ACTIAM Institutional Microfinance Fund III has been renamed as the ACTIAM Financial Inclusion Fund and will look to build on the successful track record gained by the asset manager over the years in the field of microfinance.
The ACTIAM Financial Inclusion Fund’s aim is to achieve positive social impact by extending private loans to financial institutions in emerging countries and thus to help micro-enterprises and MSMEs (micro and SME companies) to gain access to financing in such countries. New professional investors can join a portfolio which is already fully invested and which has a successful track record. The fund actively contributes to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The fund responds to the growth trend from the micro to the MSME segment in this region. In emerging countries, the MSME sector accounts for 45 per cent of all employment, four out of five formal jobs and 33 per cent of national income.
Theo Brouwers, Managing Director of ACTIAM Impact Investing, says: “From a world population of 7.6 billion, there are still 1.7 billion people who don’t have a bank account or mobile payment account. This is why financial inclusion forms part of seven out of the seventeen SDGs. This means that private customers and smaller enterprises have access to useful, affordable products and services that meet their needs and that are provided in a sustainable, responsible manner. ACTIAM believes that the financial sector has a fiduciary role in leading this transition towards a sustainable society. The ACTIAM Financial Inclusion Fund makes an excellent contribution in this respect – following the ACTIAM Institutional Microfinance Funds I and II.”
