Social investments
We are steadily building an endowment for
our Foundation to provide it with a permanent source of funding
into the future. The Trustees decided that a proportion of
our assets should be devoted to social investments - in other
words, investments that generate a positive social impact as well
as a financial return.
Finance in Motion
In March 2010 the Apax Foundation made its first social
investment, through the purchase of a 20% stake in Finance in
Motion.
Finance in Motion is an asset management firm exclusively
focused on development finance. It offers specialised
investment advisory services in the management of investment
vehicles that have a positive social impact in developing countries
and emerging economies and generate a financial return for
investors. It is the sole fund adviser for the European Fund
for Southeast Europe (EFSE), which is the world's largest
microfinance investment fund and is also the investment adviser of
the Green for Growth Fund Southeast Europe, which promotes energy
efficiency and renewable energy projects in Southeast Europe
including Turkey.
In November 2010, the European Fund for Southeast Europe
received a tremendous endorsement when it was announced as the
winner of the 'SME Finance Challenge' at the G-20 summit in
Seoul. The competition was launched to identify catalytic and
innovative interventions to unlock private finance for SMEs.
EFSE was selected from a field of 345 concepts submitted from more
than 75 countries.
Despite the global financial crisis, the Fund has been able to
successfully raise private capital, which has been distributed
amongst more than 60 partner institutions in 14 transition and
developing countries for the financing of investments by local
SMEs.
The award acknowledges the Fund's track record in terms of
establishing a financing infrastructure for SMEs and the creation
of some 215,000 new jobs since its inception. "Our thanks go to all
those voters who selected our concept, and we would also like to
specifically thank our partners for the trust they placed in us. We
are committed to doing everything in our power to efficiently and
sustainably support small businesses in transition and developing
countries in order to put them in a position where they are able to
help themselves," said Dr Klaus Glaubitt, Chairman of EFSE's Board
of Directors.
The photograph shows Sylvia Wisniwski, Managing Director of
Finance in Motion, alongside US President Barack Obama, Korean
President Lee Myung-bak, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper.
www.finance-in-motion.com
East London Bond
In July 2010 we made our second social investment, in the East
London Bond. The East London Bond uses the mechanism of a
charitable bond to deliver positive change for communities in East
London, while preserving the capital of investors in the bond.
The East London Bond is offered by Citylife, a national charity
that issues Social Investment Bonds as a unique way to raise funds
for charities. Of the total invested in the East London Bond,
around 80% is to be loaned to social housing providers at
commercial interest rates to develop affordable housing in the East
London area. The remaining 20% is to be given as a tax exempt
grant, divided equally between two charities working in East London
- the Bromley by Bow Centre and Community Links. At the end
of the 5-year bond holding period, the investors' original capital
will be returned in full - leaving behind a legacy of lasting
change in East London.
www.eastlondonbond.org