Microfinance

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  • Get to Know the Microfinance Industry: Meet Melissa Furci

    myKRO.org
    Drew Meyers
    14 Jun 2013 | 7:30 am
    In our quest to put a face to the microfinance industry and organize it into local communities,, we’re profiling the individuals working to expand microfinance. Our third interview is with Melissa Furci. Here’s a little bit more about her… 1) What do you do? I am working with Esperanza International in the Dominican Republic as a Resident Intern in the communications department. 2) Why do you do what you do? After studying microfinance and seeing its unquestionable positive results on impoverished communities, I decided it was something I wanted to learn more about first hand. I go to…

  • Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households

    Center for Financial Inclusion Blog
    Center for Financial Inclusion
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:52 am
    > Posted by Bindu Ananth and Amit Shah, President of IFMR Trust and Head of Business Intelligence at IFMR Rural Finance Bindu and Amit co-edited the recently published book Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households. An edited compilation of articles, the book focuses on using financial engineering to design financial services for low-income households. A Q&A with Bindu and Amit follows.  For someone unfamiliar with the field, how would you describe financial engineering, and to what extent do you see financial engineering being applied by retail providers serving low-income…

  • Why is the Progress of Mobile Money so Gradual and Patchy?

    Blog
    Ignacio Mas
    19 Jun 2013 | 4:19 am
    I feel like in the last couple of years I have been moving away from the mobile money mainstream, which continues to insist on exuberant optimism in the face of scant results on the ground. I believe in the inevitability of mobile money, but I don’t believe we’re getting there very fast. I am disheartened by the effort and money I see going into projects which to me feel ill-omened from the start. I often joke I seem to have a reverse Midas touch: deployments seem successful until I go there and take a look for myself.

  • The Aim Of Personal Financial Management

    Micro Finance Hub
    muir
    11 Jun 2013 | 11:24 am
    If you pay any attention at all to your personal finances – and after all, why wouldn’t you? –  you will almost certainly have heard people discussing the importance – or otherwise – of setting personal financial management goals. There are many useful resources online – click here for an example – but the concept is not all that complicated and we thought the following would clarify matters nicely… While different people have different views on the subject, its probably fair to say that the goal of financial management should be two-fold. One…

  • We’re Thankful for Fathers Around the World

    Microfinance a Working Solution to Global Poverty
    Stephanie Jimenez
    16 Jun 2013 | 9:57 am
    At Opportunity International, we are honored to support fathers around the world who are building better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities. This Father’s Day, we are excited to share the story of one of the many exceptional, successful fathers striving to create a difference for his family. Meet Patrick Pande, a remarkable husband and father of 7, living in Uganda. With a strong background in agriculture and a desire to educate his 7 children, Patrick acquired his first loan of $576 from Opportunity Uganda in September 2012. By investing this loan in his small…
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    Blog

  • Why is the Progress of Mobile Money so Gradual and Patchy?

    Ignacio Mas
    19 Jun 2013 | 4:19 am
    I feel like in the last couple of years I have been moving away from the mobile money mainstream, which continues to insist on exuberant optimism in the face of scant results on the ground. I believe in the inevitability of mobile money, but I don’t believe we’re getting there very fast. I am disheartened by the effort and money I see going into projects which to me feel ill-omened from the start. I often joke I seem to have a reverse Midas touch: deployments seem successful until I go there and take a look for myself.

  • Mobile Money: Even Data Analytics Has Limitations

    Sarah Rotman, Claude Robert
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:38 am
    A lot of attention has been given recently to solving the problem of high inactive account rates among branchless banking customers. Big registration numbers are no longer enough to satisfy the donors, who want to see the impact of their funding, nor enough for the providers, who want to see sustainable revenue generated from new customers.

  • Defaults Versus Over-indebtedness in Morocco

    Solène Morvant-Roux
    17 Jun 2013 | 6:35 am
    Microcredit borrowers don’t default only when they are unable to repay their loans. As noted in a recent post by Isabelle Guérin on current default patterns in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, individual or collective defaults also result when credit providers lack or lose legitimacy and borrowers are not willing to repay, as I will show with recent data (110 qualitative interviews) from rural and urban Morocco.

  • Does Outpatient Care Through Microinsurance Offer Value?

    Barbara Magnoni
    13 Jun 2013 | 10:01 am
    Over the past two years, The MicroInsurance Centre’s Microinsurance Learning and Knowledge (MILK) Project is a three-year research and learning project that has been working to answer two principle questions about microinsurance. Is there a business case for microinsurance? Does it provide value for clients?

  • Sharia-Compliant Finance for MSMEs in Algeria

    Jonathan Buhl , Matthias Range
    12 Jun 2013 | 5:55 am
    Like many of its neighbors in the Arab world, Algeria hopes to stem high unemployment rates among its young population by promoting the development of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs)—small businesses that can provide income-generating opportunities for women and youth while boosting the country’s overall economic health.
 
