Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is comprised of representatives of Shareholders of the Fund. The Board bears general responsibility for all aspects for the administration and management of the business of the Fund. In particular, the Board of Directors is in charge of (but not limited to) the following:
- Determine the business policy of the Fund within the framework of, and to approve major business issues in accordance with, the mission statement as set out by the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Issue Document and the Fund’s constituent documents
- Take or, as the case may be, supervise investment decisions
- Ensure that funding is honored and the cash and other investments are managed wisely
- Approve the contributions of the Fund to the TA Facility
- Oversee the Investment Manager, approve reports on the business operations of the Fund and approve the financial statements
Directors of the Fund:
Ms. Laure Wessemius-Chibrac
Ms. Laure Wessemius-Chibrac (Chairwoman)
Chairwoman of the Board, independent Consultant and independent Board member
Ms. Laure Wessemius-Chibrac is an investment professional with 20+ years of experience in the financial sector, specialized in sustainability and governance.
A former investment banker, she started working in 1995 at Banque Nationale de Paris in Equity Advisory, then joined ABN AMRO Rothschild in 2000, first in Paris where she structured equity transactions, and from 2001 in London where she directed marketing and syndication of equity and equity-linked transactions. She then moved to the Netherlands and in 2010 started working as an independent consultant in strategy and financial advisory. In parallel, Laure remained involved in various projects as a volunteer.
From 2013 to 2018, Laure led the transformation of the investment activities of Cordaid, an INGO based in the Netherlands, managing EUR 80m of debt and equity investments in MFIs and SMEs in fragile and developing countries. She now works as an impact consultant and supports financial institutions in their transition towards sustainability and engagement with their employees, their clients, and all their stakeholders. She has held various non-executive governance positions and still holds board positions in REGMIFA and FPM (Fond pour l’inclusion financière au Congo), a DR Congo financial inclusion fund.
Laure has a Masters in Management Grande Ecole from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen/NEOMA Business School.
Mr. Stefan Hirche
Mr. Stefan W. Hirche
Principal Project Manager at KfW
Mr. Stefan W. Hirche works as a Principal Project Manager at KfW. He has been with KfW Development Bank since 2002, being previously responsible for financial sector development in the Caucasus and Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, he works mainly on regional and global developmental investment funds/risk pools for climate risk insurance.
Stefan holds governance positions with REGMIFA, the InsuResilience Investment Fund and the GroFin Small and Growing Business Fund. On a secondment from 2010-2013 he worked at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Berlin on sustainable development finance strategy and innovative financial instruments. Previous steps in his professional career were with the International Finance Corporation, the NORD/LB and in private equity.
Stefan holds an MBA and an MA in International Economic Policy of American University in Washington, DC, as well as a BA in business administration of Leibniz Academy in Hannover. He is also a certified bank officer.
Ms. Claudia Huber
Ms. Claudia Huber
Senior Consultant and Founder of devImpact
Ms. Claudia Huber is a motivated and enthusiastic senior professional with 15+ years of experience in financial inclusion and (rural) economic development from public and private sector perspectives. She gained her experience managing credit and deposit sides for ProCredit banks in Africa and Latin America, as well as working with CGAP/The World Bank, GIZ and the Jacobs Foundation.
She is the founder of devImpact, a consultancy company focusing on access to finance, SME finance and agricultural/value chain finance. Claudia is also a member of various Boards of Directors.
Claudia has a Master’s in Business Administration and a CEMS Master’s in International Management from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and German. She has long and short term working experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Dr. Giuseppe Ballocchi
Dr. Giuseppe Ballocchi
Board member of CFA Institute and Partner at Alpha Governance Partners
Dr. Giuseppe Ballocchi, CFA, is a Partner at Alpha Governance Partners, a former Governor of CFA Institute and a member of CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Content Council. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor and a Member of the Steering Committee for the Master in Finance programme at the University of Lausanne.
Giuseppe represents CFA Institute on the IFRS Advisory Council. CFA Institute’s mission is to lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.
He specializes in derivative-based strategies and is passionate about bridging the gap between the theory and the practice of finance. Dr. Ballocchi has served as head of financial engineering and risk analytics at Pictet & Cie, chief investment officer at Olsen Ltd, fixed-income manager at the Asian Development Bank in Manila and as a high-energy physicist at CERN. He is a past president of the CFA Society of Switzerland.
