DAI acquires asset management company MicroVest

DAI has acquired microfinance specialist company MicroVest in a move aimed at strengthening DAI Capital, the global development organization’s growing finance arm. MicroVest is a B Corporation that raises capital from private institutions and allocates it to financial institutions working with “underbanked” enterprises in emerging markets. It currently has $250 million under management and a staff of 20 people. “We felt it was time we had a larger firm help us to grow into a space where we can target institutional investors and pension firms.” --— Gil Crawford, co-founder, MicroVest Based in Maryland, DAI is an employee-owned organization with around 5,000 staffers working across five continents. It set up DAI Capital in 2019 to improve the amount of private capital flowing into development. Joshua Moraczewski, principal at DAI Capital, said the acquisition of an asset manager made sense for his organization. “This is driven partly by our core clients, the donor agencies,” he told Devex. “They are moving more and more to co-opt private finance to work more and more in concert with their development aims. This helps us do that.” MicroVest is the second acquisition for DAI Capita, after it joined forces with investment bank Magister a year ago. Moraczewski said DAI has a “hybrid strategy” for growth that involves organic growth but could also include more acquisitions. Gil Crawford, a co-founder of MicroVest, told Devex that until now, most of the company’s capital had come from family offices and registered investment advisers who work largely with high net worth individuals. “We felt it was time we had a larger firm help us to grow into a space where we can target institutional investors and pension firms,” he said. “DAI also gives us the chance to look at new themes and new geographies.” Crawford said he was interested in DAI’s focus in areas such as agricultural, value chain, and climate finance. “We have considerable scope for growth,” he said. “Right now, we have $250 million invested, and our current clients have said they could use $3 billion in funding from us. That doesn’t even include potential clients.” The move will not involve changes to the team or leadership at MicroVest, according to Crawford, and it will continue to operate with the same investment policies. “It was important to us to have a good cultural fit,” he said. “We’re a B Corp, and we want to stay a B Corp. That was really important to us.”