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.
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. Read
More.
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