Promoting Responsible Investment in the Inclusive Finance Sector
The Social Investor Working Group (SIWG) is open to all investors and asset managers who wish to advance responsible investment in financial inclusion. The group meets once a year in person and holds monthly webinars throughout the year.
SIWG members also form sub-groups that spend months collaboratively developing and testing new guidelines and tools for the investor community. These increase transparency and efficiency in the evaluation and reporting of social and environmental performance ― including client protection, as well as for SFDR and other regulatory reporting obligations.
The SIWG is led by Emmanuelle Javoy, Frank Streppel of Triodos Investment Management, and Edouard Sers of Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation.
The activities of the SIWG are funded by the generous contributions of the Government of Luxembourg (Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs – Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and Ministry of Finance), as well as SPTF annual membership fees.
For more information, please email Ally Ryder or Jurgen Hammer.
We Invite You to Use and Test Our Latest Guidelines and Tools
For us, by us ― our working group continually produces new resources for our investors, investment advisors, asset managers/owners, and DFIs to promote harmonization within the sector.
Tools for Promoting Client Protection
Today, signatories of the Joint Statement include not only funders but also networks, associations, and other support organizations within responsible inclusive finance.
These guidelines propose a set of minimum actions investors can take to drive implementation of client protection standards among investees, as well as examples of implementation. Signatories of the joint statement (who have committed to reporting what actions they have taken during the investment process to drive client protection uptake) will find these guidelines particularly useful.
These documents were developed in close cooperation over many months by asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry.
We particularly wish to thank for their active sub-group contributions Christophe Bochatay of Triple Jump, Chiara Pescatori of LMDF, Edouard Sers of Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Frank Streppel and Tatiana Kalinina of Triodos, and Gaëlle Guignard of Incofin.
- Download the guidelines to Minimum Actions on Client Protection
- Download Detailed Guidelines for Implementing the Joint Statement
- Read Client Protection Brief for Investors
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Anne-Laure Behaghel at annelaure@sptfnetwork.org.
The next round of Joint Statement Reporting will take place in Q1 of 2025.
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Anne-Laure Behaghel at annelaure@sptfnetwork.org.
Tools for Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)
This document proposes a common economic sector classification that:
- Can be used by investors and FSPs to identify and manage ESG risks of their portfolio
- Satisfies the needs of proxy data providers to calculate PAI 1-3
- Prepares investors and FSPs to report on other PAIs (4, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- Strikes the right balance between usefulness of information and feasibility of reporting
- Can be broadly adopted by investors and FSPs to promote harmonisation
This document was developed in close cooperation over many months by asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry. We particularly wish to thank Christophe Bochatay of Triple Jump, Lucia Spaggiari of MFR, Tatiana Kalinina of Triodos, Anne Rosales and Emmanuelle Javoy of Symbiotics, Ariane Schoen of Invest in Vision, Christelle Champetter of Innpact S.A., and Gaëlle Guignard of Incofin IM for all their thoughtful discussion and effort.
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Christophe Bochatay at cbochatay@triplejump.eu
This document was developed in close cooperation over many months by asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry. We particularly wish to thank the ILX Sustainability Team, Christophe Bochatay of Triple Jump, Dannet Liv of Incofin IM, Claire Bataillie and Emmanuelle Javoy of Symbiotics, and Ariane Schoen of Invest in Visions for all their thoughtful discussion and effort.
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Luz Martinez at l.martinez@ilxfund.com
This document was developed in close cooperation over many months by asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry. We particularly wish to thank for their active sub-group contributions Alice Rullier-Maugüé and Edouard Sers of Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Camila Castaneda Quintero of Invest in Vision, Cécile Lapenu of CERISE, Farida Abdulhafizova of Enabling Qapital AG, Mariella Llontop of Bank Im Bistum Essen eG, and Michael Crayne and Pascal Spreen of FS Finance.
