There's a new player in the world of impact investing, and it's a London-based firm called Big Society Capital. The idea is to invest in projects that have a positive impact on the world and get a return on that investment of between 4% and 6%, Bloomberg reports.
Big Society Capital's biggest success so far, according to its former CEO, is " confidence in the market that allows things to happen. Other investors feel more confident," Cliff Prior tells Bloomberg. "On the enterprise side, they feel more confident; talent comes to it, because of the confidence, and that's built over time."
Big Society Capital was founded in 2010 and has invested more than $100 million in 30 projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Bloomberg reports. According to a press release, the investment has had a positive impact on the lives of more than 85,000 people.
The company's biggest problem has been its return expectation, Prior tells Bloomberg. "The crazy idea was that 4 to 6% return expectation," he says.
"Who on earth thought that a fixed return expectation would be a sensible thing? Because for a long time, returns were generally very, very low. Now with inflation they're very, very high."
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William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan of Dowser write about the social entrepreneurs slowly and steadily dirsupting the world of philanthropy. According to Forbes, philanthropy disruptors are those that believe “no one company is so vital that it can’t be replaced and no single business model too perfect to upend.”