Agenda

Day One | Wednesday 6th October 2010

8.00     Registration and Coffee

9.05     Chairperson’s Welcome & Opening Remarks

Matthias Adler
Principal Sector Economist
KfW Entwicklungsbank

9.15     International Industry Panel Discussion: The Evolvement of Microfinance for Today’s Recovering Economies

Moderator:

Donald Peck
Co-Founder
Lok Capital

Kurt Koeningfest
CEO
BancoSol

Dorine Putman-Devilee
President Social Ethical Funds
Netherlands Bankers Association

    • What is the objective of microfinance today?
      - how do the missions of microfinance investors demonstrate tangible results in developing countries today?
      - is microfinance still a good business or has it turned greedy?
    • Analysing the economic climate’s inflence on trends
      - which trends may be considered a fundamental wave for the future of the industry?
      - SME financing
      - SRIs
      - social impact investments
    • Examining the changes in regulation and the impact this has had
      - good impact and the potential window of opportunity to go back to sound practices
      - bad impact and the deteriorating portfolio quality
    • How is microfinance behaving in adverse times in terms of prices?
      - to what degree is it still a sustainable business?
    • What impact will increasing loans have on interest rates?
    • Diversifying MFIs and using the microloan model for new non-financial products
      - how can MFIs diversify and deliver new services to ‘bottom of the pyramid’ demands?
    • Gaining insight on the impact the economic crisis has had on the entire value chain
      - demand on microenterprise lending

10.30     Microfinance and Capital Markets: A Moderate Philosophy for Growth

Asad Mahmood
Managing Director, Global Social Investment Funds
& Community Development Finance Group,
Corporate Social Responsibility
Deutsche Bank

Keynote Presentation

Throughout human history, civilisations have risen and fallen. But there is a much larger paradigm shift taking place, where we are beginning to see the poor as potential markets to be tapped and to use business methods to achieve social goals. Consequences of such a fundamental shift in our mental models of the poor and the convergence of social entrepreneurship and social finance will have a historic impact on development of world economic and political systems.

In this speech, Mr. Mahmood gives an account of the evolution of capital markets funding solutions for microfinance – the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and enterprises that traditionally lack access to banking and financial services. He argues that while international capital markets products can generate scale and efficient execution platforms, a purely commercial approach to the opportunity can be self-defeating and undermine both social and commercial sustainability. He suggests a moderate approach to growing the market which combines commercial and philanthropic instincts.

11.10     Morning Refreshments

11.40  MFI Panel Discussion:   Developing Institution Capacity to Ensure Investment Opportunities and Maximise Growth

Moderator:

David Fitzherbert
Managing Partner
Grassroots Capital Advisors

Henry Russell
Director, Small Business Finance, Financial Instituions
EBRD

Nathalie Close
Senior Manager
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh
Founder & CEO
Bandhan

Gideon Asare Ampofo
Manager
Sunrise Microfinance

In today’s microfinance market, too many funds are being allocated to too few institutions. Many infant MFIs are being financially excluded due to lack of history, experience and being considered as too much of a risk factor. Join an invited panel of leaders from both sides debating the key challenges regarding how MFIs can compete in saturated markets and where the solutions may lie:

    • What are potential investors interested in?
      - what information are they typically looking for?
      - what are their main goals?
      - what kind of returns do investors need to see?
    • To what extent has portfolio performance been impacted with the professionalisation of small MFIs and the downmarket moves of professional banks?
      - what can be done about this?
    • Addressing the criteria that infant MFIs need to meet in order to be considered for funding
      - overcoming the lack of history and experience challenges
      - limiting risk by proving commercial viability and social performance
      - defining the minimum acceptable criteria that financial institutions should expect to be considered as a sound investment

      - supporting tier 2 institutions that are not being covered by ensuring that both due diligence and credit risk are applied
    • Should MFIs become regulated organisations to better serve borrowers and strengthen their investment base?
      - have regulated MFIs improved their chances of funding?
    • What extra factors do MFIs need to have to sway potential investors into fund allocation?
    • What influence do MFIs have on how their funds are allocated?
      - how do MFIs ensure that their funds are directed at their most at-need clients?
    • Reviewing and improving the roles that both private and public sectors are playing in microfinance with:
      - technical assistance
      - equity investments
    • New MFI models: What practices are working best

1.10     Networking Lunch

2.20 Microfinance: A Risky Investment?

Valerie Arnold
Partner, Microfinance Leader
PricewaterhouseCoopers

    • Examining the challenges faced by investors so far and their associated risks
    • What are the barriers preventing sector development and what are the underlying risks?
      - geographical focus on the investments and new targeted countries
      - tier 2 MFIs: Are they really targets?
    • Evaluating risk management in microfinance
      - who are the stakeholders?
      - what are their roles?
      - what if any gaps need to be bridged?

