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Nov
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
Jul
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2022-07-24 20:00:00
2022-07-24 20:00:00
APEC Webinar on Strategies and Initiatives on Digital Financial Inclusion 25-27 July 2022 hosted by BSP
We invite members of the SME Finance Forum to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Webinar on Strategies and Initiatives on Digital Financial Inclusion: Lessons from Experiences of APEC Economies, hosted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP/ Philippine Central Bank).
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
About the Host
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines. It was established on 3 July 1993 pursuant to the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the New Central Bank Act of 1993. The BSP took over from Central Bank of Philippines, which was established on 3 January 1949, as the country’s central monetary authority. The BSP enjoys fiscal and administrative autonomy from the National Government in the pursuit of its mandated responsibilities.
The following topics will be covered in the webinar:
- State of Digital Financial Inclusion – Consumer Issues
- The Prevalence of Fintech – Benefits and Risks
- The Prevalence of Fintech – Innovations
- Digital Financial Inclusion Policies that Work – In focus
- Digital Financial Inclusion Policies that Work – Synergy
Moderator: Matthew Gamser for the session on The Prevalence of Fintech – Benefits and Risks
This member-only event will be held online from 25-27 July.
If you are interested, please reach out to smefinanceforum@ifc.org
WEBINAR
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
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Jul
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
Jun
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2022-06-21 20:00:00
2022-06-21 20:00:00
Open Webinar: SME Lending & Social Impact in India
Session Description and objectives
Small businesses in India employ over 100 million people or 40% of India’s workforce and account for 29% of India’s GDP and 49% of its exports. The SME Finance gap in India is $221 billion or 10% of its GDP. However, current credit products are designed to serve only a section of the MSMEs (600,000 of them) leaving out a whopping 60+ million MSMEs. At the same time, the volume of impact investments is growing fast, since its inception in 2001. Since 2010, cumulative impact investment in India has been over $5 billion. In 2015 alone, $1 billion in impact investments were made. According to McKinsey, India has the potential to grow its impact investments by up to 25% by 2025, adding up to between $6 to $8 billion invested. While impact investments are a promising solution to bridging the SME finance gap, there are several challenges in this sector. According to the Brookings Institution India Center survey of impact investors, the top three significant challenges in the Indian context were appropriate capital across the risk-return spectrum, suitable exit options, and impact measurement.
In this webinar, we will examine the challenges and opportunities faced by Indian impact investors while financing SMEs. We will focus on best practices in measuring non-financial returns on investments by reviewing U GRO Impact Assessment Study conducted by Sattva Consulting. We will examine the tension and pressure arising from the necessity to deliver on both social and environmental fronts as well as the financial front in the absence of concessionary capital. And finally, the panelists will discuss the role of regulators and public-private partnerships.
Questions for Discussion
Impact measurement: A cornerstone of impact investing is the intentional provision of measurable non-financial social and environmental returns in addition to conventional financial returns.
What are the best practices in establishing causality between inputs, outputs and outcomes on one hand and social and environmental impact on the other? In India, there are several impact measurement infrastructures such as 1) rating systems (i.e., B-Impact Assessment (BIA) & Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS); Portfolio, Risk, Impact, and Sustainability Measurement (PRISM)); 2) assessment systems (i.e., Social Return on Investment & Cost-Benefit Analysis) and 3) management systems (Impact Reporting and Investing Standards (IRIS), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), B-Analytics and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)). How did you choose the methodology for U GRO’s impact assessment? Why did you decide to focus on SDGs?
Returns in the absence of concessionary capital. The latest research shows that investors derive nonpecuniary utility from investing in dual-objective Venture Capital funds, thus sacrificing returns. Impact funds earn 4.7 percentage points lower internal rates of return ex-post than traditional VC funds. While those impact investors who primarily seek exposure to social impacts with a concessionary approach to financial returns still dominate the sector, a new breed of impact investors looking for high investment multiples are rising. How long will investors continue accepting lower rates of return in exchange for higher social and environmental impact? Will this dynamic influence investment volumes? How would the absence of concessionary capital influence risk management of impact investments?
