Microfinance and Capital Markets - Council of Microfinance Equity ...

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe appreciate the generosity of Calmeadow in providing funding for this paper. Wewould also like to acknowledge the support provided by Deborah Drake and ACCIONInternational in allowing Zach Grafe to work on this paper, while working at ACCION asan intern. We also appreciate the support of Professor Richard Aronson and theMartindale Center at Lehigh University for this work .We thank the individuals whoagreed to serve as reviewers for this paper and who also provided us a number ofvaluable comments and insights—Alex Silva, Paul Christensen, Jennifer Isern,Marguerite Robinson, Richard Rosenberg and Jose Ruisanchez. Any errors, mistakes oromissions are of course those of the authors. I would also like to thank my co-authorswho worked throughout the summer of 2007 on the paper so we would have a completedraft ready for the CMEF meeting on October 10-11, 2007, in Amsterdam. Last, wewould like to thank Anita Gardeva and Kelley Mesa from ACCION for editing this paperin preparation for the CMEF Conference in May 2008.Ira. W. LiebermanMay 2008ABOUT THE COUNCIL OF MICROFINANCE EQUITY FUNDSThe Council of Microfinance Equity Funds (CMEF) is a membership organization ofprivate entities that make equity investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs)throughout the developing world. Council members seek both social and financial returnsfrom their investments in these MFIs. The Council’s purpose is three-fold: 1) to articulateand disseminate the knowledge and expertise about equity in microfinance of theCouncil’s members among themselves and to other MFI stakeholders; 2) to presentguidelines and principles for effective investment in MFIs; 3) to conceive of a futurestrategy for the role of investment capital in microfinance with a particular emphasis onattracting private investors in microfinance. ACCION International, the CouncilCoordinator, originally brought together the group to create the Council in 2002, and itwas formally launched in 2003.1