Nov 08, 2016

As part of it's series looking at what's in store at European Microfinance Week, 16-18 November, our media partner MicroCapital talked with Lucia Spaggiari of Microfinanza Rating & Amelia Greenberg of the Social Performance Task Force from e-MFP’s Social Performance Outcomes Action Group:

MicroCapital: What is the value of social performance management (SPM)?

Lucia Spaggiari & Amelia Greenberg: Financial service providers (FSPs) do not achieve their social goals without deliberately managing their social performance. Providing access to financial products and services can have a neutral or even harmful effect when it is not done responsibly. Even the best-intentioned FSPs have been shocked upon seeing their first data about client outreach, satisfaction and exit. Simply put, they were not reaching their target clients; their products were not well adapted to clients’ needs; and they were not achieving their missions.

MC: What social performance outcomes are you measuring?

LS & AG: We are looking to answer questions such as: What actually happens to clients? Do their situations get better? Do they deteriorate? For whom specifically? Why? What measures can be taken to improve outcomes?

MC: How do investors fit in?

LS & AG: Investors want to know if and how they can consolidate outcomes measurement across their portfolios. They wrestle with when – and whether – to give input into FSPs’ decisions about outcomes indicators. Another issue is how asset managers can help asset owners redefine financial and social returns.

Read the full interview here

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