UMB Fund Services (UMBFS) has been selected to provide fund accounting and administration services for the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF).
UMB Fund Services (UMBFS) has been selected to provide fund accounting and administration services for the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF).
As a leader in alternative investment fund servicing, UMBFS will deliver professional services to the fund while making use of top-tier technology solutions, including AltPro, UMBFS’ proprietary accounting and reporting platform.
KRIF builds off of the groundbreaking work that the Kiva.org crowdfunding platform has done since 2016 to catalyse refugee lending around the world. Leveraging Kiva’s relationship with its 200 local field partners, Kiva Capital Management (KCM) was launched in 2019 to provide these financial service providers with additional institutional sources of capital. KRIF will help scale efforts to provide loans to global refugee populations, impacted host populations and areas prone to forced migration. Field partners will be able to extend financing to micro-entrepreneurs who are members of the refugee, internally displaced persons (IDPs), impacted host populations and those prone to forced migration in countries across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
To date, Kiva has mobilised philanthropic lenders on its crowdfunding platform to provide USD17 million to more than 20,000 refugee entrepreneurs, demonstrating the viability of lending to displaced populations. KRIF aims to reach over 200,000 borrowers while targeting impact-first returns for institutional investors.
“Kiva Capital and KRIF represents a continuation of Kiva’s mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive,” says Will Jacobsen, Senior Director of Strategic Investments at Kiva. “After a rigorous RFP process we are very excited to partner with UMBFS on KRIF and future strategies.”
UMBFS has been servicing alternative investments for decades and has demonstrated expertise across a variety of fund types, including private equity, real estate, hedge funds, venture capital, private debt and registered alternatives.
“We are honoured to provide fund services for Kiva as it expands its groundbreaking work to provide institutional capital to refugees across the globe,” says Jill Calton, executive vice president, executive director of alternative investments at UMB Fund Services. “Our team looks forward to offering our unparalleled client service and technology solutions to assist with what we believe will be the success of the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund.”
UMBFS is a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation, offering a complete line of products and services to the fund industry, including fund administration, fund accounting, tax, investor services and transfer agency, distribution and custody.