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    Micro Finance Hub

  • The Aim Of Personal Financial Management

    muir
    11 Jun 2013 | 11:24 am
    If you pay any attention at all to your personal finances – and after all, why wouldn’t you? –  you will almost certainly have heard people discussing the importance – or otherwise – of setting personal financial management goals. There are many useful resources online – click here for an example – but the concept is not all that complicated and we thought the following would clarify matters nicely… While different people have different views on the subject, its probably fair to say that the goal of financial management should be two-fold. One…

  • Personal Finance Tips – Getting Out Of Debt

    muir
    11 Jun 2013 | 11:13 am
    Today I’m going to talk about how to get out of debt. The first point that I would have touch on about is what needs to be done to get out of debt. It sounds simple but really honestly, it all comes down to spending less, keeping your expenses lower than your income. As soon as your expenses begin to rise above your income, that’s when people start to get into trouble. I know it sounds easier said than done but it really is an important point. If you do find yourself with debts that have accumulated, one of the things that you’re going to really want to take a really…

  • Log On For A Bargain

    muir
    8 May 2013 | 1:43 am
    Everyone is much more aware of their outgoings these days as a consequence of the credit crisis of 2008-2009 and everything that has followed on from it. One welcome introduction since the economic downturn has been the growth of comparison sites, discount stores and daily deals offerings. If consumers use these services wisely they can make considerable savings on a range of goods and services and help make their hard earned cash go just that little bit further. Take the comparison sites that are everywhere on the internet these days. Using these sites you can very quickly get a range of…

  • The Changing Face Of Finance

    muir
    30 Apr 2013 | 4:09 am
    The financial meltdown during 2007-9 is hardly likely to go down in history as one of the finance industry’s finest moments. However, it’s had some surprisingly positive evolutionary effects on the finance market. Borrowers have had to navigate a hostile environment full of loan sharks and let’s politely say “dubious” credit options. Some borrowers effectively opted out of conventional finance, took cash loans to cover short term situations, and went looking for answers. The rise of a cultural change in finance Confronted with a desperate need for credit and an economic situation…
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    Microfinance a Working Solution to Global Poverty

  • We’re Thankful for Fathers Around the World

    Stephanie Jimenez
    16 Jun 2013 | 9:57 am
    At Opportunity International, we are honored to support fathers around the world who are building better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities. This Father’s Day, we are excited to share the story of one of the many exceptional, successful fathers striving to create a difference for his family. Meet Patrick Pande, a remarkable husband and father of 7, living in Uganda. With a strong background in agriculture and a desire to educate his 7 children, Patrick acquired his first loan of $576 from Opportunity Uganda in September 2012. By investing this loan in his small…

  • The Father of a Community

    Stephanie Jimenez
    14 Jun 2013 | 1:23 pm
    This Father’s Day, we are celebrating Dads. Join us as we share the stories of some of our inspiring male clients, and support more fathers at opportunity.org. Meet Ssalongo, a businessman residing in Kampala, Uganda. Before becoming an Opportunity client, he earned $2 a day from a small chicken business he inherited from his grandfather. Although Ssalongo was moderately successful, he felt unsatisfied and was determined to make a change. Ssalongo borrowed a loan of $300 from Opportunity Uganda and used this money to open rooms that he then rented to people in his community. Today, Ssalongo…

  • Three Marathons Down, Three To Go

    Lauren Hawley
    5 Jun 2013 | 5:51 am
    This week, Opportunity International supporter Vanessa Felts is running an ultramarathon across the Gobi Desert to raise funds and awareness for our clients. So far, Vanessa has run three marathons in three days, and has three more to go before her journey ends this weekend. Vanessa powering through day 2 with Aussie friend Steve Brydon (who also ran the Sahara with Deyl). Both of their lives have powerfully served children with autism. Although the race is grueling, Vanessa remains mentally strong because she knows her perseverance will make a difference in the lives of our clients. She…

  • One Kilometer, One Woman’s Life Changed

    Opportunity International
    30 May 2013 | 8:13 am
    This weekend, Vanessa Felts will begin her quest to run six marathons in six days in support of Opportunity International’s clients. In this news clip, Vanessa shares why she’s pushing her body and mind to the limit for Opportunity’s clients. Her goal is to raise $37,500, which could provide first-time loans to 250 women entrepreneurs. Vanessa will be running 250 kilometers next week – every kilometer representing an empowered woman. To learn more about why Vanessa’s running for Opportunity and help her reach her goal of providing loans to 250 women, visit her…

  • The Women Deliver 2013 Conference: Empowering Women Around the World

    Vicki Escarra
    28 May 2013 | 1:27 pm
    Since joining Opportunity International I have traveled around the world to support our programs and meet some of our 5 million financial services clients in the developing world who have been able to work their way out of poverty after receiving support and training from Opportunity International. Seeing the faces and hearing the voices of the women and children we are helping is always incredibly uplifting—like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I’ve have seen the power of one woman and the impact of economic empowerment. It’s not just about giving a loan or supporting job…
 
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    Center for Financial Inclusion Blog