Giuseppe holds a degree in physics from the University of Bologna, an MBA from the Open University, and a PhD in high-energy physics from the University of Rochester.
Investment Committee
The Investment Committee is comprised of four voting members. The Investment Committee bears general responsibility in relation to the investment decisions of the Fund and oversees the Investment Manager in ensuring the Fund is compliant at all times with the Investment Guidelines.
Members of the Investment Committee:
Ms. Claudia Huber
Ms. Claudia Huber
Senior Consultant and Founder of devImpact
Ms. Claudia Huber is a motivated and enthusiastic senior professional with 15+ years of experience in financial inclusion and (rural) economic development from public and private sector perspectives. She gained her experience managing credit and deposit sides for ProCredit banks in Africa and Latin America, as well as working with CGAP/The World Bank, GIZ and the Jacobs Foundation.
She is the founder of devImpact, a consultancy company focusing on access to finance, SME finance and agricultural/value chain finance. Claudia is also a member of various Boards of Directors.
Claudia has a Master’s in Business Administration and a CEMS Master’s in International Management from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and German. She has long and short term working experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Mr. Enrico Pini
Mr. Enrico Pini
Investment Specialist at EIB
Mr. Enrico Pini has 15+ years of experience in financial inclusion across Africa, Latin America and Asia, and in different roles, such as risk manager, investment officer, regional manager of a specialized rating agency and CEO of a microfinance institution. Presently, Enrico is based in Luxembourg working in the Microfinance Unit of the European Investment Bank, where he is responsible for investments in African Caribbean and Pacific countries. In this position, he has managed various operations in the financial inclusion landscape, including equity fund investments, participations in microfinance holding companies and direct debt investments.
Prior to joining the EIB, Enrico served as Senior Risk Manager at responsAbility SA, where he was responsible for investments in microfinance institutions and commercial banks in Africa and Asia.
Enrico holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management (US), a Master degree in International Relations from the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (Italy) and a M.Sc. in Institutions and Financial Markets Management from Bocconi University (Italy).
Ms. Jana L. Lessenich, CFA
Ms. Jana L. Lessenich, CFA
Investment Partner, Purpose Evergreen Capital
Ms. Jana Lessenich is an investment professional with 20+ years of experience in the financial sector.
Jana began her career in institutional asset management at the North American division of Baring Asset Management, and later joined the hedge fund arm of Wellington Management Company. Since 2005 she has been working in development finance, including for Frankfurt School’s International Advisory Services, Finance in Motion, and most recently for DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH. Her investment experience covers all phases of the investment cycle for a wide range of transaction types.
Currently Jana works at Purpose Evergreen Capital, an impact-focused permanent capital vehicle designed to drive systemic change in the economy by investing in steward-owned companies, which are owned and controlled by stewards for the benefit of a company’s mission, society and the planet. She is also a member of the debt investment committee of the InsuResilience Investment Fund.
Jana studied Economics and International Affairs at the University of New Hampshire and holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service with a focus on International Business and Finance from Georgetown University. She is a CFA charterholder.
Mr. Albert Hofsink
Albert is a professional with 25+ years of experience in a multicultural environment and in developing countries as well as in financial inclusion and (rural) economic development. He joined Oikocredit, in 1995 and served as CFO and Director for Risk Management Compliance and IT. In 2015 he started consulting and strategy support activities regarding Responsible Investments. In addition, in 2019 and 2020 he was a part time director of Symbiotics Netherlands BV responsible for Compliance, Risk & Finance. He has served on several Boards of MFIs and agricultural entities in Africa, Cambodia and India.
Albert holds a Bachelors and Honours degree in Accounting & Controlling as well as a Certificate in Theory of Accountancy from the University of South Africa and has done several follow up courses (Development Finance in Africa, strategic influencing).
Investment Manager
Symbiotics is a regulated asset manager headquartered in Switzerland, with more than 160 employees worldwide.
Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing. Over the past decade, the company has originated and structured nearly 3,700 investment transactions, worth more than USD 4.8 billion, on behalf of 425 companies in 83 emerging and frontier markets, all serving a measurable sustainable and inclusive finance objective, purchased by 50 different investment funds and institutional investors.
Symbiotics has been active in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2009 through its South African subsidiary, partnering with 100 financial institutions in 26 countries.
The investment company values are focused on the principles of independence, integrity and innovation: independence towards clients and partners with regards to investment strategies and choices, integrity of staff and work, and innovation in products and services.
Organizational structure
