Social Finance: supply-side perspectives on the Canadian social capital market

Social Capital Financing: Supply-Side Perspectives
Karim Harji
Manager, Partnership Development – Social Capital Partners
Co-founder – socialfinance.ca
Social Economy Centre
University of Toronto
24 March, 2010
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Agenda
Explore the key trends, issues, and opportunities for investors seeking a combination of economic, social, and environmental ("blended value") returns.
The Canadian social capital market
An introduction to the supply-side
Aligning demand and supply
Supply-side challenges
Supply-side opportunities
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An Introduction to Social Finance
Social finance is the deliberate, intentional application of tools, instruments, and strategies to enable capital to achieve a blended value return. (Harji and Hebb, 2009)
Social finance is an approach to managing money that delivers a social dividend and an economic return. (Wikipedia)
Also known as… social investing , responsible investing, ethical investing, double or triple bottom line investing, impact investing, targeted investing , etc etc.  there are important differences!
Goes beyond simply capital for non-profit social enterprises
The social finance ecosystem: demand, supply, intermediaries
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Social Finance in Practice across Canada
Social Capital Partners – arranges for growth financing and provides advisory services to successful businesses that integrate a social mission into their HR model
Vancity– Canada’s largest Credit Union : 400,000 members, $14.5 billion in assets
Meritas– mutual fund committed to SRI: screening guidelines, shareholder activism and community development investments (up to 2% for microfinance)
Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) – tax-deferred savings vehicle to assist families in planning for long-term financial security of their relatives with disabilities
Great Bear Rainforest Fund – public-private-philanthropic partnership structured to allow investments in ecologically-sustainable ventures within First Nations’ communities
Social Venture Partners (3 Canadian chapters) – network of engaged philanthropists that provide money and expertise for capacity building of nonprofits
CAPE Fund – $50 million fund launched by Paul Martin to provide equity and quasi-equity investment in the range of $1 million and $7.5 million to Aboriginal businesses
Enterprising Non Profits (BC/ON) – provides matching grants to non-profit organizations that are interested in starting or expanding a business
Ottawa Community Loan Fund (OCLF) – loans of up to $15,000 to small business owners, internationally-trained professionals, social enterprises, community groups.
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Elements of a Social Capital Market
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Source: Alex Nicholls and Cathy Pharoah (2008) “The Landscape of Social Investment”, http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/skoll/research/Pages/landscapeofsocialinvestment.aspx

Financing The Social Economy
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Don McNair (2010) “The Financial Ecosystem of Canada’s Social Economy”, http://www.cedworks.com/files/pdf/free/MW200308.pdf

The Spectrum of Social Finance
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Jed Emerson (2003) “The Blended Value Map: Tracking the Intersects and Opportunities of Economic, Social and Environmental Value Creation ”

The Social Finance Continuum
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Below-Market Investments
Public Equity
Fixed Income
Private Equity
Cash
Guarantees
Subordinated Loans
Senior Loans
Cash
Grant Support
Equity
Market-Rate Investments
Source: F.B. Heron Foundation

