Day 1 – 15 April 2010
08.15 Registration and Coffee
09.00 Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks
Mathias Adler
Principal Financial Sector Economist
KfW (Germany)
Peter Bereshka
Investment Manager
Incofin (Belgium)
09.15 Regional MIV and MFI Performance: Update and Comparison with Global Microfinance Markets
Moderator:
Jasmina Glisovic Merieres
Senior Microfinance Specialist
CGAP (France)
Loucine Hayes
Housing Finance Manager
Habitat for Humanity International - Europe and Central Asia (Slovakia)
Nikoloz Kutateladze
Marketing Manager
MFO Credo LLC, Georgia (representing World Vision, Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia & Middle East)
Sylvia Wisniwski
Chief Operating Officer
EFSE (Luxemburg)
- Differential impact of the global financial crisis on different parts of the EECA
- Overview of impact on microfinance: default rates, conservative lending, conservative borrowing? Has a decade’s worth of industry growth simply stalled or been undone?
- How will the region compare with other microfinance markets in coming out of the crisis?
- Investor’s view on attitudes of regional governments and regulators advancing the industry
10.15 Expectations of Private Sector Investors: What Can MFIs Do to Attract Investment From Them?
Johann Will
Vice President
Oppenheim Asset Management Services S.à r.l. (Luxemburg)
Luca Paonessa
Investment Officer
Triple Jump (The Netherlands)
Mark Allegretti
Managing Director
Nova Capital Partners, LLC
- How do investors view and rate the region as an investment proposition? What particular geographies are of most and least interest?
- What do investors expect from MFIs as an attractive investment proposition?
- Microfinance vs SME lending
- can investments in this region be genuinely classified as microfinance or is it actually SME lending?
- how important is this distinction to institutional and other investors?
- What do private equity investors expect in return for their commitment to microfinance institutions? To what extent is there correlation in MFI and investor valuations?
- What is being done to achieve conformity and uniformity in the manner in which compliance with covenants is measured?
- How will commercial investors approach crisis-related MFI defaults on loan covenants? Will they take a purely financial view or adopt a more supportive stance?
11.15 Morning Refreshments and Networking Break
11.30 Role of DFIs and IFIs in EECA Regional Microfinance: Are They Paving the Way for More Commercial Investment?
Moderator:
Sebastien Duquet
Managing Director
PlaNIS
Mathias Adler
Principal Financial Sector Economist
KfW (Germany)
Guadalupe De la Mata
Senior Banker, Small Business Finance Team,
Financial Institutions, EBRD (UK)
- To what extent have development agencies prepared the ground for private sector investment in less advanced economies in the region?
- Are DFIs genuinely complimentary to commercial investors or are they competitors in the more mature regional microfinance markets?
- What scope is there for private public partnerships with development agencies: to what extent can the EFSE model be more widely employed in the region?
- What potential is there for partnerships with local/regional investors and banks in devising finance packages for micro businesses?
12.30 Networking Lunch
13.45 What Lessons Have MFIs Drawn From the Financial Crisis and How Are They Responding to Investors’ Concerns on Deteriorating Asset Quality and Financial Performance?
Peter Bereshka
Investment Manager
Incofin (Belgium)
Babur Tolbaev
CEO/Managing Partner, Molbulak Finance
(Kyrgyzstan)
Ulugbek Khusanov
CEO
Frontiers (Kazakhstan)
- What factors impact on portfolio quality?
- are strong growers hit harder by the crisis?
- are MFIs with a more socially-orientated focus proving more resilient?
- to what extent have overall regulatory conditions fuelled the crisis?
- what are the main institution-specific factors to portfolio quality deterioration?
- Status of available finance 18 months after the start of the global economic crisis
- have requirements for debt financing changed since the start of the crisis?
- are MFIs over liquid?
- how have MFI funding needs evolved and what are the expectations for the future?
- Addressing concerns relating to MFI portfolio quality and financial performance
- how are MFIs dealing with increasing portfolio at risk rations?
- what is the position of MFIs on loan restructuring and loan write-off?
- what means are MFIs employing to address over-indebtedness of existing clients and avoid it in future transactions?
- what steps are MFIs taking to avoid or correct loan agreement breaches?
- what problems are MFIs facing in collecting from clients and what is being done to improve the situation?
- Small/SME lending
- to what extent do regional microfinance institutions engage in lending to small and/or medium sized enterprises?
- gauging MFI capacity for more cash-based and asset based lending
- conducing due borrower due diligence: access to income statements and accounts
- Have relationships with investors changed since the outbreak of the crisis?
- how have MFI-investor communications evolved?
- what do MFIs expect from investors in 2010 and beyond?
15.00 Lessons Learnt from Converting to a Regulated Microfinance Institution: Risk vs. Rewards
Moderator:
Clive Moody
Managing Partner
DFE Partners AG (UK)
Levan Lebanidze
General Director
Constra Foundation (Georgia)
Malkhaz Dzadzua
Director General/CEO
JSC MFO Crystal (Georgia)
- To what extent does conversion actually make the institution a more attractive prospect for private equity investment?
- What expectations do private equity investors have and how challenging it is to fulfil them?
- expectations of management quality and receptiveness to change
- expectations of equity holdings by management
- alignment with clear financial objectives
- how much flexibility is offered and how much scope is there to negotiate?
- What is the role of credit line providers as stakeholders post conversion?
- Source of deposit base – to what extent do and should deposits be sourced from existing loan base? How can a converted entity successfully reach beyond its existing clients?
- What is the true cost of conversion and what risks do MFIs face in meeting requirements of equity investors?
- Should microfinance institutions be looking to take on added risk and responsibilities in the current climate and if so, in what circumstances?
16.00 Afternoon Refreshments
16.15 Managing and Mitigating FX and Currency Risk and Availability of Local Currency Loans
Moderator:
Jennifer Lee
Relationship Manager
Developing World Markets (USA)
Jorge Santisteban
Director of Hedging Services
MFX Solutions (USA)
- What hedging solutions are currently available and on what terms?
- Which players can manage which risks best and using what tools: investor vs. MFI vs. micro borrower
- To what extent and on what terms are local currency loans available?
- What issues do funds experience in working with local partners in providing local currency loans?
17.15 Convergence between Mainstream Regional Banking and Microfinance: To What Extent are Commercial Banks Downscaling to Include Micro Lending?
Clive Moody
Managing Partner
DFE Partners AG (UK)
Azer Humbvetov
Head of Credit
Demir Bank (Azerbaijan)
- What degree of cross over is there between the traditional commercial banking sector and microfinance?
- Have banks retreated to their core markets over the last 12-18 months?
- If so what is the potential for micro lending through commercial banks in 2010 and beyond?
- Case study: experience of downscaling
- risk/reward analysis of micro lending vs. traditional enterprise lending
- requisite skill set/resources
18.15 Co-Chairs’ Closing Remarks and Conference Adjourns
18.20 Networking Drinks Reception