About

IFMR Trust is a private trust whose mission is to ensure that every individual and every enterprise in India has complete access to financial services. The main purpose of IFMR Trust is to have systemic change so that it’s mission is achieved. In certain cases, IFMR Trust has also promoted commercial entities to address important gaps in the Indian financial system. These are:

• IFMR Rural Finance
• IFMR Capital
• IFMR Ventures
• IFMR Mezzanine

IFMR Rural Finance – Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) leverages recent advances in technology and financial markets to roll out a network of financial services access points in remote rural India.

IFMR Capital – IFMR Capital’s mission is to act as a bridge to mainstream capital markets for entities and asset classes of relevance to low-income households. It aims at providing liquidity and developing access to debt-capital markets for critical sectors.

IFMR Ventures – Invests in supply chain companies in sectors like rural tourism, dairy, crafts, apparel and furnishings, rural energy, vocational training, rural drinking water, consumer goods (FMCG) and agriculture terminal markets.

IFMR Mezzanine Finance – It believes that enabling small to medium MFIs to access funds would catalyse growth in the sector and allowing a larger number of individuals to benefit from this growth. Further, IFMR Mezzanine Finance proposes to provide long term loans and partner with the MFIs during the tenure of the loan to assist them in strengthening their internal processes.

The work of the trust is aided by independent research centres which act as its thought partners:

Centre for Micro Finance (CMF) -
The mission of the Centre is to improve the accessibility and quality of financial services for the poor through rigorous research, knowledge dissemination and evidence-based policy for MFIs. It aims to fill critical gaps that remain in our knowledge of how to most efficiently deliver microfinance services and how microfinance can best be used as a tool to fight poverty.

Centre for Insurance and Risk Management (CIRM) -
Aimed at developing product development capabilities for insurance and other risk mitigating instruments designed to reach out to the poorest of the poor.

Centre for Development Finance (CDF) -
CDF’s work seeks to identify the most efficient and effective ways to channel public and private finance towards expanding the quality of and access to infrastructure in India.

Small Enterprise Finance Centre (SEFC) -
Its mission is to advance the research and practice of SME financing and growth in India and ultimately to help develop a vibrant SME sector.

Centre for Advanced Financial Studies (CAFS) -
Indian capital markets which has grown explosively both in terms of volume and sophistication has brought the regulator to introduce newer product classes in a phased manner; however, neither the education required for understanding these products nor research aimed at pricing and evaluating the risks of these products has kept pace with these developments, CAFS aims to fill this significant void.

Centre for Innovative Financial Design (CIFD) -
The Centre for Innovative Financial Design works at the intersection of research and action to create and test financial products that bridge the gap between the financial needs and financial access of the poor.

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The IFMR Blog is a way for us to reach out to a wider set of audience and to enable a creative platform of learning and sharing of information and thoughts.

It’s an effort to talk about the work we do, our core beliefs and identity, the difference that we make to people’s lives at the grassroots level, the architects of such change within our Trust, and the fun and excitement that it is to be part of such an endeavor.