Welcome to our monthly Impact News Roundup, where we highlight interesting news in the impact investing industry and some of our own highlights. We are dedicated to keeping our stakeholders informed and that starts here. Subscribe to our newsletter today!
International Women's Day with Yolirruth Nuñez
In celebration of International Women's Day, Oikocredit US, in collaboration with Oikocredit Canada, put together an exclusive interview with Yolirruth Nuñez (Senior Social Performance and Capacity Building Officer, Oikocredit Peru).
"I had many women who supported me to do something different. One of them was an aunt. She was single. She was a nurse and she had a car. Something she always told me was study, study, study. That's the way you can get things." - Yolirruth Nuñez
Study: Impact Investing Surges Despite Pandemic, but Few Options for Retail Investors
In 2020, we interviewed and surveyed foundations and our stakeholders to better understand how they are thinking about impact investing. In particular, we wanted to know their needs for rates of return, liquidity, etc. and what market gaps may exist. We also reviewed the state of the US impact investing market based on the latest available data.
A Beginner's Guide to Microfinance
Here at Oikocredit US we talk a lot about microfinance, but what is it and how does it help low-income communities?
Oikocredit started as a global movement to empower low-income people to improve their livelihoods primarily through access to microfinance. If you are new to Oikocredit maybe you haven’t heard of this innovative vehicle for change. In this article we discuss the basics of microfinance and offer new insights to our stakeholders.
The Next 10 Years of Impact Investment
2010: The GIIN predicted impact investment would reach between $400 billion and $1 trillion AUM by 2020.
2020: Current impact investment AUM is between $715 billion and $2.1 trillion.
What’s next? This article discusses progress in three areas, here are some of the highlights:
DEI - backing diverse entrepreneurs
Climate - funding adaptation and resilience
Tools - increase in public market options
One Year On: What a Year of Surveys Tell Us About COVID-19 and Microfinance
As we wait to see the full impact of Covid-19 on the Microfinance sector, this interview with Maxime Borgogno of Fondation GCA - Grameen Crédit Agricole describes some of the impacts so far:
Low rate of lay-offs within MFIs High rate of loan restructuring
MFIs are facing higher risk portfolios
Increase in use of digital channels for loan repayment
And importantly, MFIs need support from shareholders and lenders as credit risk translates into losses in 2021.
Leading Impact Investors Make Progress Toward Harmonized Impact Measurement with Release of Joint Indicators
When we say impact investing - what does that mean? Who is impacted? How are they impacted? For all the improvement in the industry towards tracking impact metrics - this specific progress towards harmonization between the IFC - International Finance Corporation (so many investors use their standards) and the The Global Impact Investing Network is really exiting.
Like accounting metrics, if we want companies to report on impact, harmonization is key to integration and widespread adoption.
Comments