Public-private partnerships. In 2014, India made it mandatory for companies of a certain size to spend 2% of their average net profit on corporate social responsibility and directed them to take a systemic approach. What are the examples of the best practices in public policy that encourage impact investments? Are there regulatory barriers to attracting more capital into impact investing?
Co-Organizer of the event:
U GRO is a Technology focused, small business lending platform based in Mumbai, India that focuses on addressing the capital needs of small businesses operating in select eight sectors by providing customized loan solutions. Do you want to know more about this SME Finance Forum member? Click here.
Host: Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum.
Moderator:
Shachindra Nath Vice Chairman & Managing Director of U GRO. He is a distinguished corporate leader and the Executive Chairman & Managing Director of U GRO Capital. A university rank holder in Law from the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU), his rise from the humble beginnings in the carpet industry where he witnessed the strife of small businesses to access credit to turning entrepreneur is noteworthy. In his career spanning three decades, Mr Nath has been influential in building two insurance companies, a large asset management company and an NBFC. Some of his biggest achievements include establishing new business verticals alongside foraying into successful joint ventures and partnerships for the group. He has now taken on the role of an entrepreneur by acquiring control of a listed NBFC in 2018 and subsequently rebranding it as U GRO Capital. The company simultaneously raised capital of INR 9500 million under his leadership which is believed to be one of the largest institutional capital raising feats for an NBFC. Mr Nath is known to be an influencer and a hands-on leader who trusts his instincts. At present, he is focused on the MSME credit gap in India. Unlike many other techpreneurs, he is not interested in developing a dotcom company and selling it in a few years. Instead, he wants U GRO Capital to be as technology-driven as any other fintech start-up but wants it to be a business that stands the test of time.
Speakers:
Deepa Hingorani is Vice President at IFU, The Danish Investment Fund for developing countries. She is the global head for Financial services and also the head for Asia at IFU, based in Singapore. IFU is a Danish Government-owned investment fund that invests equity and debt for impact in emerging markets.
She has 27 years of investment experience with transactions in Climate, Agribusiness, Financial Inclusion, Manufacturing and Healthcare. She had an instrumental role in marking IFU’s entry into the financial inclusion space in 2010.
Deepa holds a master's in Finance from the University of Delhi and an Executive MBA from SIMI Copenhagen.
Ms. Bama Balakrishnan, Chief Operating Officer. Bama is the COO of Northern Arc Capital. She was previously the Chief Financial Officer in 2017. In her role as CFO, she played a key role in deepening access to liabilities and completing a significant capital raise for Northern Arc. She joined Northern Arc Capital in 2012 and initially served as the Chief Risk Officer. In this phase, she led the strengthening of the risk management approach as the company scaled up across multiple new sectors. Prior to Northern Arc Capital, Bama worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years initially in the structured finance team and later lead teams in corporate and investment banking in India, USA and Singapore. She is a Director on the Board of Dvara Research, a policy research institution with a focus on financial systems design and household finance as key areas.
Aditya Mohan is currently Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management and has over a decade’s experience in impact investing. He currently oversees a portfolio of private equity and debt investments with a focus on financial institutions, agri-enterprises and renewable energy in Asia. He was earlier associated with BlueOrchard Finance where he was part of the Asia debt investment team. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Erasmus University, Rotterdam.
Nikunj Oli
Investment Specialist at ADB
In case you’re unable to catch the live webinar, here is the recording, which you can watch at your convenience> https://vimeo.com/722998096
Online
SME FINANCE FORUM
ronyg@panapps.co
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Jun
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
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2022-06-11 20:00:00
2022-06-11 20:00:00
Virtual Workshop: Digitalizing Supply Chain Finance
Virtual Workshop: Transition Digitalizing Supply chain finance
The value of global supply-chain finance (SCF) market remains significantly untapped. According to a recent Mckinsey report, nearly 80 percent of eligible assets do not benefit from better working-capital financing, and the remaining one-fifth of assets are often inefficiently financed.