  • Ten Risk Questions for Every MFI Board

    Center for Financial Inclusion
    19 Jun 2013 | 6:51 am
    > Posted by Andrea Horak, Program Coordinator, CFI  The Investing in Inclusive Finance program at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion explores the practices of investors in inclusive finance. Across areas including risk, governance, stakeholder alignment, and fund management, this blog series highlights what’s being done to help the industry better utilize private capital to develop financial institutions that incorporate social aims. You may have caught Philip Brown’s blog post last month on how MFI boards can be explicit about risk strategy and appetite. Philip’s post…

  • Growing Incomes – A Potential Catalyst for the Next Wave of Financial Inclusion

    Center for Financial Inclusion
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:52 am
    > Posted by Amit Jain, Principal, Global Thought Leadership, MasterCard Advisors The Financial Inclusion 2020 project at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion is building a movement toward full financial inclusion by 2020. Accordingly, this blog series will spotlight financial inclusion efforts around the globe, share insights coming out of the creation of a roadmap to full financial inclusion, and highlight findings from research on the “invisible market.” As an avid advocate of financial inclusion, I am deeply saddened by the fact that several hundred years after the first…

  • Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households

    Center for Financial Inclusion
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:52 am
    > Posted by Bindu Ananth and Amit Shah, President of IFMR Trust and Head of Business Intelligence at IFMR Rural Finance Bindu and Amit co-edited the recently published book Financial Engineering for Low-Income Households. An edited compilation of articles, the book focuses on using financial engineering to design financial services for low-income households. A Q&A with Bindu and Amit follows.  For someone unfamiliar with the field, how would you describe financial engineering, and to what extent do you see financial engineering being applied by retail providers serving low-income…

  • A Call for Client Voice in the Boardroom

    Center for Financial Inclusion
    14 Jun 2013 | 9:11 am
    > Posted by Andrea Horak, Program Coordinator, CFI  The Investing in Inclusive Finance program at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion explores the practices of investors in inclusive finance. Across areas including risk, governance, stakeholder alignment, and fund management, this blog series highlights what’s being done to help the industry better utilize private capital to develop financial institutions that incorporate social aims. When you hear the word “democracy,” you probably think of equality, elected representatives, voting rights, and so on. You probably also…

  • FI2020/MasterCard Webcast: Growing Income, Growing Inclusion

    Center for Financial Inclusion
    13 Jun 2013 | 6:08 am
    > Posted by Center Staff On Tuesday, in conjunction with the release of our second FI2020 Mapping the Invisible Market report, Growing Income, Growing Inclusion: How Rising Incomes at the Base of the Pyramid Will Shape Financial Inclusion, we hosted a live, interactive webcast with MasterCard. The webcast explored the relationship between rising incomes and financial inclusion, including the opportunity for inclusion presented by the emergence of the “vulnerable class.” The session also spotlighted the Mapping the Invisible Market interactive data tools (available here and here), as…
 
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    Creating a World Without Poverty

  • Mark Cuban and Poverty Reduction

    Grameen Foundation
    8 Jun 2013 | 5:52 am
    By Christopher “Happy” Tan, Grameen Foundation Asia Region CEO Cross-posted from Qualcomm OnQ After the Miami Heat won the 2012 NBA Championship, a Twitter exchange erupted between Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks; and Skip Bayless, sports journalist, TV personality and ESPN commentator. This led to a heated episode of ESPN’s First Take  that went viral. Cuban contested that Bayless and other sportswriters only spoke in generalities. Whether Bayless was speaking of Lebron James’ “biggest collapse of a superstar that we’ve ever witnessed” or…

  • 10 Ways to Improve Savings Products for the Ultra-Poor

    Grameen Foundation
    31 May 2013 | 7:29 am
    The following post was created from a new case study written by researchers at Grameen Foundation India and edited by Kimberly Davies. Cross-posted from NextBillion.net The poor need access to financial services to create diversified and reliable sources of livelihood, which help them move out of poverty. As an industry, microfinance, however, has found it difficult to reach the very poorest. The Livelihood Pathways for the Poorest project, which is jointly implemented in Gaya District, Bihar, India by the Grameen Foundation and the Livelihood School (part of BASIX group of companies),…

  • Where is the data? Analyzing customer footprints for better product design

    Grameen Foundation
    20 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    Jacobo Menajovsky, Senior Data Analyst – Grameen Foundation Cross-posted from the Institute For Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion These are my daughter’s old shoes. We just took them out of the closet to pass them on to her younger brother who’s recently started walking, but when I took a closer look at them, I wondered if their best days weren’t behind them. Call me crazy, but I immediately started decoding all the signs and indicators of their usage. Yes, to me, data is everywhere. We are constantly gathering, interpreting and acting on data. Think about it. Every time you…

  • Eleven Tips to Help Ensure that Your Mobile Financial Services Program Is Successful

    Grameen Foundation
    19 Mar 2013 | 2:23 pm
    Cross-posted from the Institute For Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion While “mobile money” is a common term, the reality is that money programs vary across regions and between implementing partners, mobile money products are not all the same, and the clients who use them vary. That said, we have found a number of “dos” and “don’ts” that apply for all microfinance-related mobile financial services (MFS) programs. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) should consider the following tips as they roll out and tweak their mobile financial services programs. Read the full post at…

