• Increased outreach – 260 million underserved people and MSMEs reached
  • More than USD 1.2 billion invested in nearly 200 transactions across private debt strategies alone
  • Launch of new strategies, including a unique customised impact strategy, the second climate insurance strategy, and a financial inclusion private equity strategy
  • Win of a landmark mandate from Luxembourg’s Ministry of Finance to launch a climate finance strategy
  • BlueOrchard Impact Summit: Decision makers from around the world representing global institutions, academia as well as the public and private sector attended the two-day flagship event in the Swiss mountains

 

Philipp Mueller, CEO of BlueOrchard, said:
“BlueOrchard’s 2022 performance reflects our unwavering commitment to drive positive social and environmental impact through innovative finance solutions. Despite a challenging environment, we have been able to increase our outreach, launch new strategies, and build a strong investment pipeline by leveraging our local expertise. Looking into 2023, we will continuously strive to further strengthen our inclusion and climate investing platform.”

In 2022, BlueOrchard demonstrated resilience in a challenging environment, delivering solid performance in its impact investing strategies and increasing its outreach. By launching innovative investment solutions, BlueOrchard further strengthened its investment platform for climate and financial inclusion:

Private debt
BlueOrchard’s investment portfolios have shown strong resilience despite a challenging market environment, enabling the firm to successfully deliver on its impact and financial goals. As of December 2022, BlueOrchard’s flagship microfinance strategy alone has invested in 165 financial institutions across over 50 countries, advancing the economic and social well-being of vulnerable households, micro-entrepreneurs and MSMEs.

Private equity
KfW, the German development bank, and BlueOrchard expanded its climate insurance partnership with the launch of a second InsuResilience investment strategy. The strategy builds on the success of the first with a strong focus on technology to drive affordability of and accessibility to climate insurance. The first strategy is one of the most effective climate change adaptation strategies to date, enabling over 40 million people in more than 20 countries to access climate risk insurance.

Building on its experience and track record of more than 20 years of investing in financial inclusion and leveraging the firm’s unmatched network, dataset, and sourcing capabilities in emerging markets economies, BlueOrchard launched a financial inclusion private equity strategy which will offer investors the opportunity to invest in high-quality institutions in some of BlueOrchard’s fastest growing markets.

Sustainable infrastructure
Sustainable infrastructure is a key driver of emerging markets growth. There is a unique opportunity to put emerging markets on a path to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future, and counter digital exclusion through strategic infrastructure investment. In the past year, BlueOrchard addressed the growing connectivity and data traffic needs of local communities in the Philippines and together with Finnfund, the Finnish development finance institution, helping to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban populations in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Listed debt
BlueOrchard continued to build on its track record of developing impact solutions for institutional investors in Japan, a country where the demand for impact and sustainable products is rapidly growing. In 2022, BlueOrchard launched a bespoke, listed debt impact mandate for Daido Life Insurance, a leading insurance provider in the Japanese market.

Blended finance
Schroders and BlueOrchard won a landmark mandate from Luxembourg’s Ministry of Finance to launch an impact strategy that contributes to a carbon-neutral and resilient growth strategy for emerging markets. The initiative will specifically focus on environmentally sustainable investments addressing climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, and the protection of water and biodiversity resources.

Peter Fanconi, Chairman of BlueOrchard, said:
“Since its inception almost a quarter of a century ago, BlueOrchard has been at the forefront of finding innovative solutions to the major challenges of our time such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. I am very proud of the BlueOrchard team for continuing on this path and demonstrating perseverance and creativity in a difficult environment. The BlueOrchard Impact Summit was one of the major highlights of this successful past year, and the high participation of prominent leaders clearly showed that we are among reliable partners and supporters with our vision and mission.”

There is no Planet B
BlueOrchard initiated its Impact Summit in 2018, as a platform where global leaders, key decision-makers, entrepreneurs, academics, and the younger generation can come together to find ways to unlock the resources needed to make sustainable prosperity a reality for all. The high participation of prominent leaders also at the 2022 summit has remarkably demonstrated that there is a collective willingness to contribute to addressing the great challenges of our time, such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.

Outlook: In 2022, BlueOrchard continued to demonstrate how resilient the firm is as a business and as a team in yet another series of challenging market environments. In 2023, BlueOrchard will continue to bring creative and resilient impact solutions to market across all asset classes. The firm will remain, as always, focused on its goals of expanding financial inclusion, supporting institutions still affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and responding to the climate crisis in emerging markets.

 

-ends-

 

For further information, please contact:

Tahmina Theis, BlueOrchard Finance Ltd
+41 22 596 47 69
tahmina.theis@blueorchard.com

 

About BlueOrchard Finance Ltd

BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group. As a pioneering impact investor, the firm is dedicated to generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming at providing attractive returns to investors. BlueOrchard was founded in 2001, by initiative of the UN, as the first commercial manager of microfinance debt investments worldwide. Today, the firm offers impact investment solutions across asset classes, connecting millions of entrepreneurs in emerging and frontier markets with investors with the aim to make impact investment solutions accessible to all and to advance the conscious use of capital. Being a professional investment manager and expert in innovative blended finance mandates, BlueOrchard has a sophisticated international investor base and is a trusted partner of leading global development finance institutions. To date, BlueOrchard has invested over USD 10 billion across more than 105 countries. 260 million underserved people and MSMEs in emerging and frontier markets received access to financial and related services with the support of BlueOrchard as of December 2022. For additional information, please visit: www.blueorchard.com.

 

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