1. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Sharing the UK Experience Pratul Ahuja Community Development Finance Association (cdfa)

2. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Brief background on the UK sector cdfa is the national trade association of Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) Represents the majority of CDFIs in the UK with over 66 members and 36 supporters CDFIs serve three distinct markets – personal, business and social enterprise Have a loan and investment portfolio of £147m Have financed 9,500 business, created 10,000 jobs and sustained another 85,000 jobs

3. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Why were Indicators and Benchmarks needed? Sector not able to illustrate what it can deliver Little quantitative evidence on which to identify diversity, strengths and weaknesses within the sector A variety of stakeholders (including investors, grant supporters and partners) unable to judge relative performance of organisations and therefore less likely or less able to commit resources Desire to develop a self-regulatory framework (rather than a framework forced upon the sector)

4. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Challenges faced CDFIs not a homogenous group –  Different models and structures  Offer diverse products and serve different markets Driven by different missions Difficult to illustrate long-term benefits of indicators and benchmarking in the initial stages, some reluctance to engage in disaggregated data disclosure

5. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Making a beginning… Currently, the cdfa publishes an annual member survey - ‘Inside Out’ containing aggregated data on its members The report includes information on – Distribution of CDFIs, their structure and markets Products and services offered How much money CDFIs hold and its sources Portfolio performance Staff structure and governance What the future holds www.cdfa.org.uk/resources/publications/InsideOut

6. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? cdfa’s Indicators and Benchmarks project Aim of the Project To maximise the effectiveness of the UK CDFI sector through the development of a self-regulatory performance framework Objectives  Establish core organisational performance and impact indicators for CDFIs  Development of a transparent, transferable set of benchmarks against which UK CDFIs can measure their performance against their peers  Dissemination and training  Evaluation

7. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? cdfa’s Indicators and Benchmarks project Expected outcomes of the Project  cdfa members and other UK CDFIs utilising a common framework to demonstrate their effectiveness  Improved effectiveness and efficiency within the UK CDFI sector  Investors and CDFI stakeholders better able to make informed decisions  Increased and improved delivery of finance to individuals and businesses that need it

8. EMN Conference 26-28 October 2005Transparency: Agreement on basic benchmarks in Europe? Key areas of the Performance Framework cdfa’s Performance Framework is organised into 5 key areas –  Financial Sustainability/Profitability Asset/Liability management Portfolio Quality Capital/Liquidity Efficiency/Productivity Income streams  Organisational  Operational  Market  Impact