We would like also to thank for their feedback our peers from Actiam, ASN Impact Investors, Blue Orchard, Innpact, LMDF, Finance in Motion, Incofin, Symbiotics, and Triple Jump.
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Edouard Sers at edouard.sers@credit-agricole-sa.fr
The Social Investor Working Group of Cerise+SPTF has joined forces to design these guidelines for the assessment of ESG outside-in risks of their investments.
The objectives of this document are:
- To explain the distinction between sustainability risks, outside-in risks and inside-out risks;
- To present the findings of the working group and propose several Key Risk Indicators together with the sources
and respective website links to measure “outside-in” risks relating to external environment, social and governance
(ESG) conditions; - To share the challenges that the working group encountered in developing the proposal.
These guidelines can support social investors in aligning approaches to assessing outside-in risks in the financial inclusion industry and we encourage investors and fund managers to test and challenge the proposed approach.
The proposal has been developed in close cooperation over many months by asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry. We particularly wish to thank our colleagues from Symbiotics Investments, Triodos, BIB, Blue Orchard, FS Impact Finance, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Innpact, Oikocredit and Triple Jump for all their commitment and engagement to finalise this proposal.
If you have any questions about this document, please contact Anne Rosales at anne.rosales@symbioticsgroup.com
European Commission Advocacy on SFDR
In order to define a global and aligned inclusive finance sector response to this important EC Consultation, 2 documents were developed in close cooperation by a group of asset managers and investors in the financial inclusion industry over 3 months and shared with all members of the Cerise+SPTF Social Investor Working group as well as other impact industry networks such as GIIN.
The questionnaire was submitted by Cerise+SPTF as the Inclusive Finance sector response to the EC Consultation on December 14th, 2023.
We particularly wish to thank Symbiotics’ Emmanuelle Javoy, the ILX Sustainability Team with Luz Martinez and Ines van der Vorst, as well as Triodos IM for their important commitment in time and their dedication to develop this proposal within the tight deadline for the Consultation by taking the lead on this project. Our thanks also go to Invest in Vision, Incofin, FS Impact Finance and Arendt Luxembourg for their support.
2023 SIWG/FIEC Meeting Materials
We were delighted that so many of you could join us at the 2023 SIWG/FIEC Meeting in Luxembourg on June 8-9!
Financial Inclusion Equity Council has joined Cerise+SPTF!
Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC) transitioned its secretariat from the Center for Financial Inclusion to Cerise+SPTF in 2023. Under the new arrangement, FIEC works closely with Cerise+SPTF’s Social Investor Working Group to further deepen collaboration and discussion among investors in identifying new opportunities for inclusive growth through financial services in a world of increasing disruption and uncertainty.
Information for SIWG Monthly Meetings
Next meeting:
Date: January 23rd, 2025
Time: 8:00-9:00 ET/14:00-15:00 CET
Meeting link: Join here
Meeting password: 027710
Meeting number: 981 2619 9156
2024 meetings:
- January 25: Brief, Recording, Joint Statement Reporting Presentation, ESG Regulatory Developments in 2024 and beyond Presentation
- February 22: This meeting was not recorded
- March 28: Recording, Outside-In ESG Risks Handbook, Outside-In ESG Risks Presentation, SFDR Subgroup Analysis Presentation
- April 4: Recording, Draft Guidelines for Third-Party Evaluations
- April 25: Recording, State of Practice, Joint Statement Reporting Template
- May 23: Recording, Presentation
- June 27: Recording, Presentation
- July 26: Recording
- September 17: Recording, Presentation
- December 5: Recording, Presentation
2023 meetings:
We Invite You to Use and Test Our Latest Guidelines and Tools
For us, by us ― our working group continually produces new resources for our investors, investment advisors, asset managers/owners, and DFIs to promote harmonization within the sector.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) Tools
Client Protection Pathway Tools
Current SIWG priorities
- At the SPTF Annual Meeting in Paris in October 2022, the Social Investor Working Group gathered around the idea that it was now time to move to concrete implementation of this call for action, and make client protection a systematic fundamental piece of the investment process. The CP Accelerating Action Group (CPAAG) was thus launched with representatives from social investors interested in operationalizing client protection. This group developed guidelines for investors to take action on client protection in the investment process.
