Finance in Motion Welcomes Moody’s A1 and A2 Investment-Grade Ratings for EFSE and GGF 

Frankfurt am Main, 5 November 2026 – Moody’s Ratings has assigned public investment-grade ratings to two flagship blended finance funds advised and managed by impact asset manager, Finance in Motion respectively: A1 for the European Fund for Southeast Europe Regional Sub-fund (EFSE RSF) and A2 for the Green for Growth Fund (GGF), both with a stable outlook. “This is an outstanding result for blended finance and, for us, a clear signal that impact and capital markets belong together,” said Sylvia Wisniwski, CEO of Finance in Motion.

Sylvia Wisniwski: “The ratings are exceptional on two counts.” Blended finance funds are rarely rated at all: their layered capital structures, development mandates and emerging-market portfolios have been long falling outside the frameworks of the major rating agencies. “And a rating in the A range is on the upper end of what we have observed so far, in the space of blended finance debt funds”, said Wisniwski.

For Finance in Motion, the message is clear: impact and credit quality are not a trade-off. EFSE and GGF, which finance small businesses, households and clean energy across emerging markets, now carry investment-grade ratings. “This is a milestone not only for EFSE and GGF, but for impact investing as a whole,” said Wisniwski. “For years, investors were told they had to choose between impact and credit quality. We believe these ratings show that this choice was never real. Emerging-market private debt, structured the right way, can achieve solid investment-grade quality.”

Why ratings matter for blended finance

Private capital will need to play a far greater role in financing growth in emerging markets. Blended finance enables this by using public sector capital to absorb risks that markets cannot yet price effectively. This allows institutional investors to assume risks they can understand and price appropriately while targeting commercial returns. But many institutional investors are underestimating such de-risking benefits of blended capital stacks, as these are difficult to assess through the classic capital adequacy analysis. Public ratings help to close such analytical gaps by providing a systemized credit evaluation for blended structures and putting it on a commonly known risk scale. At the same time, many institutional investors, are bound by mandates and capital rules tied to credit ratings. Independent public ratings make blended finance funds accessible for such institutions.  

Across its funds, Finance in Motion has deployed a cumulative €10.4 billion through 242 financial institution partners. Cumulative realized losses since inception stand at less than 0.5%, all of which were absorbed by donor funding (as of Q4 2025).

EFSE and GGF each exceed USD 1 billion in fund size. EFSE, launched in 2005 at the initiative of KfW Development Bank with the support of the German government and the European Commission, finances micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through more than 80 local financial institutions in Southeast Europe, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. GGF, launched in 2009, advances the green transition across Southeast Europe, Eastern Europe, and North Africa by financing energy efficiency and renewable energy through local financial institutions and direct investments, with its track record recognized by two IJGlobal Awards for landmark renewable energy investments in Albania and Ukraine.  

“We see these ratings as recognition of rigorous underwriting, local presence and long-standing partnerships,” said Wisniwski. “And we are convinced that the model scales: the structures that protect investors in EFSE and GGF can be applied across our platform.”

Rated blended finance moves into the mainstream

Blended finance has long been difficult to fit into standard rating frameworks. That is changing fast: in July 2026, Moody’s and S&P Global both published reports detailing how they assess blended finance structures. With the financing gap for climate, infrastructure and SME finance in emerging markets running into the trillions, investment-grade ratings are becoming the key to unlocking private capital at scale. With EFSE and GGF, Finance in Motion is helping to drive this shift.

The Moody’s rating action for EFSE can be found here.
The Moody’s rating action for GGF can be found here.