Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM) is the investment and portfolio management arm of Women’s World Banking, a long-established global nonprofit focused on women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
WAM’s mission is to mobilize capital that generates both competitive financial returns and measurable social impact — specifically by expanding access to financial services for women, strengthening gender diversity in the institutions it backs, and demonstrating that gender-lens investing can be a profitable investment strategy.
Portfolio Focus
Asset class
Private Equity
Impact theme
Equity, Representation & Justice
Gender Equity
Economic Opportunity & Inclusion
Financial & Economic Inclusion
Investment geographies
Global
Key people
Mary Ellen Iskenderian
President & CEO
Sanjay Sehgal
Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer
WWBCP Fund II
Raised: $103 million
Asset class:Private Equity
Impact theme:Equity, Representation & Justice
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Investment geographies:Global
About the fund
Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II (WWBCP Fund II) is a closed-end, blended finance private equity fund that raised $103 million at final close in March 2022, building on the gender-focused strategy of its predecessor. The fund invests minority equity and quasi-equity in financial service providers across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, MENA, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, with a mandate to expand women’s financial inclusion and leadership. Its innovative structure combines first-loss equity from development agencies, commercial capital from institutional and impact investors, and risk-sharing debt from development finance institutions, enabling investment in underserved markets and earlier-stage companies.
Anchor investors in WWB Capital Partners II include the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), both of whose capital was invested into the fund through KfW, which acted as the channeling development finance institution. Additionally, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) provided anchor support directly through a long-term loan commitment to the fund, reinforcing the blended finance structure and helping crowd in commercial LP capital.
WWB Capital Partners I (Fund I) was the inaugural private equity fund launched by Women’s World Banking Asset Management around 2012, with approximately $50 million in commitments. The fund made minority equity investments in inclusive financial institutions and microfinance providers across emerging markets, focusing on companies that serve low-income women as clients and promote women within their workforce and leadership. As one of the first dedicated gender-lens private equity vehicles in financial inclusion, Fund I sought to demonstrate that investing in institutions that meaningfully engage women could generate competitive financial returns while expanding women’s access to credit, savings, and other essential financial services.