Microfinance and Development Venture Capital

MicroVest - Director of Investments

MICROVEST

Job Title:            Director of Investments               

Job Status:                  Full Time Regular

Reports to:                 Chief Executive Officer

COMPANY SUMMARY: 

MicroVest Capital Management, LLC is a private investment management firm targeting microfinance institutions (MFIs) in emerging markets.  Its mission is to link private capital markets with the entrepreneurial poor or non-banked.  The company currently manages a debt and equity fund (MVI) with a portfolio of US $25 million, is in the process of closing a CDO with a large investment bank, and is actively developing other private investment facilities.

JOB SUMMARY: 

The Director of Investments, a member of the Senior Management team, will lead the investment team and manage a global microfinance portfolio across multiple funds and facilities. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Deal Origination

·         Develop and maintain pipeline to achieve the management Company’s profitability targets including target Assets under Management and yields

·         Identify new markets/prospects and deepen business relationships with existing clients

·         Oversee negotiations of deal structure and terms

·         Maintain an overall perspective on investment strategy, including focusing on deal origination of specific types, sizes and geographic locales

Investment analysis

·         Provide leadership and professional oversight/guidance in the assessment and structuring of debt and equity transactions with MFI prospects

·         Ensure thorough analysis of MFI financials and assessment of key risks

·         Lead in-country due diligence reviews

·         Review investment write-up proposals and present/defend to investment committee

Deal Execution

·         Ensure thorough understanding of investor rights in each country

·         Oversee proper execution of investment legal documents

Portfolio Management

·         Manage portfolio allocation by asset class and exposure levels within approved limits

·         Manage board relations on portfolio company boards

·         Guide/supervise the periodic portfolio review assessments with risk rating updates

·         Implement credit scoring methodology

Investment Administration

·         Implement overall investment strategy, and maintain investment policies and procedures

·         Hire, train, and manage investment staff, consultants, and volunteers

·         Develop annual investment team budget and goals

·         Coordinate cash flow projections (placements and amortization) with the CFO

·         Prepare quarterly investment performance reports for the Board and investors

Senior Management

·         Support strategy and development of new Fund structures

·         Work closely with other senior management members to generate new ideas for facilities, assess marketplace demand for specific facilities and provide feedback for new business concepts

·         Represent MicroVest at conferences and other events

·         Manage a team of investment officers

QUALIFICATIONS

·         At least seven to ten years of financial management experience

·         Deal origination and other relevant sales/negotiating experience

·         Proven leadership and team-building skills

·         Understanding of the international microfinance sector

·         Experience analyzing or operating financial institutions

·         Project management and/or auditing experience

·         Formal credit and/or investment training

·         Masters degree (MBA preferred)

·         Experience living or working in a developing country

·         Knowledge of loan syndications desirable

·         Multi-lingual (Spanish desired)

LOCATION

75%

Washington

, D.C. Metro Area; 25% travel

Microfinance CLO

For Immediate Release Launch of BlueOrchard Loans for Development 2007-1 (“BOLD 2”)
Landmark Rated Microfinance CLO
These materials are not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities to which these materials relate have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. There will be no public offering of the securities in the United States.
LONDON, 3 May 2007 - BlueOrchard Finance S.A. and Morgan Stanley announced today the launch of BlueOrchard Loans for Development 2007-1 (“BOLD 2”). BOLD 2 is a CLO of unsecured loans to 21 Microfinance Institutions (“MFIs”) based in 13 different developing countries (Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia, and Serbia).
The transaction will be rated by Standard & Poor’s. This is the first time a microfinance structured transaction has been rated by a major rating agency, and thus represents a major milestone for the microfinance industry.
BOLD 2 follows a similar but unrated transaction brought to market by BlueOrchard and Morgan Stanley in 2006, which was the first ever to be arranged by an investment bank.
Like its predecessor, BOLD 2 funds unsecured loans to a diverse portfolio of microfinance institutions globally. These funds will be on-lent by the MFIs to approximately 70,000 low-income people in the developing world for entrepreneurial activities. The loans to the MFIs will be denominated in a number of local currencies including Ghanaian Cedi, Mongolian Tugrik, Colombian Peso, Peruvian Sol and Russian Rouble, as well as USD and EUR. Denominating loans in local currency assists MFIs with their risk management and micro-entrepreneurs with their ability to match the currency of their liabilities and revenues. All the currencies will be swapped back to the currencies of the notes, in order to protect investors. The swap provider for all except the Ghanaian loan will be Morgan Stanley and for the Ghanaian loan it is intended to be Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (“FMO”).
The $108 MM equivalent CLO is expected to include two tranches of rated notes and three tranches of unrated notes. The rated classes will be Class A, USD 42 MM, rated AA and Class B, USD 16MM, rated BBB. The unrated notes will total USD 50 MM. The Class A notes will have an average life of 4.94 years and the other notes an average life of five years. Notes will be offered in different combinations of USD, EUR and GBP and fixed / floating bases.
BlueOrchard Finance S.A. is the sponsor and selects and services the portfolio of loans with Morgan Stanley acting as arranger and placement agent. Allen & Overy LLP is acting as transaction counsel. The notes will be offered and sold outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), and in the United States only to persons who are both “qualified institutional buyers” (as defined and in reliance on Rule 144A of the Securities Act) and “qualified persons” (as defined and in reliance on Section 2(a)(51) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended).
BOLD 2 offers investors the opportunity to invest in a new asset class with the unique combination of attractive financial returns and effective social returns. The aim of microfinance is to provide financial services to poor and low income people, who have been hitherto excluded from traditional commercial banking. Over the past 25 years, microfinance has become an effective way to promote economic and social development by aiming to build inclusive commercial services for the poor.
Jack Lowe, CEO BlueOrchard Finance S.A., said: “This is another ground-breaking transaction, bringing microfinance closer to the mainstream of the international capital markets as a source of medium term money at competitive rates, as well as the provision of large sums in local currency lending. Blue Orchard is also pleased to have played a major role in helping bring a mainstream rating agency into this transaction.”
Ellen Brunsberg, Managing Director and Head of the European Securitised Products Group at Morgan Stanley, said: “Securing a rating for this transaction is another significant development for microfinance, building on our demonstration with BOLD 1 last year that international capital markets can help fund microfinance on a commercial basis and in scale. Morgan Stanley is applying our securitization expertise to innovate and lower the cost of debt while increasing the supply of funds to microfinance clients around the world.”
The transaction is expected to close at the end of May 2007.