The global supply chain finance industry has the potential and can fulfill the basic promise of financing the working capital necessary to run any business. Digitalizing supply chain finance can benefit the entire supply and distribution ecosystem if done properly, enabling corporate buyers to secure inventory by extending payment terms, and increasing certainty on forward orders for suppliers. Both banks and nonbank SCF providers can generate stable, short-term, lower-risk recurring transaction volumes while creating an avenue for broader offerings such as foreign exchange, cash management, and capital markets products.
SCF has only partially delivered on this promise despite many emerging and promising catalysts such as digital delivery, fintech innovation, industry utilities, blockchain, and API technologies. Often it is focused on larger, well-financed multinational corporations and their first-tier suppliers only, while smaller and under-financed enterprises down the chain face barriers to access. Many institutions cannot offer the full range of SCF products, because they have limits on exposure or risk and limited expertise in underwriting and because they lack existing processes. The fragmentation of SCF platforms and data sharing makes the task even more difficult.
Considering the important role of SCF, the APFF, in partnership with the SME Finance Forum, is organizing this workshop to explore ways for digitalization to unlock the potential of SCF and bring meaningful changes in access to and availability of SCF for SMEs. The workshop will attempt to address the following questions:
1. How global value chains are being reshaped by cross-border data flows and new technologies.
2. How regulators and policymakers could support and address challenges resulting from the cross-border nature of SCF.
Co-organized by
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
SME Finance Forum
Office of SMEs Promotion Thailand (OSMEP)
Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF)
Co-hosted by
Thai Bankers’ Association
Office of SMEs Promotion Thailand (OSMEP)
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:
APEC Business Advisory Council
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was created by the APEC Economic Leaders in November 1995 to provide advice on the implementation of the Osaka Action Agenda and on other specific business sector priorities, and to respond when the various APEC fora request information about business-related issues or to provide the business perspective on specific areas of cooperation. ABAC comprises of up to three members of the private sector from each economy.
APFF Sustainable Finance Development Network
The Sustainable Finance Development Network (SFDN) was set up within the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) as recommended by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in 2020. It serves as an international platform for private-public sector collaboration, accelerating the convergence of sustainable finance policies among APEC economies and strengthening the region as they develop a common global sustainability framework. This is done primarily through activities supporting the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process and assisting ABAC in developing its high-level recommendations to the Finance Ministers. In 2022, SFDN is mandated to support ABAC in developing recommendations in five key areas, which include MSME transition.
The Office of SMEs Promotion, Thailand
The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) is a government agency under the Office of the Prime Minister. The establishment of OSMEP was endorsed by the Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Act, B.E. 2543 (2000) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Act (NO. 2), B.E. 2561 (2018). It is the leading organization in formulating policies and strategies on MSME promotion as well as to serve as a focal agency in coordinating the network systems of public and private sectors in order to drive MSMEs to grow with strength and sustainability.
SME Finance Forum
The SME Finance Forum, managed by the International Finance Corporation, was established by the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) in 2012 as a knowledge center for data, research and best practice in promoting SME finance. It works to expand access to finance for small and medium businesses. The Forum operates a global membership network of over 220 members that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs.
Thai Bankers’ Association
Since its establishment in 1958, the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) has played an active role in representing the banking community in discussions with the Bank of Thailand, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, and other government agencies in formulating and implementing key economic and financial policies. It collaborated with the Board of Trade of Thailand and the Federation of Thai Industries in establishing the Joint Public-Private Consultative Committee, a prominent forum to discuss on-going national issues with the government, which often results in very fruitful adjustment of government policies or amendment of laws and regulations that are conducive to efficient practices in trade and investment. TBA is also a founding member of the ASEAN Bankers Association and works closely with the Foreign Banks Association in various banking issues, including improving the payment system, formulating guidelines for common practice on rule and regulations, and organizing joint charity activities.