  • Reflecting on International Women’s Day

    Grameen Foundation
    8 Mar 2013 | 9:58 am
    Shannon Maynard, Vice President, Chief Talent and Knowledge Officer, Grameen Foundation On this International Women’s Day, I find myself struggling to celebrate the progress that women have made in all facets of society, while acknowledging that more than 3 billion people in the world – the majority of them women – still live on less than the cost of my morning cup of coffee. This sobering fact puts into perspective the Marissa Mayer debate on the problems of privilege that I face as a working mother.  Flexible work schedules, telecommuting, affordable child care – how about a…
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    myKRO.org

  • Get to Know the Microfinance Industry: Meet Melissa Furci

    Drew Meyers
    14 Jun 2013 | 7:30 am
    In our quest to put a face to the microfinance industry and organize it into local communities,, we’re profiling the individuals working to expand microfinance. Our third interview is with Melissa Furci. Here’s a little bit more about her… 1) What do you do? I am working with Esperanza International in the Dominican Republic as a Resident Intern in the communications department. 2) Why do you do what you do? After studying microfinance and seeing its unquestionable positive results on impoverished communities, I decided it was something I wanted to learn more about first hand. I go to…

  • Get to Know the Microfinance Industry: Meet Kayla Villnow

    Drew Meyers
    12 Jun 2013 | 10:08 am
    In our quest to put a face to the microfinance industry and organize it into local communities, we’re going to profile the individuals working to expand microfinance. Our second interview is with Kayla Villnow. I’ve known Kayla for 15 years since I met her in high school, and she’s remained one of my closest friends ever since. In fact, she’s the primary reason I’m so passionate about microfinance’s role in alleviating poverty, and she wrote the very first post on myKRO.org. Here’s a little bit more about her… 1) What do you do? I manage the fundraising,…

  • Get to Know the Microfinance Industry: Meet Helen Lyttelton

    Drew Meyers
    10 Jun 2013 | 9:41 am
    In our quest to put a face to the microfinance industry and organize it into local communities, we’re going to start profiling the individuals that work in it. Our first one is with Helen Lyttelton. Here’s a little bit more about her… 1) What do you do? I’m volunteer Programme Manager for Fundación En Vía, a microfinance non-profit based in Oaxaca, Mexico. 2) Why do you do what you do? I’m passionate about community development and, after doing some research online, I contacted En Vía about volunteering for them. They are a very special non-profit as they give…

  • Kiva Opens an Office in Nairobi

    Drew Meyers
    23 Apr 2013 | 9:39 am
    Very cool to see that Kiva has opened an office in Nairobi! Here’s a short video… Click here to view the embedded video. The post Kiva Opens an Office in Nairobi appeared first on myKRO.org.

  • Muhammad Yunus to Receive Congressional Gold Medal Award

    Katherine Rodota
    17 Apr 2013 | 7:05 am
    Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, will receive the US Congressional Gold Medal award today, Wednesday April 17th.  Professor Yunus will become only the seventh person in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.  Congress will present Professor Yunus with the Gold Medal to honor his pioneering microfinance work.  Earlier, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to award Professor Yunus with the medal.  The Congressional Gold Medal, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom…
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    NewAmerica.net Blog Posts

  • Former Bank of America Employees Report Widespread Abuses Throughout the Loan Modification Process

    Hannah Emple
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:10 pm
    Seven former bank employees and contractors have come forward with allegations that “Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the second-biggest U.S. lender, rewarded staff with cash bonuses and gift cards for meeting quotas tied to sending distressed homeowners into foreclosure.” In addition, the former employees report that they were encouraged to “improperly disqualify” borrowers from loan modifications through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), falsify or effectively “misplace” documents, mislead borrowers on the status of their loan modification applications, and…

  • Asset Building News Week for June 10-14

    Elliot Schreur
    14 Jun 2013 | 6:04 am
    The Asset Building News Week is a weekly Friday feature on The Ladder, the Asset Building Program blog, designed to help readers keep up with news and developments in the asset building field. This week's topics include racial inequality, retirement, food security, and financial services.Racial InequalityThe Department of Housing and Urban Development released a report this week on racial housing discrimination that found a stubborn persistence of subtle forms of discrimination. The New York Times and the Asset Building Program’s Hannah Emple summarized the report’s main findings.

