DALLAS: Social impact investment made for social benefit as well as financial profit is now a growth trend. The reason? Austerity budgets have resulted in significant cuts in government funding for social services. Government grants for social housing have shrunk. Similar budget cuts have affected aid for the elderly and health care.
Hedge funds are moving into social impact financing. Cheyne Capital, a £6 billion, London hedge fund, is the most recent entity to fill the gap through social impact financing. Its Cheyne Property Impact Fund plans to buy property to rent to organisations that provide essential social services. The fund is raising £300 million, and aims at returns of 10 to 12 percent. Those returns are based on affordable rents and the fund’s ability to generate attractive debt financing.
The new fund got a kickstart from Big Society Capital, a government-backed finance group with a mission to support the social investment market so that social enterprises get access to financing. To date, the group has invested £165 million pounds in organisations that lend to charities and social enterprises. New Philanthropy Capital, a charities research group, will help evaluate investment opportunities for the new fund…
This trend is covered in detail in the Seniors Housing Trends Monthly News