Deutsche Bank has placed €36 million ($50 million) of its €60 million db Microfinance Invest Nr 1 portfolio with private investors, foundations and churches as senior loans with an annual interest rate of 6 per cent. The remaining amount was posted elsewhere in the markets. The minimum investment permitted was €1 million, said Hanns Michael Hoelz, the bank's global head of sustainable development. The Frankfurt-based bank said the placement would be used by 21 microfinance institutes in 15 countries to provide at least 120,000 small loans to small businesses. The countries concerned are Peru, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Nigeria, Honduras, El Salvador, Bosnia, Tajikistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua and the Philippines. Microfinance gained widespread acceptance last year when Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize. Joachim Haeger, who heads Deutsche's's private wealth management business in Germany, said the portfolio bonds were tailored for high net-worth individuals, foundations and church-affiliated institutions. "Increasingly, these investors have their eye on the microfinance market. They are looking for investments which combine attractive returns with ethical values and sustainability," he said. In August, Citigroup launched two microfinance initiatives – the Citi GIFT Microfinance Donor Fund and the Citigroup Global Microfinance fund – targeted either at those who would like to make an outright gift or those who are more comfortable with giving in the form of an investment.