High social impact investment – an ethical investment trend to watch in 2012/2013

The growth of high social impact investment.

High social impact investing is an investment style which emphasises the positive social return of an investment as well as the financial or conventional investment return. We believe that this is a growing part of the larger ethical investment market and over the past two years a number of new innovative organisations and products have emerged: Social Finance are preparing to launch a VCT (Venture Capital Trust) which will offer private investors tax relief on investments into businesses which have measurable social benefits. Ethex, launching later this year, will aim to build a deeper more liquid market in the share capital of ethical and responsible businesses. Social Stock Exchange (planned launch June 2013) is a project that aims to build an FSA recognised exchange in smaller high growth companies in the health, educational and environmental markets. Markets such as social and affordable housing, social transport, green and ethical consumerism, clean-tech, green-tech, waste, water, recycling, regeneration, education, public health, sustainable forestry and organic agriculture, and ‘base of the pyramid’ interventions. We will continue to highlight organisations and products in our Impact Investment section.