Family of funds
MDLF operates its financing through a Family of Funds. Each Fund is designed to meet a distinct objective, with its own risk profile, definition of qualified borrower, eligible countries, pricing, financing conditions and fundraising framework.
The Family of Funds consists of:
- General Loan Fund: Financing is aimed primarily at infrastructure development, such as printing presses, transmitters and computer systems, which help borrowers expand their audience, generate new sources of revenue or secure their independence from state-controlled service-providers.
- High-Risk Country Fund: Explicitly assumes a higher level of country risk. It opens the door to providing loans in countries with weak rule of law, recent or ongoing conflict, fragile media economies or similar high "external" risks.
- High-Risk Project Fund: Explicitly assumes a higher level of project risk. It allows financing of more speculative ventures, such as new business models, start-ups, projects facing difficult competitive environments, or similar high "internal" risks.
- Affiliates Fund: Nurtures the start-up of small, locally-based media loan funds that can service projects too small or simple to justify MDLF's direct involvement. With the Affiliates Fund, we provide financing for these Affiliate Loan Funds, alongside oversight, training and technical assistance, following the model of our pilot efforts in Indonesia and Russia.
- Equity Fund: Enables us to continue our program-related equity investments.
- Cash-Flow Fund: Enables select clients to cover their immediate cash needs, with a highly expedited "fast track" application process.
Loan repayments are recycled through the Funds to provide financing for other media businesses.
Our Board of Directors reviews the list of existing funds annually, introducing new funds when it determines new mission reasons, and closing those whose programmatic shelf-life has expired.
Contact us for further details about any of our Funds.
Invest in press freedom
It's easy to invest in MDLF's work, providing independent news businesses with the financing they need to hold governments to account, expose corruption and fight for justice for all.
Track record
From 1996 to December 31, 2011, MDLF provided $113.3 million in affordable financing, including:
· $98.9 million in loans and equity investments;
· $13.9 million in technical assistance and other grants;
· Earned over $36.4 million in interest, dividends and capital gains;
· Collected more than $50.8 million in recovered principal invested;
· $0.5 million through Digital Kiosk, the secure payment service for independent media;
It has written off only 1.91% of the total loaned and invested.
MDLF has returned more than $16.8 million to investors. It ended December 2011 with a portfolio of $40.7 million in outstanding loans and investments.