Supply Side
Adapted from: Causeway, SiG, Volans (2009) “Building The Case for Social Finance in Canada”
Banks / Credit Unions
Vancity
Alterna Savings
Canadian Co-operative Association
Citizens Bank
Desjardins
Royal Bank
Specialized Funds
Canadian Alternative Investment Co-op
Community Loan Funds (various: Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, St. John)
Social Enterprise Fund (Edmonton)
Institutional Capital
UNPRI Signatories: CPPIB, etc.
Retail Investors
Mutual Funds: Meritas, Acuity
Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)
Investment Management Firms
CAPE Fund
Ecotrust Canada Capital
Fonds de solidarité
Investeco
Renewal2 Investment Fund
Resilient Capital
Social Capital Partners
Foundations
Edmonton Community Foundation
J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
Maytree Foundation
Ontario Trillium Foundation
Tides Canada
Grantors
Enterprising Non-Profits
Toronto Enterprise Fund
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Demand Side
Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary sector is the second largest in the world
CRA: over 161,000 nonprofit and voluntary organizations, of which approximately 83,000 are registered charities. (Pearson 2008)
Excluding hospitals, universities and colleges, the dominant revenue source (48%) of nonprofit and voluntary sector revenue is fees, compared to 39% for government support and 12% from philanthropy (Imagine Canada 2005)
Reflects the importance of alternative revenue streams
This does not discount the importance of grants
Brouard et al. (2008) have developed a dataset of eight hundred social enterprises in Canada
Québec has over 6,200 social economy enterprises employing more than 65,000 people and generating over $4 billion in revenues (Pearson 2008)
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Source: Karim Harji and Tessa Hebb (2009) “The Quest for Blended Value Returns”, http://www.carleton.ca/3ci

Uses of (Social) Finance
Pre-funding of Capital Fundraising: organization wants to take advantage of a fixed contract price for building work. A bridging loan enables it to proceed
Provides Working Capital: organization may have secured funding but may have to wait to receive it (e.g. payment terms are quarterly in arrears). Working capital underpins cash flow in the short term.
Provides Development Capital: organization is interested in investing in training or new facilities and equipment. This investment may help organizations to develop income streams which contribute to their viability over the medium to longer term. Development capital can take a variety of forms including:
loans for projects if finance can not be found elsewhere (stand-by facilities/underwriting);
secured and unsecured loans; or loan guarantees;
a loan only repayable by a royalty on future sales of a product or service (quasi-equity);
a royalty deal which shares profits with the investor once the enterprise generates a specified surplus (quasi-equity); or
the subscription or purchase of shares in a social enterprise (Note: a charity can not offer shares – assets are held for the public benefit).
Source: Trillium Foundation, “Social Finance” , http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/User/Docs/PDFs/research/Social_finance.pdf
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Aligning Demand and Supply
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Source: Alex Nicholls and Cathy Pharoah (2008) “The Landscape of Social Investment”, http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/skoll/research/Pages/landscapeofsocialinvestment.aspx

Intermediaries
Academic
University of Toronto (OISE, Rotman)
Carleton Centre for Community Innovation
Sauder School of Business
Schulich School of Business
Capacity Builders
Causeway Social Finance
Social Innovation Generation
Community Futures Development Corporations
Ontario Nonprofit Network
Chantierl’EconomieSociale
BC Centre for Social Enterprise
Associations
Social Investment Organization
Canadian Community Investment Network
Community Foundations of Canada
Philanthropic Foundations of Canada
Credit Unions
Community Development Financial Institutions
Federal Government
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Canada Revenue Agency
Department of Finance
Ontario Provincial Government
Community Economic Development Funds
First Nations Finance Authority
Ministry of Finance
ESG Information
Jantzi-Sustainalytics
Web Platforms
CommunityLend
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Alterna Community Alliance Housing Fund
Created to address Ottawa’s affordable housing shortage
Provides low-cost financing for second-mortgage financing, and as necessary, primary-mortgage financing
Structured as investment grad instrument offering a five-year GIC rate of return
 It took 7 years before PSAC was able to find a “risk-free vehicle” to be able to do this!
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Building the Social Capital Market
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Source: Monitor Institute (2008) “Investing for Social & Environmental Impact, A Design for Catalyzing an Emerging Industry”, http://www.monitorinstitute.com/impactinvesting/

