ALL CATEGORIES

INVESTORS

How do you measure a project's risk?

Before launching any given project, we undertake a rigorous risk assessment in order to evaluate its financial viability (the promoter's and the project's) as well as it's technical viability, according to the following criteria:

• Expert Judgement: our credit assessment team evaluates the financial conditions of the project through different financial tools, including an internal credit model that determines a risk rating and an interest rate.

• Statistical Credit Model: we give the project a quantitative grade on a scale that indicates the promoter’s default probability in the following 12 months. This information is outsourced to an external entity - Wiserfunding - which is accredited by the Bank of Portugal.

• Policy Criteria: We also assess whether a project or promoter is aligned with United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensure the promoter has no outstanding issues with the Tax Authority, Social Security and Banking System. The promoter has, therefore, to submit formal financial reports for at least 1 full year, and prove that they are not defaulting on any financial obligation and that they have not been implicated in other judicial incidents.

These three steps provide us with a clear perspective on the promoter's financial position, allowing investors to make informed decisions. We assign the project a rating on a scale from A+ to D, where A+ represents the lowest risk and D the highest risk. The R rating represents project restructurings that imply an increase in the operation term of more than 12 months. This information is made available on each project's page.

On top of this, for some projects, we take additional risk mitigation measures that are activated in case the promoter defaults on its financial responsibilities. 

We may for example:

• Ask the promoter to pledge the equipment which has been installed as part of the project.

• Ask the promoter for a personal guarantee from one of the company’s shareholders.