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ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Alterfin
Fair Trade
Sustainable Agriculture
Microfinance, low-income financial services & micro-insuranceFirm Overview
Alterfin is one of the pioneer social investors, which was created in 1994 under the form of a cooperative to finance Microfinance Institutions and organizations active in Smallholder Sustainable Agriculture value chains. Alterfin's goal is to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of socially and economically disadvantaged people and communities, predominantly in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries around the world. In order to achieve this goal, Alterfin provides financial and non-financial services to its partners by:
- raising funds, mainly from individual investors and socially responsible institutions;
- structuring and promoting ethical and sustainable investments;
- networking with like-minded organizations.
Since inception Alterfin played a pioneer and catalyst role, by financing organizations with no or limited access to funding and growing with them. In 2019, Alterfin disbursed EUR 65m; reaching 180 partners in 38 countries for more than 3.7m beneficiaries.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Alterfin focuses on the rural world, where more than 75% of the world's poor reside, and supports Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and organizations active in smallholder sustainable agriculture value chains, by providing credit, equity and capacity building. Alterfin raises funds from more than 6,000 individual and institutional investors and aims for social, environmental and financial sustainability.
The investment strategy of Alterfin is thus twofold:
- Channeling its funds through MFIs promoting financial inclusion predominately in rural areas (65% of our MFIs' outreach is rural). By providing adequate and responsible financing, our MFI partners generate opportunities of growth and development for low-income people;
- Financing farmers organizations or SMEs aggregating thousands of smallholder farmers and providing access to market, financing and capacity building. Such organizations contribute to the integration of farmers into fairer and sustainable value chains, improving incomes for their families, contributing to food security while protecting natural resources.
Alterfin operates since inception as a cooperative, thus mobilizing funds from more than 6,000 individual and institutional investors to fund MFIs and organizations active in smallholder sustainable agriculture value chains. By doing so, Alterfin created a unique blend of financing allowing to operate sustainably without any grants since 2000. Alterfin also prides itself to have done that by maintaining a deeper and more rural outreach, being able to sustainably target smaller organizations with no or limited access to funding, and supporting them along their development growth. Alterfin is in fact able to sustainably provide relatively small loans (up to 100,000 USD), out of which 65% target rural households. Moreover, for 40% of its partners, Alterfin was the first international lender and played a catalyst role. In order to adopt a holistic approach towards the development of its partners, Alterfin also creates ad hoc funds to answer to the multiple needs of its partners: technical assistance to strengthen skills, long term investments to create more value, equity to provide patient capital to develop.
Investment Example
Leadership and Team
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Jean-Marc Debricon – General Manager More Info Jean-Marc Debricon has been involved in a number of non-profit organizations active in the developing world. In 2010, he founded Green Shoots Foundation, a charity registered in the UK and the US and implementing sustainable development programs in Asia and Africa. In 2011, he co-founded Children of the Mekong, the UK branch of “Enfants du Mekong” a French NGO supporting children and poor communities across Southeast Asia. He was a trustee of the Research, Education, Direction (RED) Foundation, a UK charity providing long term medical assistance and training for medical staff treating AIDS patients in Asia and Eastern Europe. |
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Caterina Giordano – Head of Investments More Info Caterina Giordano is Head of Investments at Alterfin. She manages the global microfinance and sustainable agriculture portfolio at Alterfin, and the Investment team. Caterina joined Alterfin in 2013 at first as Africa and then Asia Regional Manager, to become in 2017 Head of Investments. She started her career in microfinance with K-Rep Bank (Kenya) conducting an extensive survey to understand the Bank’s outreach and assess its mission drift risk. She spent 6 years in Kenya first managing an agri-financing project under an Italian NGO and then as Africa Regional Manager for Microfinanza Rating. In 2010, she finally joined the social investment sector. Prior to Alterfin, she worked for an Equity Investor and participated to the set-up of a microfinance institution in Zambia. She holds a master’s degree in Economics of Public Administration and International Administration at Bocconi University. |
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Audrey Timmermans – Head of Finance and Administration More Info Audrey Timmermans is Alterfin’s Finance and Administration Manager. In this role, Audrey oversees all areas of finance and administration including assets and liability management, budget, accounting, credit administration, MIS and company’s procedures. She also provides financial reporting and strategic analyses for senior management and is a member of the Alterfin Investment Committee. Since June 2016, she is also the Executive Director of the Alterfin Guarantee Fund. Audrey gained her experience at Amnesty International’s Secretariat and at Handicap International Belgium. She received her Master’s in management science from the Solvay School of Economics and Management (ULB, Brussels). |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
Percentage of Total Assets Under Management that are Impact Investments: |
100% |
Social and environmental impact is integrated in our investment policy and procedures. At four stages impact is taken into consideration: pre-selection, due diligence, decision, monitoring and evaluation. Alterfin is using a methodology based on the work of the Social Performance Task Force, in which we play an active role. This is complemented by the client protection principles in the case of microfinance, and the ALINUS tool. For sustainable agriculture we mainly use screening procedures based on the different fair trade and organic labels.
Factors taken into consideration in the due diligence process (non-exhaustive list):
- Child Labour policy
- Environmental policy
- Water management practices
- Number of female workers or women part of Board of Directors
- Trainings offered to employees and beneficiaries
- Social benefits offered to employees
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
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