TIAA-CREF Creates $100 Million Global Microfinance Investment Program

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement savings products and services in the academic, medical and cultural fields, today announced the creation of a $100 million Global Microfinance Investment Program (GMIP) to invest in selected Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) worldwide. Concurrently, TIAA-CREF also announced GMIP’s first investment — a $43 million private equity stake in ProCredit Holding AG, one of the world’s leading microfinance companies. NEW YORK, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ — TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement savings products and services in the academic, medical and cultural fields, today announced the creation of a $100 million Global Microfinance Investment Program (GMIP) to invest in selected Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) worldwide. Concurrently, TIAA-CREF also announced GMIP’s first investment — a $43 million private equity stake in ProCredit Holding AG, one of the world’s leading microfinance companies.

“We subscribe to the view that microfinance investing can contribute to a double bottom line,” said Ed Grzybowski, TIAA-CREF’s Chief Investment Officer. “GMIP, and this investment in ProCredit, gives us an opportunity to seek competitive returns through socially responsible investments that we believe have a low correlation to traditional equity and fixed income markets.”

GMIP is part of TIAA-CREF’s recently formed Social and Community Investing Department, which develops new socially oriented products, oversees the screening methodology of social screened funds, formulates policies around key social issues and manages community investment programs. GMIP is expected to invest $100 million over the next four years in a range of investment structures, asset classes and risk levels through MFI’s.TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement savings products and services in the academic, medical and cultural fields, today announced the creation of a $100 million Global Microfinance Investment Program (GMIP) to invest in selected Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) worldwide.

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Source: Yahoo! Finance (link opens in a new window)