Bellwether is in the process of building a $20 million microfinance equity portfolio and hopes to make around 15 investments. The Fund looks to provide start up and growth capital to MFIs which demonstrate, in its opinion, the ability to be the new generation microfinance leaders and to shape the microfinance landscape in the country over the next decade. The Fund is open to taking majority or significant minority positions and will be an active investor. As of March 2008, the Bellwether portfolio comprises the following investments:
Ujjivan’s mission is to provide financial services to the economically active poor to enable them to build a better life. The Company aims to expand nationally in both urban and rural areas and to cover at least two million poor customers by the 6th year of operations.
   
MAS is a leader in its focus state of Gujarat, and caters to the credit needs of micro entrepreneurs through its unique banking and distribution approach to microfinance. MAS is a successful example of a large commercial institution serving this hitherto excluded segment.
   
Sonata commenced operations in January 2006 from its base in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and uses a modified Grameen method in providing financial services to poor women. In Aug 2007, Sonata acquired the portfolio of Jeevika, a livelihood support organization in Jabalapur, Madhya Pradesh. Sonata has thus extended its outreach to two major states in Central India, one of the more challenging regions for the provision of financial services to the poor.
   
Arohan is an urban MFI presently based out of Kolkata and intends to expand to other parts of West Bengal and eventually to other states in eastern and north-eastern India. The mission of Arohan is to provide financial services to the socio-economically disadvantaged and enable them to attain a better quality of life. Arohan uses a combination of the Grameen and the Joint Liability Group methodology to serve its client base which includes micro-entrepreneurs in the trade, services & manufacturing sector.
   
Credible Securities & Finance Private Limited was set up to transform the microfinance program of Orissa’s largest NGO BISWA, into a regulated, for-profit financial institution. Once this is complete, Credible will emerge as a financially strong and socially responsible institution, working closely with the parent NGO to bring financial services to the poor in the region.
   
Mimo Finance operates in urban and peri-urban regions along the major highways and towns in selected parts of Uttarakhand and Western U.P. By bringing microfinance services at an affordable cost to clients at their doorstep, Mimo will strive to challenge and reverse the conditions that exclude women in the region from participation in the financial sector.
   
Janalakshmi Financial Services hopes to pioneer individual-based lending to the poor, outside the realm of the existing group-based models. Janalakshmi seeks to move beyond the narrow definition of ‘micro-credit’ to a broader based one of ‘microfinance’, encompassing a range of financial services including credit, savings, insurance, remittance services.
   
Annapurna Financial Services (“Trident”) operates in the regions of Adilabad and Gadchiroli districts in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively and provides financial services to the economically excluded population in these remote and under served regions.
   
Shree Hari Fintrade Private Limited (“Sahayata”) based in Udaipur, Rajasthan provides financial services based on the Grameen model to its target clientele of urban poor women who contribute to the family income through marginal occupations and having virtually no access to bank credit, have been largely dependent on local moneylenders for their credit requirements.
   
PARAS CAPFIN COMPANY PRIVATE LIMITED
Paras Capfin aims to provide a wide array of financial services in the urban and semi-urban regions across India, commencing operations in Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. Paras shall use both the Joint Liability Group and Individual lending methodology in serving its clients.
   
 
In addition to the above investments, Bellwether has also provided, on a selective basis, debt support to MFIs where the Fund sees potential for an equity relationship in the future.