LUXEMBOURG, December 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Sustainability | Finance | Real Economies SICAV – SIF (SFRE, pronounced Sapphire) has made its first investments totalling just under USD 10 million in Banco Vision (Paraguay) and Financiera Desyfin (Costa Rica), in line with its strategy of advancing social, environmental and economic development by providing capital to banks.

SFRE was initiated by the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (http://www.gabv.org), to meet growth capital needs of sustainability-focused banks, and to expand their impact and reach.  SFRE is the first open-ended investment company created to support the globally growing segment of banks focused on serving individuals and enterprises in the real economy, while delivering a triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental impact.

Jim Prouty, CEO of SFRE noted, ‘Our first two investments reflect how SFRE will help expand the reach and contribution of sustainability-focused banks serving thousands of individuals and entrepreneurs building their businesses, creating jobs and improving local communities. Financing real economy needs is a growing opportunity in the financial sector.’

Gil Crawford, CEO of MicroVest Capital Management, LLC and SFRE’s Portfolio Manager added, ‘We have been working closely with SFRE to ensure investments adhere to the mandate of providing essential growth capital to financial institutions supporting individuals and enterprises in the real economy. These investments are not only attractive from an impact perspective but also target long term sustainable returns for investors.

Founded in 2011 by Silvio Lacayo Sr., Financiera Desyfin is a regulated deposit-taking finance company, which is in the process of obtaining a banking license in Costa Rica. The company is already a leader in the factoring and SME lending sectors.

The SFRE funding received by Financiera Desyfin must adhere to the principles of sustainable banking. Sustainable banks integrate an approach of focusing simultaneously on people, planet and prosperity. Products and services are designed and developed to meet the needs of people and safeguard the environment; generating reasonable profit is recognized as an essential requirement of sustainable banking but is not a stand-alone objective.

Importantly, sustainable banks embrace an intentional approach to triple-bottom-line business – they don’t just avoid doing harm, they actively use finance to do good.

 

About SFRE http://www.sfrefund.com

SFRE’s vision is to support a banking paradigm focused on the real economy and meeting human needs of social empowerment, environmental regeneration, and economic resiliency (a triple bottom line of People, Planet & Prosperity). SFRE is led by SFRE CEO Jim Prouty. SFRE’s portfolio management is executed by MicroVest Capital Management LLC. Enclude Capital Advisory UK Limited acts as placement agent to SFRE.