Sarona Frontier Markets Fund 1 LP has made its first investment in Brazil, impact investment manager Sarona Asset Management said Thursday.

Impact investing is the use of for-profit investment to address social and environmental problems.

Sarona’s investment is in a receivables factoring fund called Brazil+, a joint venture between FondElec, a private investment group, and SIFRA, one of the largest and most successful receivable factoring companies in the country.

“This receivable factoring fund provides the necessary working capital financing to micro, small and medium sized businesses that are the engine of growth and job creation in Brazil,” saays Serge LeVert-Chiasson, chief investment officer of Waterloo, Ont-based Sarona.

“These companies often lack access to credit from the formal banking sector. We not only believe strongly in the financial case of SMEs in frontier markets, but also in the ability to achieve positive community and environmental impact through such investments.”

The Sarona and MicroVest groups of funds have over $180 million in assets under management in developing and emerging countries around the world.

IE