FAQ

Oikocredit wants to simplify and unify its capital-raising model across different countries by replacing different investment products with participations. This is expected to free up more resources for investing in loans, equity stakes, capacity building and community-focused projects that benefit Oikocredit’s partners and the low-income clients served. It will also allow Oikocredit and its support associations to focus more on activities promoting sustainable development, together with the cooperative’s network of investors, members and partners.

Under the new model, your depository receipts will be converted to participations, non-voting equity instruments governed by Dutch law which are issued by Oikocredit. Participations are materially similar in financial terms to the depository receipts.

Compared to depository receipts issued by OISF, there continue to be no costs for the administration of your investment. Furthermore, there will be no change to your opportunity to redeem, dividend provisions, the risk profile of the investment or who you can contact if you have questions about your investment.

In addition, it has been made explicit in the participation terms how the net asset value (NAV) in foreign currencies is calculated should the NAV fall below the nominal value. Read more below in question “At which price will I be able to sell participations under the new model?”.

We will implement the new capital-raising model in two phases (see question “What will change for me”). The first phase came into effect from 1 March 2020, and the second change will come into effect as of 1 April 2023.

The changes will take place in two phases.

1 March 2023: With effect from 1 March 2023, Oikocredit has converted the member shares held by OISF into participations. As a result, all depository receipts held by investors now have, as the underlying product, participations instead of member shares.

From 1 April 2023: With effect from 1 April 2023, all depository receipts held by investors will be exchanged for participations, and investors previously invested in OISF via depository receipts will become direct investors in Oikocredit via participations. OISF will end the administration of investments in Oikocredit. It will eventually be liquidated and dissolved at a later date.

If existing investors do not agree with the change from depository receipts to participations, they may request a redemption of their depository receipts. They can do so by completing and returning a redemption form (organization redemption form or individual redemption form).

How the redemption price is set is unchanged compared to depository receipts. Oikocredit will redeem investors at the net asset value (NAV) per participation. If the NAV per participation is equal to or higher than the nominal value of EUR 200, which is Oikocredit's benchmark currency, then redemption will be at the nominal value of CAD 200. While Oikocredit International and OISF have never redeemed investors at a lower price than the nominal value in the past, it has always been possible to do so under the current model, and investors have always faced the risk of receiving back less money than they invested.

How the redemption price of a participation is calculated is explained in more detail in an annex to the participation terms. These terms are now available (see list ‘New capital-raising model documents’).

Example of redemption price calculation

The net asset value (NAV) describes the value of a participation as at the last calendar day of the month. The net asset value per participation is calculated in four steps:

1. Determining the ‘total investor amount’ by multiplying the number of participations outstanding for each currency, by the nominal value and by the exchange rate against the euro (obtained from Bloomberg on the last calendar day of the month). This provides us with the total investor amount in euros.

2. Determining the ‘net asset value (NAV)’ of Oikocredit by deducting the non-equity liabilities amount from the total assets amount. We establish this from Oikocredit’s balance sheet as at the last calendar day of each month.

3. Determining the ‘net asset value (NAV) quotient’ by dividing the net asset value of Oikocredit (from step 2) by the total investor amount (from step 1). The NAV quotient will tell us how many cents are available for each euro in the total investor amount. If the quotient is higher than 1, it follows that the net asset value per participation is above the nominal value. If that is the case, issuance and redemption will take place at nominal value.

4. Determining the exact net asset value of the participations issued in each currency by multiplying the NAV quotient with the nominal value of the participation.

The work of Oikocredit’s support association in Canada is unaffected by these changes. Oikocredit Canada Support Association is led by a volunteer board and has the responsibility of carrying out Oikocredit's grassroots education and outreach initiatives. This includes representing Oikocredit at local events, as well as mounting webinars, workshops and annual meetings to educate the public about investment and development, and Oikocredit's work around the world. Oikocredit will continue supporting the support association in this important work.

You can contact the investor support team in the Netherlands via the email
oi.support@oikocredit.org.

If you would like to speak with someone, email us at oi.support@oikocredit.org with your preferred time(s) and phone number, and we will do our best to accommodate your shared preferences.