Press Releases-ES

Washington D.C., July 27, 2012 – This month MicroRate, the first rating agency to specialize in microfinance, celebrated its 15^th anniversary.

“We started MicroRate because already in 1997 it was apparent that public investment could not finance the immense demand for microcredit.  Only private capital markets would be large enough,” reflected Damian von Stauffenberg, founder and chairman of MicroRate.  “Capital markets, however, will not pay attention to a sector that lacks transparency.”

After identifying the need for transparency, MicroRate began to pilot microfinance institution (MFI) ratings in 1996.  In 1997, MicroRate was formally established with the mission “to be the leading microfinance information services provider. MicroRate will accomplish this by maintaining a high level of quality along with independence, integrity, and an unyielding commitment to the poor.”

Since its founding, MicroRate has performed over 600 MFI evaluations including Credit Ratings, Social Ratings, Institutional Evaluations and its original product, the Performance Rating.  MicroRate’s operations expanded to open field offices in Lima, Peru and Casablanca, Morocco, outside of its main office located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

In addition to MFI evaluations, MicroRate has published industry-leading research including:

• Role Reversal Revisited: Are public development institutions still crowding out private funders?
• The State of Microfinance Investment 2011: MicroRate’s 6th annual survey and analysis on microfinance investment vehicles
• Cautious Resilience: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Latin American and Caribbean Microfinance Institutions
• Technical Guide: Performance Indicators for Microfinance Institutions (3^rd Edition)

MicroRate also pioneered evaluations of microfinance funds, having performed the first public evaluation of a microfinance CDO and over 60 fund evaluations.  In 2010, MicroRate launched its Luminis service to provide data and analysis on microfinance funds.  Prior to Luminis, investors in these funds had no access to comparable information or benchmarking metrics for this new asset class.

“The development of Luminis is just one example of how MicroRate strives to provide relevant services to help increase access and awareness of microfinance investment options,” commented MicroRate CEO, Sebastian von Stauffenberg. “MicroRate’s vision from the beginning has been ‘to promote the flow of funds from capital markets to microfinance by increasing transparency and growth in the global microfinance community.’  We will continue to promote this vision and to meet the needs of investors and MIVs, as well as MFIs who seek daily to promote inclusive finance for the underserved.”

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The Luminis platform contains fund profiles and reports along with fund search tools and industry research to help investors understand microfinance investment. To evaluate these impact investments, the Luminis team analyzes performance, risk, social, and management (PRSM™) dimensions of each fund.  This data is presented in detailed fund profiles and the analysis through in-depth fund reports.

Luminis provides information on 80 microfinance funds with detailed PRSM data on 23 of those funds.

The Luminis List

1. Alterfin
2. ASN-Novib Fund (Triple Jump)
3. Dexia Micro-Credit Fund – BlueOrchard Debt Sub-Fund
4. Dual Return Fund – Vision Microfinance Local Currency Sub Fund
5. Dual Return Fund – Vision Microfinance Sub Fund
6. Dutch Microfinance Fund (Annexum)
7. Etimos Fund Global Microfinance Debt
8. Gawa Microfinance Fund I (Treetops Capital)
9. Impulse Microfinance Investment Fund (Incofin)
10. Incofin cvso (Incofin)
11. Locfund L.P. (Bolivian Investment Management)
12. Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund – Social Venture Capital Sub-Fund (ADA)
13. MicroVest I, LP
14. MicroVest Short Duration Fund, LP
15. MicroVest+ Plus, LP
16. responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund FCP
17. responsAbility SICAV (Lux) Microfinance Leaders Fund Sub-Fund
18. responsAbility SICAV (Lux) Mikrofinanz-Fonds Sub-Fund
19. Rural Impulse Fund (Incofin)
20. Rural Impulse Fund II (Incofin)
21. SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund
22. SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund II
23. Triodos SICAV II-Triodos Microfinance Fund

“Investors will now be able to evaluate microfinance funds as a part of their larger impact investing strategy,” stated Sebastian von Stauffenberg, CEO of MicroRate. “We are excited to see how Luminis will facilitate investment into microfinance, ultimately improving financial access for billions of micro-entrepreneurs around the world.”

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About Luminis (www.luminismicrofinance.com)

Luminis answers investors’ demand for greater transparency and objective analysis of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs). Luminis is a web-based analytical service of MicroRate that provides professional investors and researchers with the necessary tools to identify, assess, and monitor MIVs that meet their individual requirements.

About MicroRate (www.microrate.com)

MicroRate is the first microfinance rating agency dedicated to evaluating performance and risk in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance funds, also known as microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs). As the oldest and most well-respected organization of its kind, MicroRate has conducted over 600 ratings of 200+ MFIs throughout Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia.  MicroRate is a leading social rater and has also become the largest MIV evaluator in the industry.

About LuxFLAG (www.luxflag.org)

The LUXEMBOURG FUND LABELLING AGENCY (LuxFLAG) is an independent, non-profit-making association created in Luxembourg in July 2006. LuxFLAG supports the financing of sustainable development by providing clarity for investors through awarding its Labels to eligible Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) and Environment-related Investment Vehicles (EIVs). Its objective is to reassure investors that the labelled investment fund invests most of its assets, directly or indirectly, in the microfinance or environment sectors. The MIV/EIV may be domiciled in any jurisdiction that is subject to a level of national supervision equivalent to that available in European Union countries.