TERMS OF REFERENCE

For the hiring of professional services of an individual consultant to carry out the consultancy called:

“ISIDRO IMPACT INVESTMENT CONSULTANCY”

BACKGROUND

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: A leading global humanitarian and development agency, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) reaches over 130 million people across more than 110 countries. Since 1943, we have built strong partnerships with local communities, governments, and organizations around the world, creating renowned programming and operations that produce tangible results and make us a trusted partner. Our mission is lasting transformation of individual lives and entire societies—change that requires significant resources.

Government funding and philanthropy alone are insufficient to address the urgent and multidimensional issues of poverty and injustice affecting our world. Impact investing presents a unique opportunity to bring further innovation, scale, and sustainable solutions to programs that address the needs of vulnerable people and communities.  CRS uses its own capital to pilot and scale innovative investment approaches and bring together investors to address market gaps.

ISIDRO: Isidro Investments LLC (“Isidro”) is a wholly owned impact investing vehicle that provides loans to agricultural SMEs in Central America. Isidro focuses on small agricultural enterprises (SMEs) that are often overlooked by traditional lenders due to their size and perceived risk. Isidro's financial products include short-term working capital loans and capital expenditure loans. Additionally, Isidro offers a diversified package of technical assistance, including accounting, business acceleration, and climate-smart agriculture, along with coaching and mentoring to the SMEs to enhance their social business models and set impact metrics.

OBJECTIVE

This consultant will be focus on implement an investment analysis and due diligence for Isidro, supporting a small team of credit officers. This includes conducting financial analysis, structuring transactions, and managing the legal documentation process for transactions involving small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises, cooperatives, and producer organizations.

GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE

This consultancy will be developed remotely within the LACRO region countries which includes Guatemala, México, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. But could include travels within the LACRO Region in about 30% of the consultancy.

ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

• Develop and submit a comprehensive pipeline of investment opportunities in collaboration with local CRS country teams and the Isidro technical team. This report should include organizational profile and fit with Isidro strategy, potential deal size, and an initial risk assessment
• Oversee and deliver due diligence reports on new investment deals, including detailed financial modeling and analysis. Prepare and submit a summary of findings, along with a presentation for the Isidro Investment Committee. If required, conduct direct due diligence on loans and include these findings in the report.
• Draft and/or review investment memoranda and provide well-reasoned investment recommendations to the Investment Committee. Each memorandum should be written as per Isidro investment policies, and must include a thorough credit analysis, an initial term sheet agreed with the potential borrower, and a detailed risk assessment and mitigation plan.
• Lead the negotiation, documentation, and execution of transactions post-Investment Committee approval. Submit a detailed plan outlining key terms agreed upon, pre and post disbursement conditions and the execution timeline.
• Refine the existing Isidro product offerings and identify additional products to meet the needs of target clients. Provide a brief 2–3-page report detailing these refinements and recommendations for new product development
• Review and refine Isidro’s standard documents, investment policies, and procedures. Deliver a set of updated documents and policies aimed at improving deal execution and portfolio management efficiency
• Develop and implement a mentorship and training program for Isidro's investment team. Submit a brief 1–2-page report on the trainings provided and any recommendations for ongoing development

RESPONSIBILITIES

CRS Responsibilities

• CRS will provide all the information related to the ISIDRO methodology, tools, policies, and strategies for consultant review

Consultant Responsibilities

• The Consultant will maintain close coordination with the Sr Advisor, II at ISIDRO, to ensure the fulfillment of the responsibilities outlined in these terms of reference.
•  The consultant will support the work of an investment officer and an Operations Specialist

PRODUCTS AND REPORTS TO BE DELIVERED

• Transaction Documentation and Execution Plan
• Pipeline Development Report
• Due Diligence Report and Investment Analysis
• Investment Memoranda and Recommendations
• Product Offering and Development Report
• Standard Document and Policy Refinement
• Mentorship and Training Program

DURATION OF THE CONSULTING

The consultancy will have a duration of approximately 6 months, from October 2024 to March 31st, 2025.

PAYMENT INFORMATION

PROFILE OF THE REQUIRED CONSULTANT

•  Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting or another relevant field required. Master's Degree Preferred.
• Minimum of five (5) years   of relevant work experience in agricultural lending, preferably in Central America or Latin America regions.  Ideally, the Consultant will be based in Central America.
• Prior experience working with agricultural value chains strongly preferred, strong financial analytical skills and extensive experience in investment execution within the agricultural lending sector, preferably in Central or Latin America 
• Exceptionally strong analytical; financial modeling expertise required. strong interest in the social impact aims of small and medium agricultural enterprises
• Very strong project management skills, including ability to lead and execute transactions under tight timelines.
• Required Languages – English and Spanish fluency (both written and spoken) required.

PROPOSAL

Technical and economic proposal

Please submit a cover letter including fixed monthly fee considering the deliverables mentioned before.

Travel expenses:

For any travel required during this consultancy, CRS will provide and coordinate Air tickets and Hotels. The Perdiem and Incidentals Fee will be reimbursed at USD 50.00 per day; breakdown as follows: Breakfast $8.00, Lunch $12.00, Dinner $20.00 and Incidentals $10.00. If any item is included during the event or trip should be discounted from the amount, no receipts are needed for this purpose. For in-ground transportation will be reimbursed against receipts. 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION AND RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR

All information received will be handled confidentially; The products and documentation produced under this contract will be for the exclusive use and property of CRS.

The bidder will be totally and exclusively responsible for all the expenses associated with the preparation, elaboration and presentation of its offer and for any other cost that its participation in this process and in the contracting process demands, regardless of its result. CRS will not reimburse the costs incurred by interested parties in preparing their proposal and negotiating the contract.

PRESENTATION OF OFFERS:

All correspondence related to this proposal should be sent to the following email address: [email protected] 

In the subject of the email, you must indicate: " ISIDRO IMPACT INVESTMENT CONSULTANCY "               

All electronic files that you attach to your proposal must be sent in a single compressed folder, in .zip format, which must bear the name of the consulting company, the consultant or the name of the multidisciplinary team leader.

The following documents/folders should go inside the file:

• Cover Letter with your economical al technical proposal
• Folder called CV in which you must include Curriculum Vitae, copy of the Identification Document (both sides) and proof of active professional associations (if applicable).
• Folder called Legal Documents in which you must include Proof of Registration in the Unified Tax Registry (RTU).
• Folder called Portfolio, which should include samples of previous similar work or a deal sheet with details of transactions led by the candidate in the last five years
• Supplier Code of Conduct: Reviewed and Signed.

DATES:

Only proposals that comply with the submission of the information and documents requested above will go to the evaluation and qualification phase.