Global Bridge Fund

Accion launched its Global Bridge Fund (GBF) in 2005, as a mechanism for linking microfinance institutions (MFIs) with commercial banks and financial markets. Using loans from investors, the GBF provides Accion partner MFIs with guarantees to access local bank lines of credit and to issue debt instruments with the goal of expanding the sources of loan portfolio funding available to MFIs and their microentrepreneurs. The GBF is built upon Accion’s successful track record with its Latin America Bridge Fund (LABF), which was established in 1984, as the first ever loan guarantee fund for MFIs.

While the Accion Latin America Bridge Fund proved to be a success, its geographical coverage is limited to Latin America and the Caribbean and it guarantees only credit lines. The GBF was created to contribute to the global expansion of microfinance through financial assistance to MFIs worldwide, supporting Accion's strategy to pursue a global expansion, through technical and financial assistance in Latin America, the Caribbean,Africa and other regions of the world where Accion may expand as part of its strategic mission. In addition to lines of credits, the Accion GBF guarantees the issuance of fixed-income instruments.

Since its founding, Accion's Bridge Funds have provided nearly US$100 million in guarantees to 28 MFIs in 12 countries, leveraging more than US$25 million in microloans to over 350,000 microentrepreneurs.

Financial description

Accion’s Global Bridge Fund offers socially responsible investors an opportunity to achieve a dual goal: social and financial returns. As an investor, you will be able to earn interest and diversify your portfolio revenue, while your pooled funds support the issuance of guarantees for small to mid-size MFIs and, as a result, foster financial inclusion and fuel economic opportunity for millions of hardworking small business owners all over the world.
Some insurance features to manage investors' risk include a fund reserve, presently equivalents to 25% market value of total committed capital, as well as the requirement from guarantee recipients to maintain a loan loss provisioning level of no less than 80% the amount of non-performing assets.