Symbiotics SA, a Switzerland-based social impact investor, has made a US$2 million investment for a Singapore-based investment firm, Hayman Capital on 5th February. The aim is to raise the latter’s debt capital and reach out to more clients in Myanmar, to support the company’s microfinance operations in the country and to serve additional new clients across different sectors. The firm said that it will be targeting 15,000 new clients within the niche market “at the lower level”, comprising of trading, production, agriculture and service categories and appropriate for a loan of K200, 000 or less.
Hayman Capital is a Myanmar-focused deposit-taking MFI established in 2014. In 2017, it raised a total of $1.9 million in loans from the Yangon branch of Malaysia’s May Bank. The firm operates out of branches across Yangon, Bago, Ayeyawaddy and Mandalay region and has more than 71,000 active clients. Total assets of the firm are disclosed at $18.05 million and equity at $10.61 million, with a 0.41% of having a portfolio at risk.
Since the enactment of the 2011 Microfinance Law, there are 176 foreign and domestic MFIs in Myanmar, servicing about 70pc of the population which does not have access to formal financial services - they have collectively lent more than K3.9 trillion to 3 million borrowers, according to FRD. In 2016, new regulations were enacted which permitted domestic MFIs to borrow from local or international banks.