  • Housing Discrimination: Racialized, Persistent, and Hard for Victims to Detect

    Hannah Emple
    12 Jun 2013 | 10:02 am
    This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its research partner the Urban Institute released a new report documenting the ongoing presence of housing discrimination against people of color in the U.S. rental and home buying markets. The lengthy report and its more digestible executive summary are available here for download while a press release from HUD is available here.In short, the report finds that violations of the U.S. fair housing laws remain all too common and contribute to broader race-based inequalities. As HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said at the…

  • Tax Policy’s Impediment to Economic Betterment

    Elliot Schreur
    11 Jun 2013 | 1:52 pm
    If saving is the first step to economic success, current tax policy is the gate at the bottom of the stairs. As a recent Congressional Budget Office report shows, most of the tax incentives associated with retirement savings under our current system are out of reach for lower income families, while the households with the highest incomes receive huge financial benefits that fortify their existing financial security. Tax policy has the potential to open the path to economic mobility by encouraging saving and ownership among those who have the farthest to climb. Instead, our system largely…

  • Asset Building News Week, June 4-7

    Hannah Emple
    7 Jun 2013 | 6:28 am
    The Asset Building News Week is a weekly Friday feature on The Ladder, the Asset Building Program blog, designed to help readers keep up with news and developments in the asset building field. This week's topics include housing, health and wealth, financial services, and unemployment. HousingThe Center for American Progress has a new report out this week on making the mortgage market work better for American families. The New York Times reports on the phenomenon of large firms being the key drivers of the so-called housing “recovery.” As they put it, “Large investment firms have spent…
 
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    microfinance news - Google News

  • Can microfinance ease Europe's crisis? - West - Welfare Society Territory

    19 Jun 2013 | 7:38 am
    West - Welfare Society TerritoryCan microfinance ease Europe's crisis?West - Welfare Society Territory“Customers shouldn't have to go to the bank; the bank should go to the customers.” So wrote Muhammad Yunus in 1998, setting out the theoretical foundations of microfinance, one of the most revolutionary development strategies of the past 20 years

  • Delinquency rate of micro-finance institutions fall to 1%: Equifax - Myiris.com

    19 Jun 2013 | 4:43 am
    Moneycontrol.comDelinquency rate of micro-finance institutions fall to 1%: EquifaxMyiris.comEquifax Credit Information Services (Equifax) today reported that the delinquency rate, a key measure of the quality of outstanding loans used by micro-finance institutions (MFIs) has improved in the past six months. This is based on findings from its MFI delinquencies down 33% in last 6 months: EquifaxZee Newsall 2 news articles »

  • IFC Supports Microfinance Lending, to Help Entrepreneurs and Create Jobs in ... - Messenger.ge

    18 Jun 2013 | 7:31 am
    IFC Supports Microfinance Lending, to Help Entrepreneurs and Create Jobs in Messenger.geIFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping a leading microfinance institution in Georgia to increase lending to micro and small businesses, creating jobs, boosting the economy, and reducing poverty especially in rural areas. IFC will provide

  • Is Microfinance still a force for good? - Nouse

    18 Jun 2013 | 4:03 am
    Is Microfinance still a force for good?Nousekalyan3 Microfinance refers to financial services for low-income individuals who are without access to banking services. It was developed by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel prize-winner and founder of the Grameen bank. It started when he launched a project in 

  • Pride Microfinance Limited. - New Vision

    17 Jun 2013 | 5:06 am
    Pride Microfinance Limited.New VisionPRIDE MICROFINANCE LTD (MDI) has allocated funds to be used for the procurement of a consultancy services to perform and independent audit of Pride's ICT processes, systems and infrastructure. 2. PRIDE MICROFINANCE LTD (MDI) invites sealed bids 
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    Kiva Loans

  • Kotognongontala 2 Group : Mali

    19 Jun 2013 | 11:10 am
    $1,525 of $1,800 raised. Started raising funds on Jun 19, 2013 The ten members of the Kotognongontala 2 group are all married women. They have an average age of 46 years, and have an average of three children each. They all live in traditional families in Fachoribougou, a village in Sikasso, the third-largest administrative region in Mali. They collaborate with the Soro Yiriwaso microfinance institution so that they can successfully continue with their businesses during the rainy season. They are on their tenth loan with the institution, and have repaid all their prior loans without incident.

  • Mary : Ghana

    19 Jun 2013 | 10:20 am
    $175 of $250 raised. Started raising funds on Jun 19, 2013 Although she received no prior formal education, Mary is an entrepreneur specializing in selling groceries and palm oil in Hohoe. She has been involved in this enterprise for 10 years. Married to a carpenter and a mother of four, Mary's business proceeds normally go towards helping her husband cover the family’s general expenses and their children’s school fees. Mary wants to use this loan to increase her current inventory levels so she can sell greater quantities of groceries and palm oil. In the long term, she plans to reinvest…

  • Flor De Retamas Ii Group : Bolivia

    19 Jun 2013 | 10:00 am
    $200 of $2,125 raised. Started raising funds on Jun 19, 2013 The “Flor de Retama” communal bank will start the third cycle in Pro Mujer as part of the Senkata Focal Center. It has six members led by a governing board presided over by Adelaida. The communal bank members carry out a variety of occupations among which are: ‘aguayo’ [traditional sling] weaving, clothing sale, blanket sales, mobile phone sales, American clothes sales, bag sales and knitwear sales. The loan they’ll take out will benefit small micro businesswomen like Adelaida. She indicates that she’s been a member of…

