under the German G20 presidency. KfW manages this investment on behalf of the German Federal Minis

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged its first Social Bond to be used for affordable housing and associated household financing, by means of a loan in local currency of COP 35,8 billion (USD 10,5 million) for La Hipotecaria Compañía de Financiamiento (�

Invethos, a sustainable wealth manager, and Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, have established a partnership through the enhanced Emerging Impact Bond Fund (EIBF). Since Symbiotics launched the fund in 2015, EIBF has built a five-year track record investing predomi

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged its first Sustainability Bond, that is also the first such bond in Armenia, by raising AMD 5,283,232,000 (USD 10,700,000) in local currency for ARMECONOMBANK OJSC (“AEB”).

This bond is issued via Symbiotics’ s

Symbiotics has entered into a long-term subordinated loan agreement with Ameriabank for USD 15 million, with possible increase of up to USD 25 million. The funds qualify as Bank Tier 2 capital instrument under Basel III framework and are aimed at strengthening the overall capital position of the Ban

CGAP and Symbiotics launched a partnership to track and analyze the performance of hundreds of microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the world over the next six months, in an ongoing effort to shed light on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the microfinance sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic ha

Symbiotics publishes its inaugural global impact fund survey, merging its historical microfinance investment vehicle survey, started with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) in 2007, and its private debt impact fund survey, started with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) in 2018

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged its first bond, the proceeds of which are solely used to finance renewable energy projects. It raised USD 17.14 million (INR 1,260,000,000) for Fourth Partner Energy Limited (“Fourth Partner Energy”), a commercial

Symbiotics SA, the leading market access platform in impact investing, today announced the appointment of Théodore Economou to the position of head of Asset Management. Théodore will lead a consolidated asset management function within Symbiotics that will regroup client management, product manage

Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged a Social Bond, raising USD 6.75 million in local currency (INR 506,250,000) for Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited (“Samunnati”), a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India.

T

Geneva, August 4, 2020 – Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged its first Social Bond, raising USD 10.25 million (PEN 36.1 million) for Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito ABACO (“ABACO”), a credit institution in Peru.

This bond is issued via Symbiot

Geneva, June 30, 2020 – Building on 15 years of track record in collecting and reporting data on the financial and social performance of Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs), Symbiotics is broadening its fund research expertise with a new survey on Private Asset Impact Funds (PAIF Survey). Tar

Geneva, June 16, 2020 – Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged its first Green Bond, raising USD 7.75 million (LKR 1.42 billion) for Pan Asia Banking Corporation, a prominent commercial bank in Sri Lanka. The main investor in the bond is SEB, the major N

Tbilisi, June 3, 2020 – Today, a new agreement for the senior debt was signed between Symbiotics and FINCA Bank Georgia by which Symbiotics injects 15 million GEL to further support MSME lending programs of FINCA Bank Georgia.

“It is very important for FINCA Bank Georgia that partnership with

Geneva, 15 May 2020 – Symbiotics, with the support of High Impact Capital Advisors (HICA) has raised CNY 63,000,000 (approx. USD 8,900,000) for CD Finance, a Chinese microfinance company focused on empowering the rural economy and the development of underserved groups, thereby alleviating poverty.

We are pleased to provide you with the SME Finance Loans for Growth Impact Report 2019.

This report is the third of a unique study assessing whether, by enabling small and medium enterprise (SME) lending, the Loans for Growth (LFG) impact fund fosters job creation, employment and entrepreneurship

Geneva, 5 February 2020 – Netherlands-based ASN Bank has invested USD 16.2 million debt in the REGMIFA Fund to foster development in Sub-Saharan Africa through employment creation, income generation and poverty alleviation. With ASN Bank the first private investor is joining REGMIFA that endorses

Geneva, 2 October 2019 – Some 50 representatives from the development finance private sector have called upon Swiss financial authorities in a joint message for greater support to scale private-sector investment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leverage the country’s position as g

We are pleased to provide you with the Swiss Microfinance & Impact Investments Report.

