Press releases

Zurich - Global microfinance markets are expected to grow by 10-15% in 2016, although growth rates will differ markedly between regions. This is the key finding of the newly released responsAbility Microfinance Market Outlook 2016. The reference publication’s sixth edition presents an in-depth and concise overview of the expected developments in the microfinance industry over the next year.

Zurich - Klaus Tischhauser, Co-Founder & CEO of responsAbility Investments AG, will step down from his function as CEO at the end of 2015. Rochus Mommartz, a longstanding member of responsAbility’s Management Board, has been named as his successor. At the same time, it has been decided that the number of members on the Management Board will increase from three to five. This step will enable the company to strengthen its leadership team and to prepare for the next stage in its development.

Zurich - India’s demand for energy far exceeds the supply within the country. With innovative business models, local companies such as Punjab Renewable Energy Systems (PRES) are seeking to ensure that renewable energy sources can also be used to meet this demand. PRES was recently named ‘the most innovative power company (renewable power, private sector)‘ by the Indian publication ‘Power Today‘ in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers. An investment vehicle managed by the Swiss asset manager responsAbility Investments has invested in PRES since 2012.

Zurich - responsAbility Investments AG, which specialises in development investments, now has USD 2.6 billion of assets under management invested in 535 companies in 93 emerging economies and developing countries through 12 different investment vehicles. Since 2011, the Swiss asset manager has attracted approximately USD 500 million of new assets each year. Institutional investors such as pension funds account for over 40% of these assets.

Zurich - An equity investment vehicle managed by responsAbility Investments AG, which focuses on participations in solid financial services providers in developing and emerging economies, has successfully completed a CHF 74.75 million capital increase. The capital will be used to further expand a portfolio of participations in solid financial services providers in these markets. The responsAbility investment vehicle currently holds minority participations in four financial institutions and a network of financial services providers. The portfolio companies operate in a total of 21 countries.

Zurich - The Swiss asset manager responsAbility Investments AG (responsAbility), which specialises in development investments, is establishing an alternative investment fund management company in Luxembourg. responsAbility Management Company S.A. has taken over the management of six responsAbility investment products that are already domiciled in Luxembourg. The management company’s Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) status will enable responsAbility to distribute its investment products to professional investors throughout the EU in future.

Zurich - responsAbility Investments AG, an independent asset manager specializing in development investments, is launching a new investment fund in collaboration with founding partner Shell Foundation and anchor investor IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The fund is dedicated to providing debt financing to fast-growing companies which promote access to decentralized modern energy solutions, primarily in Africa and Asia.

Zurich - responsAbility Investments AG has been appointed as investment manager for a KfW-led climate fund. Founded in December 2009, the fund is a public-private partnership dedicated to mitigating climate change through a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in emerging and developing markets. The fund was initiated by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and KfW Entwicklungsbank. Other current investors include the Department of Energy and Climate Change of the United Kingdom, the Danish Government, the International Finance Corporation, the Austrian Development Bank and a German pension fund serving as main investors. In this new role responsAbility is tasked with taking the fund’s growth to a new level.

Zurich - Following the change of government in India, a new era appears to be dawning in the country. Ensuring access to financial services for the 800 million adults living in India is one of the objectives defined in this context. The government and the Reserve Bank of India are focusing on the potential of the microfinance sector to help realize this objective. After suffering a politically-motivated setback in 2010, the microfinance sector is now thriving again and grew by 35% in 2013 alone. A study by the Swiss asset manager responsAbility Investments examines current developments in India’s financial sector and shows how microfinance institutions are using innovative models to steadily close the massive supply gap.

Zurich - Fairly traded products are growing in popularity. In 2013, sales of Fairtrade International-certified products in Switzerland grew by 15%, while worldwide their consumption rose by 20% to over USD 65 billion. Today, some 1.3 million smallholder farmers in 70 countries profit from fair trade. They, along with cooperatives, traders and importers, require working capital for their economic activities. The Swiss asset manager responsAbility Investments AG has been successfully mobilising private funds towards this purpose for nearly ten years.