  • Nuevas Amigas De Viacha Group : Bolivia

    19 Jun 2013 | 9:50 am
    $625 of $1,775 raised. Started raising funds on Jun 19, 2013 The “Nuevas Amigas de Viacha” communal bank will start the fifth cycle in Pro Mujer as part of the Cascada Focal Center. It has seven members led by a governing board presided over by Flora. The communal bank members carry out a variety of businesses among which are: blanket weaving, construction worker helper, turnover sales and neighborhood store. The loan they’ll take out will benefit small micro businesswomen like Flora. She indicates that this is the first time she’s joined Pro Mujer having been invited by an…

  • Yunguyo Group : Bolivia

    19 Jun 2013 | 9:20 am
    $1,050 of $3,550 raised. Started raising funds on Jun 19, 2013 The “YUNGUYO” community bank are starting their seventh loan cycle with Pro Mujer, as part of the Los Andes regional office. The group has eight members and is run by a board of directors which has Rosalía as its president. The businesses that the women are engaged in are varied and include: knitting sweaters, selling hair accessories, knitting blankets and running a neighborhood store. This loan will benefit these small micro-businesswomen of which Rosalía is one. Rosalía says that she joined Pro Mujer four years ago,…
 
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    The Big Picture

  • The Cost of Cash

    Barry Ritholtz
    19 Jun 2013 | 9:00 am
    I am not sure I fully agree with this BlackRock chart — there are times when cash makes sense. However, I cannot disagree with the takeaway that you cannot sit in cash for very long stretches of time (years) and expect any sort of return above inflation.   Click to enlarge Source: BlackRock

  • 10 Mid-Week AM Reads

    Barry Ritholtz
    19 Jun 2013 | 7:00 am
    My morning reads: • How to Understand What the Fed Says (Bloomberg) see also 5 Ideas to Help You Read Bernanke’s Mind (Fiscal Times) • On what really is different this time around (FT Alphaville) • Is this a good thing? Quant Trading Comes to Main Street (Fortune) • How’s that “End-of-the-World’ Trade working out for ya? (The Reformed Broker) • Bond Investors Head for the Hills (WSJ) see also Making the Case for a Rise in Inflation (NYT) • Krueger: Sequester Cuts Hurting Key Research (Washington Wire) • CBO’s Case for Immigration: $197 Billion Cut in U.S.

  • Time, Time, Time Is On Your Side (Yes it is)

    Barry Ritholtz
    19 Jun 2013 | 4:15 am
    Source: Motley Fool   Morgan Housel has a very insightful column this morning, driven by one of my favorite topics: Taking yourself out of the minute-to-minute, day-to-day time frame and rethinking your investing parameters in terms of years and decades. That longer time frame is an enormous luxury, a monstrous advantage amateurs at home have over the pros. Here’s Housel: “You’re trying to fund your retirement over the next 20 years. Hedge fund managers have to woo their clients every month. You’re saving for your kids’ education next decade. Mutual fund…

  • Equity Market Review for June 18th 2013

    Kevin Lane
    19 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    Click to enlarge Major U.S. indices such as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite have both recently stabilized and bounced for the second time off their respective 50 day moving averages.  Though historically June tends to be a negative month for stocks, with only 9 trading days left in the quarter we wonder aloud whether quarter ending “window dressing” will keep stocks elevated until June passes. Market internals have certainly shown some deterioration of late, however, the old adage is to respect the trend and the trend still remains up as long as the recent lows, near the…

  • Thickness of Ice Sheets

    Barry Ritholtz
    19 Jun 2013 | 2:00 am
    Amusing: Click to enlarge Source: xkcd
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    Finance Trends Matter

  • S&P 500 vs. gold stocks: 3-year performance chart

    12 Jun 2013 | 1:56 pm
    S&P 500 (SPX) versus gold stocks (HUI), June 2010 - June 2013. This relative performance chart shows SPX decoupling from the HUI Gold Index (aka the NYSE Arca Gold BUGS index) in 2011 and greatly outperforming the gold stocks up to mid-2013. Since June 2010, SPX is up around 51 percent while the HUI is down 41 percent for the same period. Whether you're a "gold bug" or not, it pays to take note of the price action in gold stocks, which may run in tandem with the gold price or take their own separate course at times. Although we did see a nice bounce in the gold mining…

  • Hitchhiking across America: embracing optionality and risk

    20 May 2013 | 5:40 pm
    Have you ever wanted to spend a month hitchhiking your way across country, or see the American landscape pass by from the inside of a freight train boxcar? In the Vice documentary series, How to Hitchhike Across America: Thumbs Up, artist David Choe and his friend/nephew Harry Kim show us how to do just that.   Note: You can watch the full series by clicking through to the next episode link at the end of each clip.I started watching this series on YouTube without any real expectations and was sucked in. The two start off hopping a freight train out of Los Angeles. As they make…

  • New high for the S&P 500: back up the mountain

    15 May 2013 | 1:35 pm
    We've reached a new all-time high on the S+P 500 (in nominal terms, anyway) with today's close of 1,658.78. Four years from the March 2009 bottom, we're up nearly 1,000 points on the SPX. If we go back to the weekly close of 1,576 from the last bull market high (in October 2007), that's a 1,902 point round-trip in the S+P. We've gone down, and back up, the mountain in that time. There has been broad participation in this latest move higher, with over 90% of S+P 500 stocks trading above their 200 day moving average. The trend is up and the market continues to climb the (increasingly…