This paper reviews the evolution of private-sector development finance in Switzerland from 2010 to 2018. It analyzes the contribution of Swiss managers specialized in impact investing towards the financing

Impact bonds are on the cusp of a turning point. With a 34% share of the 502 billion USD impact investing assets under management by the end of 2018, private debt is the largest asset class in impact investing. It has therefore shifted from an investment debated solely by a handful of do-good foreru

Vincent Dufresne joined the firm at inception, being one of the four founders in 2005. After 15 years of successful growth and leadership in the industry, he leaves the firm conscious of the value built by the inception team and restful of the solidity of its current business model and developments.

We are pleased to provide you with the SME Finance Loans for Growth Impact Report 2018.

This report is the second of a unique study assessing whether, by enabling small and medium enterprise (SME) lending, the Loans for Growth (LFG) impact fund fosters job creation, employment and entrepreneurshi

Interview of Hardika Shah, CEO of Kinara Capital.

Kinara Capital provides financing of USD $2,000 to $20,000 to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in India to grow and hire.

Plumseeds is the digital impact investment platform launched by Symbiotics. It offers professional investors the opportunity to choose specific impact investments according to their appetite and values. Via the Plumseeds website institutional investors and family offices can exclusively access well-

ZOLA Electric, formerly Off Grid Electric; FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank; and Symbiotics, a leading investment firm specialized in emerging, sustainable and inclusive finance, today announced a USD 32.5 million facility to finance the growth of ZOLA’s Tanzania operations over the

This white paper reviews the key developments that have taken place in inclusive finance markets over the period 2006-2017, supported by 12 years of data on the business models of Symbiotics’ partner financial institutions.
This research includes trend lines on more than 40 performance indicators

Ramkumar Narayanan, Markets & Institutions Senior Analyst, Symbiotics, talks about our new white paper: Banking for Impact.

Learn more about the paper

Crowdfunding is gaining in worldwide popularity. Some crowdfunding platforms specialize in impact investments. Who is crowdfunding for financial inclusion? Who is the crowd of these platforms and what deals do they fund? As part of this year’s European Microfinance Week, Marloes Noppen will partic

Alexandre Prautzsch, Deputy Head of Clients Division, Symbiotics, explains the advantages of an unhedged currencies strategy.

Learn more about going unhedged in frontier markets by reading our White Paper.

Symbiotics, sponsor of the GIIN Investor Forum, will launch its new white paper:

Financial Institutions
Enablers of Inclusive Finance since 2006

This white paper will be available mid-November.

Learn more about the white paper Financial Institutions – Enablers of Inclusive Finance since 2

Symbiotics is a proud partner of the Social Good Summit which will be held October 23rd at the Credit Suisse Forum (Geneva).

Roland Dominicé, CEO, Symbiotics, and Guillaume Dubray, Managing Partner, Polytech Ventures, will moderate the Accelerate 2030 session from 8:45 to 10:15 am.

Five impac

Marina Parashkevova Holmegaard, Research Manager at Symbiotics explains the motivation behind the report launched with the GIIN on The Financial Performance of Impact Investments Through Private Debt, the key findings as well as the

Safeya Zeitoun, Impact Measurement Specialist and Christian Bauwens, Impact Project Coordinator at Symbiotics, explain what the impact report for the Loans for Growth Fund launched in May 2018 is about and what the benefits of outco

The 2018 Symbiotics Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIV) Survey provides  asset managers, investors and academia alike with the latest information of most of the world’s microfinance fund activity in emerging markets.

111 identified Microfinance Investment Vehicles with a total estimated mar

Article by Marina Parashkevova, Manager Research & Ramkumar Narayanan, Markets and Institutions Senior Analyst, in the Microfinance Barometer 2018 published by Convergences: Are microfinance investments still profitable for investors?

Source: Microfinance Barometer 2018

In French

In Eng

The 11th edition of the Convergences World Forum takes place on September 3rd&4th at the Palais Brongniart in Paris. More than 5,000 attendees and speakers from the business, solidarity, government, academic and media will gather to share ideas and build solutions around the theme “Make Societ

Building on the commitment to improve the experience of our client and partners with our services and products and aligned with our 2020 strategy of increasing our digital footprint, we have created a dedicated Digital Division, active from July 1st 2018. John Staehli, previously Head of the Marketi

On July 1st, Symbiotics has created the Impact Division to reinforce at the organizational level our commitment of putting impact management in the focus of our activities. The newly established Impact Division will regroup and uplift the social performance management framework of the firm, as well

Tbilisi, May 18, 2018 – Today, a loan agreement was signed between Symbiotics and FINCA Bank Georgia by which Symbiotics injects GEL 15 million to further support MSME lending programs of FINCA Bank Georgia in the country.

