Invest in Visions breaks the €1 billion mark
28. April 2022
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We are very excited about this milestone. When I founded Invest in Visions in 2006, the topic of microfinance was still quite unknown in the industry and we had to do a lot of convincing investors about the positive effects, and convey that social commitment hand in hand with financial returns is quite possible
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Edda Schröder, Managing Director of Invest in Visions GmbH
In 2011, the Impact Investor launched the IIV Microfinance Fund – the first microfinance fund in Germany for private and institutional investors. The first loan was granted to a small microfinance institution in Tajikistan, and today Invest in Visions has 99 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 35 countries. In 2021, the target countries were expanded to include Botswana, Costa Rica, Colombia, Nigeria, Romania and Tanzania. The focus is on small and medium-sized MFIs, mainly in South America (around 24%), followed by Central America and the Caribbean (around 16%) and Central Asia (around 14%).
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We are constantly looking for new investment opportunities. Due to macroeconomic, geopolitical or risk-related influences, it is always a challenge to maintain our high quality standards. After all, we are not only committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but also have a responsibility to our investors,
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Edda Schröder, Managing Director of Invest in Visions GmbH
With the launch of the fund, the concept convinced the investors. In the summer of 2015, the fund volume reached 160 million euros, but one year later it reached 298 million euros. Almost eleven years after its launch, the IIV Microfinance Fund alone, the flagship of Invest in Visions, has now grown to a volume of 893.56 million euros* and inspires countless investors – both institutional and private individuals. The Invest in Visions fund family also includes two special funds, the IIV Microfinance Bond and the IIV Sustainable SME Debt Fund EM – Finance for Future, which was launched in 2021 for institutional investors.
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icht nur das stete Wachstum freut uns, sondern auch, dass viele Investoren nach wie vor von unserem Konzept überzeugt sind und uns seit Jahren ihre Gelder anvertrauen
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Edda Schröder
As the volume has grown, so has the number of employees at Invest in Visions to 25. But that’s not all: “I see our success above all in our positive social impact, which we measure, among other things, on the basis of the final borrowers reached. In 2021 alone, we were able to increase this number by around 30,000 new final borrowers despite Corona restrictions and now have more than 690,000 people for whom we have been able to enable a better, future-oriented life with our funds,” says Schröder.
* As of March 31, 2022
