Schroder BSC Social Impact fully committed – Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust says that the net proceeds of its IPO as well as the placing of shares last November are now fully committed.
The company has made three new commitments:
The Community Investment Fund
A new investment in the Debt for Social Enterprises asset class – the fund is buying a stake in The Community Investment Fund, from the Social Investment Business for £4.5m. The fund is managed by Social and Sustainable Capital and was established in 2014 with initial investment from Big Society Capital and Social Investment Business. Social Investment Business is reducing its stake in the fund, with the aim of recycling the capital into seeding new funds and initiatives.
The Community Investment Fund makes secured loans to local charities and social enterprises and has a track record of delivering returns and impact. It holds a diversified portfolio of loans with exposure to community renewable energy, social and specialist supported housing, early years education and family support in the community. The fund’s investments benefit more disadvantaged groups with a high proportion of revenue coming from government mandated sources.
Man GPM RI Community Housing Fund – further investment
In the High Impact Housing asset class, a follow-on investment of £5m in the Man GPM RI Community Housing Fund (MCHF) which supports those people who are underserved by the current housing rental and purchase market, with a focus on those earning the median income and below, including young families and key workers.
MCHF has a target of achieving 70% affordable housing (tenures include social rent, affordable rent, key worker rent, and shared ownership). Across the seven projects in contract, 793 homes will be delivered with around 90% of those being an affordable tenure*. Early evidence indicates the fund will perform in accordance with the original investment and impact thesis. Most notably, the fund is deploying capital faster than originally anticipated and early projects and pipeline demonstrate strong early alignment with its impact goals.
Charity Bond Portfolio – Additional Commitment
The company is increasing its allocation to the Charity Bond Portfolio managed by Rathbones by £1.6m. The £14.83m portfolio consists of nine bonds across a number of sectors, tenures, and issuance sizes. This £1.6m top-up will enable further investments and thus greater diversification. These investments will be targeted according to the key investment criteria of the company; organisations with established track records of delivering high social impact to disadvantaged groups with strong balance sheets and historically resilient revenue from government sources.
[We can all guess what happens next – expect to see a fundraise soon. It is great that this social impact fund is gaining traction.]
SBSI : Schroder BSC Social Impact fully committed