Capital Markets Conference 2012

With the generous support of Citi and Citi Microfinance, Women’s World Banking hosted our annual Microfinance and the Capital Markets Conference in October, bringing together investors, rating agencies, bankers and microfinance practitioners from more than 35 countries to discuss trends and opportunities facing the microfinance industry.

With support from our partners, WWB marked the 10^th anniversary of the conference by considering a broader, more complex set of issues facing all of us who are working to provide financial access to the 2.8 billion people around the world lacking these services. The two days of the conference were an opportunity to discuss a range of trends in the performance of investment funds, equity valuations, the implementation of social performance initiatives, and policy approaches to financial inclusion. Underlying these discussions are always the needs of our women clients and our ability as an industry to meet those needs and enable clients to improve their own lives were the unifying themes of the event.

The conference was attended by more than 250 participants, including Citi employees, and featured eight panel discussions. You can read the conference highlights and a transcript of Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's keynote here.