“It is very important for FINCA Bank Georgia that partnership with Symbi

This impact report aims to measure the extent to which the Loans for Growth (LFG) fund meets its objectives to foster job creation, employment and entrepreneurship in emerging and frontier markets through SME finance.
The current report is the first in a series of four annual impact reports, which

In this new report, the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and Symbiotics present the first comprehensive analysis of the financial performance of private debt impact investment funds.

The report sheds light on the business model, investment strategies, financial performance, and impact mea

2018 will be a pivotal year for financial inclusion in emerging markets. David Grimaud, CFA, Head of Asset Allocation at Symbiotics, explains the goal of the Asset Allocation function within Symbiotics and how the outlook affects investment decisions an

Measuring and Managing Social Performance: Ramkumar Narayanan describes Symbiotics’ social performance management framework around which the company measures and reports on the social side of its investments into the microfinance sector.

Interview of Christoffer Dahlberg, Head of Investor Relations, Symbiotics, sharing an update on CNNMoney Switzerland about Symbiotics and Impact Investing in general.

Start: 11:10 / End: 21:10

This new white paper builds on Symbiotics’ experience on the topic of social performance, shedding light on the rationale behind our social narrative. It describes the set of tools and practices that we use internally to measure and manage the social performance of our investments in microfinance,

Providing local currency funding to frontier market has proven to be a key aspect of impact investing.

Through its investment practice and experience, Symbiotics has moved one step further: building unhedged local currency portfolios for clients. The company has originated 420 transactions fo

The 2017 Symbiotics Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIV) Survey provides a detailed overview of key market trends about microfinance offshore investments. More than 95 MIVs have participated in this 11th annual survey which covers 94% of the total MIV market estimated at USD 13.5 billion as of Dec

Christoffer Dahlberg, Head of Investor Relations, presents key findings of the publication “Why microfinance matters to investors” which was published by Symbiotics in April 2017.

This white paper is a follow up piece to “Microfinance Funds : 10 years of research & practice” published

Stories of microfinance through the lens of Magdalene, Felistus and Jacinta, all clients of the microfinance institution, KWFT, in Kenya. Statements are included from Greta Bull, CGAP & Anders Thorendal, CIO, Church of Sweden. This video was made possible through a partnership between Skandinavi

This white paper explores different factors that will contribute to a new investment paradigm over the coming decades, namely demographics, credit markets, and the global internet connectivity. As no investor portfolio is immune to these dynamics, our publication makes a case for why microfinance in

Earlier this year, rather than have all our staff convene in our Geneva headquarter office for our Corporate Days, we decided to have a group of staff from headquarters travel to our regional offices. The gathering was held simultaneously in Cape Town, Singapore and Mexico City and Geneva.

This u

Symbiotics has grown its country diversification to 72 countries, since inception, across the globe, of which 10 are currently located in the region of South and East Asia & Pacific. Thanks to the field work done by several of our analysts, based in Asia, over the past couple of years, we have b

What is an impact bond and what’s the difference between the green, blue and social bonds we are all hearing about? With nearly 700 million U.S. Dollars invested in 25 countries, Fabio how our impact bonds work as well as which countries and what typ

An interview with Valérie Dujardin
Business Development director
Based in Geneva

For over six years, Symbiotics has been developing expertise in technical assistance thanks to the launch of the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (REGMIFA) in 2011 and its REGMIFA TA Facility, both managed by Symbiotics. The management of the TA Facility is performed by an e

With the strengthening of several of the company’s key partnerships, and its investors’ growing interest in themes beyond microfinance, Symbiotics hired over 25 professionals reaching a total headcount of 96 staff at the end of 2016 and we expect this to continue in 2017.