Supply Side Challenges
Legal framework that prohibits innovative activity
Social enterprise and hybrid structures e.g. can’t take equity stake in nonprofits
Pension funds and Program Related Investments (PRIs): fiduciary responsibility
Transactions and search costs too high for viable deals
Limited coordination or co-investment among capital suppliers
Lack of mature intermediaries; poor knowledge of demand side
Difficulty in structuring deals that include non-traditional financial instruments
Lack of “demonstration funds” of sufficient scale
Bifurcation between philanthropy (for impact) and investment (for returns)
Silo’d nature of foundations (grantingmaking vs. investment committees)
A typical foundation operates like a private investment company that gives away a portion of its profits to charity...
Social impact metrics
Underdeveloped understanding of assessment and incorporation of social risks and returns; inability to capture/use comparable data across sectors
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Supply Side Opportunities
Engage institutional investors
Increased demand for responsible investing strategies (UNPRI, etc.)
Providing options for community investments
Utilize foundation assets
Program-Related Investments
Create innovative financial vehicles
Tiered deal structures
Build capacity of intermediaries
Align incentives to “connect” demand and supply
Coherent understanding of framework for social impact assessment
17
Further reading: Karim Harji (2010) “Delivering More Capital to Communities: A Supply-Side Perspective on the Canadian Social Capital Market”, Making Waves magazine, http://www.cedworks.com/waves.html

Addressing the Key Challenges: Silver Buckshot, Not Silver Bullet
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Source: Monitor Institute (2008) “Investing for Social & Environmental Impact, A Design for Catalyzing an Emerging Industry”, http://www.monitorinstitute.com/impactinvesting/

New Capital on the Horizon
Loan and Investment Fund (Nora Sobolov)
Modeled similar to the Nonprofit Finance Fund in the US
Provide working capital and bridge loans to non-profit and charitable organizations

Community Investment Vehicle (Social Investment Organization)
A product to channel investment dollars from individuals and institutional investors
Invested nationally in revenue generating social enterprise owned and operated by non-profits

Fund of Fund Product (Mercer Consulting)
The Fund of Funds would allow investors to get access to socially responsible investment opportunities in a cost efficient manner (multi asset class, global diversification)

Social Venture Fund (MaRS Capital Services and Edgestone Capital)
Primarily for early stage social ventures with strong potential to scale
Demonstration vehicle that can be leveraged to larger size with government participation

PRI Fund (Community Foundations of Canada, Philanthropic Foundations of Canda)
Align more than 3.5% of foundation assets (i.e. endowments) with mission
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Source: Adam Jagelewski (2010) “New Capital on the Horizon”, http://www.socialfinance.ca/blog/post/new_capital_on_the_horizon

Suggested Resources (more available @ socialfinance.ca)
A. Boshyk et al.Canadian Socially Responsible Investment Review 2008 (Toronto: Social Investment Organization, March 2009). <http://www.socialinvestment.ca/documents/caReview2008.pdf>.
J. Emerson and J. Spitzer. From Fragmentation to Function: Critical Concepts and Writings on Social Capital Markets' Structure, Operation, and Innovation. (Oxford: Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, 2007).
J. Emerson, T. Freundlich and J. Fruchterman. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Addressing The Critical Gaps in Risk-Taking Capital for Social Enterprise. (Oxford: Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, 2007).
K. Fulton and J. Freireich. Investing for Social and Environmental Impact: A Design for Catalyzing an Emerging Industry. (Monitor Institute, January 2009).
K. Harji. Delivering More Capital to Communities: A Supply-Side Perspective on the Canadian Social Capital Market. (Making Waves magazine, forthcoming April 2010). <http://www.cedworks.com/waves.html>
K. Harji and T. Hebb. The Quest for Blended Value Returns: Investor Perspectives on Social Finance in Canada. (draft; Ottawa: Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, November 10, 2009). <http://www.carleton.ca/3ci/3ci_files/Documents/Social_Finance_in_Canada.pdf>.
B. Martin and C. Strandberg. Education and Training on Responsible Investing for Canadian Foundations and Endowments: An Inventory and Needs Analysis. (Toronto: Social Investment Organization, September 2009).
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Social Finance: supply-side perspectives on the Canadian social capital market

by Karim Harji on Mar 23, 2010

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Social Finance: supply-side perspectives on the Canadian social capital market — Presentation Transcript