Caspian and Grassroots work closely together on project development and management, sharing staff and resources between their New York, Massachusetts, Hyderabad and Delhi offices. For more information about Caspian please visit Caspian’s web site.

What’s New:

• B Lab Announces 53 GIIRS Pioneer Funds and 17 GIIRS Pioneer Investors. Since October, eleven new funds have joined, bringing the total number of GIIRS Pioneer Funds to 53. These new funds represent $366 million in invested capital, with a combined total assets under management for the 53 Pioneer Funds of $1.9 billion and investments in over 30 countries around the globe. The commitment by these investment practitioners to transparently measure impact using GIIRS is the driving force that makes the impact investing industry real. Grassroots Capital Management and our partner funds have been participating as GIIRS Pioneer Funds since January 2011. Click here for the press release.
• MIX 2011 Social Performance Award for Investors; Grassroots and our partners Caspian have received the Silver Investor Award from the MIX Market. Recognizing our efforts to promote social performance reporting among our MFIs, we have received the silver category award because we reached over 55% of financed MFIs reporting social performance data to MIX in the past year. Click here for more information.
• On March 8th Paul Di Leo moderated a Microfinance Panel on how microfinance can be a more effective tool for development. The panel, co-hosted by Women Advancing Microfinance(WAM)-New York and the Microfinance Club of New York, features David Roodman, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and author of “Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance”, Camilla Nestor, Vice President of Microfinance Programs, CJ Juhasz, the Chief Investment Officer of WWB Asset Management, and Chuck Waterfield, CEO of MFTransparency. click here to see video

• Social Investor Roundtable and Client Protection Training for Investors
  In February, Grassroots participated in the Interim Social Investor Roundtable in Paris, where Paul DiLeo led a discussion on balanced returns which showcased his pivotal “Repositioning Microfinance” paper, and an intensive training on the Client Protection Principles (CPPs), where we gained more insight into how to incorporate the CPPs into our due diligence and assessment processes.
• The December 2011 issue of “Enterprise Development & Microfinance”, devoted to the theme of commercial investment in microfinance, carried an article by Paul DiLeo, entitled “Repositioning microfinance with impact investors:  Codes of conduct and ‘social first’ MFIs”.  Issue editor Linda Jones of the Coady International Institute notes that the article persuasively argues that not all investors or microfinance institutions share the identical mix of social and financial objectives and that making priorities more transparent can help better match objectives and expectations of MFIs and investors.  The journal is available from Practical Action Publishing.  click here for article
• Prospero Microfinanzas, jointly managed by Grassroots and Bolivian Investment Management, completed its third close in early January, bringing committed capital to $22 million.  The fund expects its final close by June at $25mm, and is currently completing its first investment. click here
• Paul DiLeo has joined the Advisory Board of the Better Harvest Federal Credit Union, currently in formation under the direction of Scott Budde, formerly Managing Director, Global Social and Community Investing for TIAA-CREF.  The goal of the project is to help fill the financing gap faced by small sustainable farms in the Northeast U.S.

• B Corp: Grassroots Capital Management applauds the efforts of leaders in California and New York who helped get benefit corporation legislation signed into law. The new laws allow the formation of corporations whose main purpose is to produce a social benefit, not simply increase shareholder value. Check out all the B Corp press here . GCM has  been a certified B Corp since 2008. View our profile here.
• Impact Assets 50: Grassroots Capital Management was named by Impact Assets 50 one of the top 50 private debt and equity impact investment fund managers in 2011. Impact Assets

• Participant in Impact Base: Grassroots Capital Management and Caspian joined 85 management firms who have created and maintain profiles for their funds on Impact Base. Impact Base