Duc Nguyen, Symbioti

“A review and analysis of CGAP’s and Symbiotics’ Microfinance Investment Vehicles Surveys”
Our white paper, co-written with CGAP on the past 10 years of investments in microfinance is available now.

This research reflects back on 10 years of data and analysis on microfinance investment veh

Short interview with Patrick d’Huart
Investment Manager Africa
Based in our Cape Town office

Symbiotics has successfully closed the SME  Finance – Loans for Growth Fund, a fully subscribed USD 50 million investment product offered by UBS to its impact investor base. The 4-year closed-end structure aims to provide loans to SME finance institutions in emerging and frontier markets. It thereb

This unique study provides asset managers, investors and academia alike with the latest information of most of the world’s microfinance fund activity in emerging markets. The 10th edition of the Symbiotics MIV Survey

Short interview with Eugene Tan.
Analyst for China, Mongolia and Pakistan
Based in our Singapore office.

Following the company’s image refresh last January, after 10 years of business, we recently unveiled our brand new corporate website. John Staehli, Head of Marketing & Communication, tells us more about this project as well as the company’s latest marketing research developments and partner

Q1: What do you find to be the most important aspect of the investment analysts’ work and yours today?
Our team of 25 analysts, present in 4 offices around the world, is constantly travelling, performing due diligences, visiting financial institutions, regulators and associations or other actors

Symbiotics impact bond platform, a pass-through notes issuance program called “MSME Bonds”, which reaches out to microfinance and SME finance in the emerging markets, has reached USD 300 million since its inception, offering a unique and innovative way for investors to boost the social impact of th

Symbotics’ entire management staff recently met in Geneva for a week of seminars and training. As part of the company’s training development program, they engaged in a special training session given by UNCTAD Empretec on entrepreneurship.

The workshop’s main objective was to allow participants

Swiss Microfinance Report 2015 shows that Switzerland remains the leader in managing global microfinance investments

The recently updated Swiss Microfinance Investments Report confirms that Switzerland remains the world market leader in microfinance investments with 38% of global investments. Thi

Our company enters its high conference season

Symbiotics has begun its conference high season. Many staff members will be attending several regional and microfinance network conferences into the months of November and December. In addition, some conferences have been organized by the Business D

Symbiotics recently became a partner of M-KOPA, an Africa-based solar energy solutions company that has connected thousands of homes in several countries in Central Africa to solar power. Their market-tailored product relies not only on more affordable green technology but also on an innovative pay-

Three questions to the Head of Market & Credit Risk, Jérôme Savelli

A new Market & Credit Risk unit has been added at Symbiotics. Jérôme Savelli, its new head, talks to us about the creation of the unit, its various dimensions and what it will bring to the company’s investment value c

The 9th edition of the Symbiotics Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIV) Survey has just been published. It is the only industry survey providing a full overview of market trends as well as a peer group analysis of global microfinance investment vehicles. These specialized intermediaries include mic

Several Symbiotics staff recently had the opportunity to meet with a large number of microfinance practitioners and policy makers from 36 African countries from June 29-July 3rd in Dakar Senegal for the second edition of the African Microfinance Week was held. This year’s driving theme was “Innovati

This week Symbiotics held its annual shareholders’ meeting in Geneva. The majority of the company’s current 64 shareholders attended and were able to have a full overview of the 2014 results and gain insights regarding the 2015 business developments and outlook.

This was an exceptional meeting wi

In late January, Symbiotics celebrated its 10 years of business with the company’s entire staff, nearly 85 people to date, and its main stakeholders in Geneva. This provided an opportunity for the founders to share how the company got started as well as its main highlights, obstacles and achievement

Symbiotics has recently opened its second office in Switzerland at Forchstrasse 280 in the city center of Zurich. The office is run by a new Head of Investor Relations, Christoffer Dahlberg. His predecessor, Fabio Sofia, was made Director of the new Business Development unit, which includes the inve

Reinforcing the senior management.
Symbiotics presented its history and business plan during its 10-year celebration on January 27th. The company’s investment portfolio has experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 40% over the past decade. Symbiotics plans to double its assets under managemen