  • Bonds vs. stocks, March 2009 - April 2013

    30 Apr 2013 | 10:50 am
    Shared this relative performance chart of bonds vs. equities on StockTwits this morning, and wanted to post it here for our readers. Here is TLT (US Treasury bonds) vs. the returns of QQQ (Nasdaq 100 ETF) and SPY (S&P 500 ETF), from March 13, 2009 to April 30, 2013. As you can see from the chart above, TLT has gained about 20 percent (not including dividends) in this 4 year period. QQQ is up 144 percent and SPY is up 110 percent from the start of this recent bull market in equities. In terms of price (directional) correlation, you'll note that while the QQQ and SPY are very…

  • Futures and stocks: YTD performance charts

    12 Apr 2013 | 3:35 pm
    A quick look at the year-to-date performance of futures and stocks on Finviz. Natural gas tops the futures list for relative performance. Nat gas is up 27% YTD. Right behind it is the Nikkei 225 index, up 27%, getting a boost from the latest BOJ monetary easing efforts (note: Yen is down 12% YTD). The Dow Industrials are up 13.5% YTD and the S&P 500 is up 11%. Remember what we learned from Ray Dalio: currency depreciation and money printing are good for stocks (at least in nominal terms). Gold and silver have been selling off in recent weeks. The precious metals took a hard…
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    Microfinance and beyond...

  • UK government leads G8 efforts to grow the market for impact investments

    9 Jun 2013 | 9:54 am
    UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced the launch of the Social Stock Exchange (SSE), a tax break consultation for social investors and £250m to help communities buy and support local businesses at the Social Impact Investment Conference on June 6th ahead of the G8 summit. The G8 leaders are embracing the promise of impact investments. The U.S. Small Business Administration is nearly doubling the amount it will put into impact investment funds, to $150 million from $80 million. An open letter from the industry which was published in last weekend's Financial Times, applauded the PM and the…

  • Free web-based UNCDF Microfinance Distance Learning Course

    22 Apr 2013 | 7:54 am
    For anyone who would like to learn about Microfinance this is a great online tool. I took this distance learning course back in 2003 and it was great but now it is interactive and it is free. A thanks to Camelia Hrab for sending me this info. UNDP Microfinance Distance Learning Course

  • Social Progress Index- going beyond GDP

    18 Apr 2013 | 9:08 am
    A new benchmark to measure the wellbeing and success of countries, the Social Progress Index (SPI), was launched at the 10th Skoll World Forum (April 10-12). This initiative was launched by the Social Progress Imperative and Harvard Business School Prof. Michael Porter (who co-created the business concept of "creating shared value"). This new measure aims to provide a more holistic measurement compared to the one dimensional GDP per capita to assess the progress and standing of countries which shall be useful to policy makers as well as corporations. The SPI measures the extent to which…

  • What's new in crowdfunding, crowdinvesting

    17 Mar 2013 | 9:56 am
    Crowdfunding platforms are continuing to be launched and according to industry sources there are more than 500 platforms. Of the 4 types of crowdfunding sites (donation-based, reward-based, loan based and equity based) this year we are likely to see a surge of equity based crowdfunding sites (in particular in the USA) that would allow for investment in startups. This is due to the passage of the JOBS Act last year that includes the Crowdfund Act. A recent article titled Crowdfunding Clean Energy by David Bornstein gives an excellent insight on the recent trends in this area. In addition to…

  • Learning Creative Learning a live/online course of MIT Media Lab

    11 Feb 2013 | 7:59 am
    I am taking part in this experimental course Learning Creative Learning offered by MIT Media Lab. It is awesome that nowadays one can learn from wherever one is (as long as one has internet connection) an amazing number of different courses and many of these are for free. It is the start of the democratization of education. The MOOC (massive open online courses) revolution is certainly changing the way we learn and interact with the teachers and classmates and the way schools and universities operate. For anyone interested in seeing what kind of courses one can apply checkout Coursera you…
 
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    ThinkChange India

  • Infuse makes debut investment in intelligent energy management firm Ecolibrium Energy

    admin
    27 May 2013 | 5:54 am
    Infuse Capital, India’s first sustainable energy and cleantech early-stage venture capital fund, has announced its first investment of around $0.6m into Ecolibrium Energy, an Ahmedabad-based smart-grid and energy management company. Infuse has been set-up by IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) and is currently backed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), BP, World Bank member IFC and Technology Development Board. Infuse, which also recently announced the initial closing, shall invest in and handhold India-based seed and early-stage…

  • World Bank Group Awards $2 Million to Social Enterprises in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand

    admin
    3 May 2013 | 5:21 am
    Twenty social enterprises were awarded grants totaling $2 million by the India Development Marketplace (DM) funded by the World Bank Group (WBG). The grantees received $100,000 each to extend and scale up their innovative business models in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. A number of financial institutions, social entrepreneurs, investors and government officials participated at the India DM event organized to showcase these development solutions to the problems of the most vulnerable people. Through its India Development Marketplace initiative, the World Bank Group…

