Page 19 - Annual Report 2010

17

Equity

A similar increased impact is being achieved through the management of Holding Funds under the JEREMIE initiative, a significant portion of whose funds are being directed towards equity investment in the Member States or regions concerned.

Besides this strong core activity, EIF has further developed new products and broadened the sources of capital and mandates and its geographical scope. The aim is to maximise EIF’s impact on the SME market, to address and support all critical areas of the VC ecosystem, and to expand EIF’s investor base and availability of capital.

As such, EIF will continue to build its sector-specific exper-tise and intensify its efforts to engage with corporates and strategic investors in view of developing and launching new products to address market needs. New products, addressing the non-institutionalised segment of the VC mar-ket, are currently under development. First pilot schemes of new products are expected to materialise within the next twelve months.