“We thought we would be building synergies by associating a consulting business together with an investment management business,” says Innpact Partner, Patrick Goodman, of what caused the new company’s formation following the management buy-out of Symbiotics Luxembourg. “After a year or so we realised that wasn’t happening. In fact, we were effectively creating conflicts of interests, and that is the reason we decided to split.” It is not about acrimony, and the two companies can now dovetail, with results already visible: “since then we won a major mandate assisting the Microfinance Enhancement Facility. We’ve been appointed general secretary, helping the fund in the coordination of all administrative and corporate aspects. We’re also coordinator of all the social providers here in Luxembourg. We would not have had this mandate if we had stayed with Symbiotics.”

The company offers a comprehensive package, but the structure of Innpact is conducive to this. “Arnaud Gillin and I are very complementary,” states Goodman of his fellow director, “we are both experienced in areas the other one is not so familiar with, but together we cover the whole range of consulting services in helping to establish microfinance investment vehicles.” Having started with just the two of them, they have hired three additional people in the past few months. “While the services may seem like a lot for such a small company, we work in project management schemes. Currently we have about ten projects running in parallel,” says Gillin of Innpact’s operating structure. “At the moment, it’s still fine for five people. However, the other services that we are developing, services during the life of the fund, not just the creation, are somewhat new to us. Hence, we have hired a legal officer. For these services there is more administrative work, so we are organising the way we split the work. The creation of investment vehicles is more linear.”

So what are the plans and ambitions for Innpact in the future? “So far, our emphasis has really been on development finance,” says Goodman. “We have also been assisting our clients in developing other funds in areas such as energy efficiency and renewable energies, and we have the aim to be involved at some point in social entrepreneurship: we have been approached by the promoter of a future Luxembourg fund to act as director of the company. It’s a work in progress but that is the intention. We are not interested in straightforward, traditional business.” The company’s focus will always be on development finance in developing countries, and Gillin highlights the commitment to “those who are at the bottom of the pyramid,” and providing them with essential services. “We will see the emergence of new investment funds in these areas,” he elaborates, “and these are the areas we would like to help our clients become involved in, but it will take a bit of time.” They are nothing if not thorough, however, and Goodman sums up Innpact’s raison d’être succinctly: “we both set up this company to make a difference. We were both working in the traditional banking world. Obviously traditional banks make a difference by providing credit and services. We wanted to take it one step further and help these large institutions set up more funds, more quickly.”