3.00 Social Impact Investment Panel Discussion: Assessing the Importance of Social Impact Investment for Sustainable Industry Growth

Moderator:

Jürgen R. Hammer
Chief Investment Officer
Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation

Richard Wilcox
Head of Social Banking Unit
The Co-operative Bank

Hugo Couderé
Managing Director
Alterfin

Martin Rich
Director
Social Finance Ltd

    • An overview of the impact investing sector and its recent growth
    • Weighing the opportunities and threats of social impact investment for sustainable industry growth
      - optimising risk analysis for social sectors
      - striking the balance to ensure responsible interest
      - avoiding high/abusive interest to ensure sustainable growth
      - social performance, financial sustainability and growth
      - foreign equity and profit
      - bringing social performance to the front
    • Summary of the ‘Social Stock Exchange’ project
    • Capitalising microfinance institutions
      - the role of public equity markets
    • Understanding the perspective of portfolio investment managers
      - how to make impact investing easier to do
    • Reviewing various social sectors and their connection to microfinance
      - evaluating the areas which do not have the defined ability to raise funds from commercial investors
      - what are the investment opportunities relating to energy, water, housing, education and healthcare projects?
      - pinpointing the vehicles which bring about fund allocations to these particular sectors
      - supporting the development of social projects in transitional countries
      - what part can SME lending play into this?
      - broadening support beyond microfi nance loans
    • Creating capital markets that support high social impact investments
      - lessons learned from the SRI industry
    • Engaging the public as investors
    • Analysing social impact – What are the results when measuring and collecting for standardised industry performance?
      - how does this affect return? Is it a trade-off ?
      - what evidence do social performance indicators give in terms of financial stability and return?
      - demonstrations for investing in socially high impact projects and creating an investable return
    • To what extent is microfinance gradually moving towards commercial objectives rather than focusing on social obligations?

4.15 Afternoon Refreshments

4.35 Social Businesses Funding Roundtable : Broadening the Scope for Microfinance by Building, Developing and Funding Social Businesses

Moderator:

Emmanuel de Lutzel
Head of Microfinance / Responsable Microfi nance
BNP Paribas

Boğaçhan Benli
Project Manager, Regional Water Partnership Programme
United Nations Development Programme

Christophe Poline
Sustainable Investment Director
Schneider Electric

Dr. Kadri Ozen
Public Affairs
Coca-Cola Eurasia and Africa Group

    • Where do social businesses and social responsible investments fit into the microfinance arena?
      - incorporating CSR and outreach into programmes to meet both social and business objectives
      - to what extent is philanthropic capital a good alternative to replace the lack of grants or development aid?
    • What are the benefits of CSR programmes for social businesses?
      - what is the adequate return on investment for a socialbusiness?
      - which countries are advanced in promoting social business? - examples from the UK, Th e Netherlands and India
    • Gaining insight on the ‘Every drop matters’ initiative
      - what are the the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership between the private sector and an international development organisation?
      - access to drinking water – One of the major topics for social businesses
      - sustainable communties for sustainable bussiness
      - specific examples from Armenia, Croatia, Romania,Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Ukraine project sites
    • How do social businesses get to support the development of these countries?
      - obtaining capital to maximise growth in transitional countries
    • Analysing social investment from the general public
      - what is the framework?
      - what are the limits?
    • Capitalising on the programme by having more solid footing – Better identifying with the target country in terms of:
      - finding the right vehicle that fits with business criteria
      - selecting the right investments
      - gaining a better understanding of the legal environment
    • Building credibility, scale and value into the programme to meet social business goals
      - illustrations of successful outreach programmes from the perspective of social businesses

5.50 Chairperson’s Closing Remarks


6.00 Conference Adjourns


6.10 Cocktail Reception