13 June 2021
1800-2100 Canada, Mexico and USA (Pacific Daylight Time)
2000-2300 Canada, Mexico and USA (Central Daylight Time)/Peru
2100-2400 Canada, Mexico and USA (Eastern Daylight Time)/Chile
14 June 2021
0400-0700 Russia (Moscow Standard Time)
0800-1100 Indonesia (Western Indonesian Time)/Thailand/Viet Nam
0900-1200 Brunei Darussalam/China/Hong Kong, China/Malaysia/The Philippines/Singapore/Chinese Taipei
1000-1300 Japan/Korea
1100-1400 Australia (Australian Eastern Standard Time)/Papua New Guinea
1300-1600 New Zealand
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Jun
22
SME FINANCE FORUM
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2022-05-31 20:00:00
2022-05-31 20:00:00
SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - June Monthly Session
The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors. The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.
How does the Marketplace operate?
To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.
To learn how to set up a company profile, a listing and an individual profile, please read the User Manual in this link.
Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.
June Marketplace Session
If you missed that session, you can relive it now!
Access Bank
Ayo Olojede is the Group Head, Emerging Businesses at Access Bank. She is responsible for the strategy formulation to deliver the bottom-line factor of the division. Ayo has over 20 years operational banking experience in Africa and North America at HSBC and Skye Bank (now Polaris) prior to joining Access Bank. She is very passionate about the sustainable growth of MSMEs and possesses strong knowledge and hands on experience of best practices in SME banking, value propositions and risk management approaches to expand financial access to SMEs and women led businesses. Her work has achieved recognition for “best in class” SME specific credit assessment methodology both locally and internationally to expand lending to “new to Borrowing” SMEs. She is a member of the bank’s Digital Council which has overall responsibility for the bank’s digital strategy, approved partnership with fintech companies and monitoring the implementation of digital initiatives. She is a university scholar, a Fellow Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management, Evanston. She speaks globally on SME Finance and Business services.
Lucy
Debbie Watkins is the CEO and co-founder of Lucy. Debbie has 20+ years of experience in technology for finance, mobile-enabled products and services, and business and strategy consulting. working in over 35 countries. She has led customer-centric market research and product development engagements; supported clients in technology platform needs assessment and implementation; managed multi-million-dollar projects in Asia and Africa; and built multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams in a number of countries. She has lived in Asia since 2000, and is based in Singapore where she is the CEO and co-founder of Lucy. Lucy is a neobank built to help women who are overlooked, underestimated, and underbanked become unstoppable by levelling the financial playing field. Lucy aims to empower women from all walks of life, by equipping them with the financial services, growth tools and peer support that they need to grow and thrive.
Secure Now
Kapil Mehta is the co-founder of SecureNow, an award-winning insurance broking firm that uses technology-based distribution to sell commercial insurances to MSMEs in India. Kapil writes regularly in the media, specifically on matters that impact policyholders. He is a director of the Insurance Broking Association of India, a policyholder representative on the Policyholder Protection Board Subcommittee of a life insurer and on the SME advisory board of a leading general insurer. He is also active in several industry associations and a Charter Member of TiE. Kapil was formerly the managing director of Prudential Financial’s life insurance company in India. Still earlier, he has worked with Max New York Life, McKinsey & Company and Unilever. Kapil has studied at IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi. He adores Calvin and Hobbes, and playing with Chip, his pet dog. He took to constructing crosswords during the pandemic after his attempt to have the family play Bridge failed. His first crossword was published in October 2021. Kapil’s spouse is an eye surgeon, elder daughter is studying law and younger son wants to be a doctor.
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