In 2021, SPTF investor members created a sub working group to develop a harmonized way to address the reporting requirements under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the European regulation introduced in 2020 to improve transparency in the market for sustainable investment products. The particular challenge for the financial inclusion sector – to strike the balance between compliance with this new regulation and its implementability in the specific context of investments in emerging economies and with often vulnerable end clients or customers – made the core value of SPTF membership particularly relevant because of the platform to develop shared learnings, assure constant coordination and a strong commitment to honest, transparent and meaningful evaluation and reporting.
Since its set up, the SFDR subgroup has seen constantly increasing participation and broadening scope of participating institutions. It meets in monthly webinars and has created a series of action groups working together on PAI development, proxy data options, minimum safeguards, integration of SFDR reporting into the updated ALINUS due diligence tool, but also levels of applicability and efficiency and quality of data collection.
Past SIWG priorities and projects
- Evaluating client protection risks in fintech investments during due diligence and ongoing monitoring. SPTF and CDC Group partnered to develop a webinar series for investors to be held during October 2017 and June 2018.
- Aligning efforts with the broader impact investment sector. As part of the World Economic Forum’s initiative to accelerate impact measurement and management, SPTF led the work of an action group to develop guidance on integrating the voice of all affected stakeholders into impact investments and activities of organizations. The work “Engaging All Affected Stakeholders” is available here. The Impact Management Project is hosting this work. SPTF has also partnered with the GIIN to develop the Financial Inclusion theme of Navigating Impact, and with UNPRI to help develop the Financial Inclusion area of the Impact Investing Market Map. The alignment work also includes coordinating with IRIS and GIIRS
- Assessing S&E performance SME finance to understand “state of practice” of S&E evaluation for FSPs financing SMEs, applicability of Universal Standards and SPI4, assess tools used by MIVs and DFIs, identify existing gaps, and provide recommendations where guidance is needed.
- Harmonizing loan agreements covenants in support of responsible microfinance (“reasonable covenants 2.0“), preventing over-indebtedness (Investment Managers guidelines on over-indebtedness), managing social outcomes (discussions integrated with the SPTF Outcomes Working Group, pricing transparency (discussions integrated with Data Platform pilot), Balanced return expectations & responsible exits in equity investments.
- On 2 May 2022, Bloomberg Storylines published a video feature story, The Dark Side of Microfinance, which highlighted abusive collection practices and other forms of client exploitation among microfinance providers. In response, Cerise+SPTF wrote an open letter to the reporters of that story, setting forth the ways the Universal Standards safeguard against such practices, and have been doing for 10 years. Read our letter here.
- Reasonable covenants during COVID. Responding to demand from investors, the SIWG created a sub-group to review reasonable covenants during the COVID pandemic. Read the briefs from the group’s calls, which outline the group’s purpose and explores its potential outcomes: July 2020; September 2020. Read the latest version of the covenants from the group here, published in September 2020.
- SIWG focused on how to advance client protection practices after the Smart Campaign closes. The end of the Campaign provides an opportunity to rethink several processes, and investors have been particluarly interested in rethinking the Campaign’s endorsement process. While the group agreed that endorsement should continue, many believe it could be strengthened with increased transparency about endorsers’ actions to improve client protection practices. To address this, the SIWG created a sub-group to begin discussing these potential changes. View the sub-group’s draft concept note here (published November 2020).
- In September 2021, Cerise+SPTF launched a call for action amongst investors and development finance institutions to engage these key stakeholders on client protection risks. The aim was to create global uptake on the existing work – to create transparency, comparability and share examples of successful client protection implementation. This call for action is materialized through the Joint Statement, and counts over 60 signatories representing the industry as MIVs, donors and networks.