  • World Bank Development Marketplace India 2013

    Shital Shah
    23 Apr 2013 | 11:42 pm
    The World Bank Development Marketplace (DM) held its annual business plan competition for social enterprises in India again this year, with a focus on the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, and Jharkhand. DM 2013 will provide grants between $50,000 and $100,000 to the winning social enterprises to assist them to replicate/scale projects/business models with demonstrated operational viability/proof of concept and financial sustainability, to deliver public goods and services to poor. DM grant support would fund enterprises to meet expenditures of goods and services in the nature of…

  • Applications for the Villgro Fellowship 2013 now Open

    admin
    13 Apr 2013 | 4:27 am
    For those who want to rewrite their lifescript. If your desire to make a difference to the world was somehow lost in your search for a stable career, here is your chance to rediscover it. The Villgro Fellowship is an opportunity to take a break from your script and experiment with an alternative career. On the one hand is the social entrepreneur, who is always short of critical human resources. On the other hand is the mid-career professional, who always wonders how his or her skills could be used for something larger than just making money. Well, the Villgro Fellowship is that magical bridge…

  • CIIE-Village Capital announce winners of Tech for Impact Accelerator program

    admin
    4 Apr 2013 | 11:28 pm
    CIIE- IIM Ahmedabad and Village Capital, have announced the 16 ventures selected to participate in their “Technology for Impact Accelerator” program for business creating social impact. The accelerator focuses on for-profit, commercially scalable Indian startups that display a high level of social value in their tech-driven or tech-enabled offerings. The accelerator will focus on technology ventures operating in the mobile/ICT, health, agribusiness, education, sustainability and livelihood solutions verticals. With the first of three 4-day sessions at the IIM-A campus beginning on April…
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    IFMR Blog

  • FSLRC on Systemic Risk

    ifmr
    18 Jun 2013 | 10:53 pm
    By Vishnu Prasad, IFMR Finance Foundation This post is a continuation of our blog series on the FSLRC report. Following the IMF-FSB-BIS definition, the FSLRC defines systemic risk as “[a] risk of disruption to financial services that is caused by an impairment of all or parts of the financial system and has the potential to have serious negative consequences for the real economy.” The Commission envisages systemic risk oversight as the fourth pillar of financial regulation, along with consumer protection, micro-prudential regulation and resolution. However, unlike the other pillars,…

  • Housing Rental Markets for the Poor (and not-so-poor)

    ifmr
    16 Jun 2013 | 10:14 pm
    I read an excellent post by Ajay Shah recently that questioned the policy wisdom of emphasising house ownership over rental housing. His concerns stem from hampering the mobility of labour and worsening risk diversification in the portfolios of households. While these concerns are true for most households, they are much exacerbated in the case of low-income families. Take a typical worker employed in the construction sector earning, say Rs. 4500 per month. He faces two significant risks to income: accident/health shock resulting in temporary or permanent disability and unemployment resulting…

  • Making Room for a Planet of Cities

    ifmr
    10 Jun 2013 | 11:28 pm
    Below is a excerpt from a post by Vishnu Prasad, IFMR Finance Foundation, on the Financing Small Cities blog. In a report titled “Making Room for a Planet of Cities”, Shlomo Angel et al examine how the prevailing planning paradigm of containment, which is predicated on the containment of sprawl in cities, is unsuitable for rapidly urbanizing countries like India. The report is based on a study of the historical evolution of urban land cover in 120 cities, including 30 cities for which maps and data are available from 1800. Click here to read the full post. Also the blog’s latest…

  • How Utkarsh Microfinance handles Customer Grievance

    ifmr
    4 Jun 2013 | 11:40 pm
    By Aniket Deshpande, IFMR Capital On a recent visit to MFIs working in eastern Uttar Pradesh, we chanced upon some great innovations and field practices, which are clearly taking customer focus to the next level. In this post, I elaborate on the innovation we saw at Utkarsh Microfinance in Varanasi. To give a brief background, Utkarsh, started by Mr. Govind Singh, formerly of ICICI Bank, is one of IFMR Capital’s early partners and has shown tremendous performance over the last four years, having grown to a remarkable scale rapidly. Currently they have reached out to almost two lakh…

  • Pudhuaaru KGFS Turns Five

    ifmr
    1 Jun 2013 | 9:39 am
    By Puneet Gupta, IFMR Rural Finance, with inputs from Darshana Rajendran & Balajee GE Five years ago on this day, we took a definitive step towards executing against our vision of delivering financial well-being for rural India with the first branch of Pudhuaaru KGFS going live in Karambayam village of Thanjavur district. Karambayam had no bank branch (then and now). The credit cooperative society that used to function in the area was defunct. The nearest bank branch is more than 5 kms away. In five years, the KGFS branch in Karambayam has enrolled 2076 unique households with multiple…
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