(OPIC) March 31, 2011 – The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution,  issued its first-ever call for proposals to catalyze support for ‘impact investments’ – a fast-growing sector that is drawing investors with the promise of targeting and delivering social and environmental impact to emerging markets while at the same time generating profits.

The OPIC initiative, which aims to commit $250 million in OPIC financing, represents the largest U.S. Government commitment to international impact investing to date.

The OPIC call invites proposals from qualified fund managers and other financial intermediaries to establish investment funds designed to create a portfolio of social and environmental impact investments in the emerging markets where OPIC operates. The call is open to equity, debt and hybrid strategies. Deadline for the submission of proposals is May 12.

The call for proposals may be found on OPIC’s website, www.opic.gov.

Strategically, the call will build on the promising work of innovators in the social impact investing field, support its financial intermediaries, and utilize OPIC’s debt, insurance, and guarantee products to attract a wider pool of investors than has been seen to date. In advance of the call, OPIC and investment advisor Cambridge Associates invited input and ideas – including perspectives on innovative structures and measurements of social performance – from investors, advisors, entrepreneurs and other parties in order to optimize its design.

“Private capital has an important role to play in helping solve development challenges, especially when development budgets are under pressure.” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. “With this call, OPIC seeks to catalyze the field’s growth, by encouraging innovation, mitigating risks and committing capital to attract more private investment.”