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OPIC Achieves $1 Billion in Global Microfiance Support
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, today announced that the agency has surpassed $1 billion in financing support to global microfinance institutions, lenders and frameworks since 2010. OPIC provides financing to microfinance institutions through investments in microfinance vehicles, targeted credit facilities to individual microfinance institutions (MFIs), risk-sharing agreements, and guaranties supporting innovative industry efforts. OPIC’s financing has supported more than 100 microfinance institutions in more than 30 countries.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Social Impact Investment in India Set to Double By 2020
Combining profits with philanthropy is no easy task but a growing number of social venture capital funds and impact investors are doing just that.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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GIIN Releases Updated Version of IRIS Catalog, IRIS 4.0
An updated version of the IRIS catalog, IRIS 4.0, has been released! With greatly enhanced guidance on how investors should use IRIS metrics and a new metric component— the footnote— IRIS 4.0 provides investors with clear instructions and examples that enable consistency in data collection, management, and reporting across the market. The updated catalog also features metric additions and improvements to measure the performance of investments in agriculture, education, financial services, forestry, housing, community development, and land conservation.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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MaRS Catalyst Fund Seeks Startups With Both Social Impact and Financial Returns
The MaRS Catalyst Fund, a national impact venture fund, has raised $3 million and plans to raise a total of $5 million, which will be used to invest in early-stage Canadian startups tackling social and environment issues with potential for profit.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment, Investing
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See Impact Investing As Part of An Evolution Towards a Fairer Society: Ronald Cohen
Ronald Cohen, one of the pioneers of private equity in Europe who set up and ran investment group Apax Partners for 33 years, has turned into an evangelist for social enterprises. The 70-year-old, currently chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures, believes that impact investing -which looks at both financial and social returns -can be a game changer for social development. Cohen, with more than $55 billion of global assets under management, is in India to meet investors, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. In an interview with ET, he talks about the global trends in the social investment space.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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OPIC, Calvert Foundation to Finance Varthana, Supporting Private Schools in India
In a ceremony held on February 17th in Bangalore, India, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance institution, and Calvert Foundation signed an agreement to finance Varthana, a lending institution that provides loans to affordable private schools in India, particularly those that serve low-income populations.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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Impact Investing’s New Theme: Themes
Bill and Melinda Gates have long worked to reduce disease and poverty. For Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, education ranks as a top cause. And Michael Bloomberg is battling climate change and gun fatalities. Of course, plenty of room for overlap exists, but you get the point: Not all philanthropists care about the same things.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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The Scope of Private Actors in Impact Investing, Philanthropy
According to Central Statistics Office data released last month, the per capita income in real terms (at 2011-2012 prices) in 2015-2016 is set to reach Rs.77,431 as compared to Rs.72,889 in 2014-2015.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia