Social Investment and the Big Society Bank Member briefing Summary The Big Society Bank is just one element of the Government’s plans to increase social investment. It will act as a wholesale bank, lending to other financial institutions that provide loans to frontline organisations; the Bank’s funds will only be available through intermediaries and not directly from the Bank. The type of social investment on offer from the Bank will primarily benefit those organisations that can create robust business plans and have the capacity to deliver contracts and manage loans. NAVCA envisages that this type of finance will be a minority interest for small local organisations, although there are potential roles for NAVCA members as financial intermediaries and as investment readiness intermediaries. However there is still a need for support for organisations at the early stages of identifying whether social investment would be the most suitable funding source for the organisation.
Introduction The Government set out its proposals for the Big Society Bank in Growing the social investment market: a vision and strategy1. It places the Big Society Bank firmly in the context of the social investment arena, where loan finance of one sort or another is dominant. NAVCA Commentary The strategy is not out for consultation, although the previous Government’s consultation on the Social Investment Wholesale Bank does appear to have informed the strategy. This briefing gives a commentated analysis of the strategy with a particular focus on the Big Society Bank.
Social Investment Market and Social finance Growing the social investment market: a vision and strategy sets out the overall strategy for social investment. Key points include:
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The Government is aiming to increase social investment and to create a third pillar of finance alongside public money and traditional giving.
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Social investment is portrayed as individuals and organisations “investing for good” where there is a reasonable chance of getting their money back, possibly with a positive financial return.
Growing the social investment market: a vision and strategy
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/growing-social-investment-market-vision-andstrategy NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action), The Tower, 2 Furnival Square, Sheffield S1 4QL Tel 0114 278 6636 ● Fax 0114 278 7004 ● Textphone 0114 278 7025 ● navca@navca.org.uk ●
www.navca.org.uk Registered charity no. 1001635 ● Company limited by guarantee ● Registered in England no. 2575206 ● Registered office as above
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The focus is on financing social ventures, which the strategy describes as generating social value in a way that is financially self sustaining.
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Social ventures can include community organisations, charities and social enterprises.
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The Government believes that lack of access to capital is holding social ventures back and that capital “on the right terms” will enable organisations to: o
better manage cash flow;
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invest in equipment and facilities;
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grow or replicate or replicate their activity elsewhere.
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The strategy recognises that social investment is not a panacea and that “some organisations may not want to seek finance of this type”. The Government believes however that many organisations will wish to consider it to help increase their scope, reach and long term sustainability
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The intention is to provide support for intermediaries; the strategy identifies two types of intermediary – those providing finance and those providing expertise (investment readiness).
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The vision identifies a lack of investment readiness amongst social ventures and recognises that many regard the provision of investment readiness and business capability support as more pressing than the need for provision of finance.
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The Big Society Bank will be given the task of signposting to sources of support and making sure they are better connected. The strategy makes a number of proposals for increasing support including: o
NESTA will provide grants to a portfolio of intermediaries to support them to become scalable and sustainable businesses
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Every Business commits initiative
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Increasing pro bono support
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Encouraging investment readiness and business capability providers to apply to Regional Growth Fund to deliver services to social ventures in a specific geographic region.
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Increasing the number of mentors
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Introducing a bursary scheme for organisations to buy appropriate support
Framework for encouraging social investment The government proposes a six part framework for encouraging social investment: •
Opening up public services (to create more opportunities for social ventures)
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Appropriate tax incentives
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Right business environment (e.g. reduced bureaucracy)
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Support to improve investment readiness
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Better market infrastructure (single web portal or gateway, better measure for social return)
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Financing and championing (Big Society Bank and other sources)
NAVCA commentary: It is important to recognise that the Big Society Bank is part of a wider framework for encouraging social investment. NAVCA has broadly welcomed the Government’s recognition that social investment is not a panacea and that it will not be suitable for all organisations. We will continue to make the case for grants, which consider a more efficient and effective form of funding than contracts. We remain sceptical about the level of interest in loan finance, especially at a local level where we believe that it will only be a small minority that would wish to access loan finance. We take the view that there are a limited number of smaller local organisations that will wish to scale up in order to increase their scope or geographic reach; many will be reluctant to access loan finance because of the economic uncertainty or fear of the unknown; others will simply take a hard headed business decision that loans are not suitable for the organisation. It is worth noting that many of the examples cited in the strategy appear to have some reliance on local or national Government funding, charitable trusts and the Big Lottery Fund. With public sector funding cuts and uncertainties in fundraising income, many organisations will struggle to create a robust business plan that would enable them to repay loans. Many organisations would prefer to use reserves or other methods for securing investments. Loan finance is likely to be more popular for purchasing assets for the simple reason that there is an asset that can be sold if the business plan does not deliver, whereas investing in expanding a service would often leave no realisable assets. Those organisations more suited to loans are often already accessing commercial sources of finance where the business case justifies it. Nevertheless, social investment is likely to become a major part of the funding mix and although it is likely to be a minority interest at a local level it is important for NAVCA members to understand it and the role of the Big Society Bank in supporting it. Some NAVCA members already provide the role of financial intermediary and others may wish to explore this possibility, potentially in conjunction with community foundations or other local organisations. The investment readiness intermediary role is likely to be of more interest to NAVCA members, indeed some already offer support to the local sector. Some do this on a fee charging basis and the Big Society Bank may provide opportunities to expand this area of activity, however we recognise that others have found such activity unsustainable and it may have limited success in some areas. Whatever the potential for income generation, it is clear that many organisations will be looking for support to explore the whole range of finance opportunities available and help to decide which option is most suitable to meet their particular needs. This is a vital precursor to
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more detailed investment readiness support and helps organisations decide if they would wish to use loan finance. It is, however, unlikely that this vital preparatory work will be financially sustainable without support from the public sector or sources of grant funding. The strategy recognises that there are already sources of support, although local support and development organisations are not explicitly mentioned. However many NAVCA members do provide some support and would be interested in providing more on the right terms. Therefore NAVCA will continue to argue for the role of local support and development organisations and ensure that Government, funders and other organisations are aware of the role that members can play. We think it is important to recognise that there is a need for support that helps organisations decide if loan finance is relevant to them. The proposed bursary scheme presents an opportunity for local organisations to purchase support services from their local support and development organisations; it will, however, be a competitive market that will also require the development of chargeable services.
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The Big Society Bank Mission The Bank’s mission will be to “catalyse the growth of a sustainable social investment market making it easier for social ventures to access the finance and advice they need at all stages of their development”
Finance for the Bank •
As part of project Merlin, the UK banks will support Big Society Bank with funds of £200 million, which will be used to offer loans at commercial rates
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The Bank will also be funded via the Dormant Accounts Scheme
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All Dormant Account money available in England will go to fund Big Society Bank
Operating principles The operating principles of the Bank will be: •
Independence from government
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Acting as a wholesaler: the Big Society Bank will not invest directly in individual ventures but will invest in products developed by intermediaries. This is to prevent it competing against existing sources such as CAF and Triodos Bank, instead it will invest in such organisations and their products with the intention of broadening the range of financial products and offers available to the sector.
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Transparency: clear and transparent reporting requirements, so that it is clear how the dormant accounts are being used and to inspire investor confidence.
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Self sufficiency: cover own costs. In particular “in practice we do not envisage that the bank will make grants even to intermediary organisations”
NAVCA commentary NAVCA believes that some of the Dormant Accounts should be used to fund grants. Grants can make a significant difference. We believe that grants are the key to sustainable local voluntary action2. Grants can be flexible, lever extra support, keep a good project going or help an organisation develop its capacity to deliver services. Grant aid is an essential part of the local funding mix for local charities community groups and is sometimes the only suitable funding for some groups. Grants are a vital means of establishing and maintaining thriving local communities. Whilst it is important that all forms of potential funding are supported, we believe that grant funding is a higher priority than social investment. Building the endowments of community foundations could have led to long term investment in the local voluntary sector; we would like to see some of the dormant accounts funds set aside for this purpose. We will 2
See the Local Grants Forum http://www.navca.org.uk/stratwork/natpolicy/localgrants/home.htm
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continue to make the case for building local endowment funds as a means of supporting local grants. For most local organisations and NAVCA members any involvement with finance from the Big Society Bank will be via a new or existing financial intermediary such as Charity Bank, Triodos, UnLtd etc. and not directly from the bank. Some NAVCA members may wish to consider becoming a financial intermediary or to partner with other organisations such as community foundations. It is clear that to access loan finance from the Big Society Bank such businesses would need to be self sustaining. The requirement for financial intermediaries supported by the Big Society Bank to be self sufficient makes it extremely unlikely that interest free loans will be available.
Investment The expectation is that the bank will focus its investment activity in three main areas: •
Investment funds for frontline social ventures
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Investment funds for social venture intermediaries
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Investment funds to develop new investment vehicles
The Bank can invest as: •
a co-investor – investing alongside other investors. This could be as investing alongside other partners, as the initial investor to encourage others to invest, as the final investor to make sure the other investments go ahead,
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an underwriter – using its balance sheet to hold products before distribution into the market, such as a Social Impact Bond, and take the risk of purchasing the product before redistributing it into the market.
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a guarantor – securing others’ investments by guaranteeing to repay if the product underperforms (although the Bank would charge for providing this guarantee)
The bank will be free to choose how it invests its money and which of the above ways it uses for different parts of the social investment market but it is not expected to operate in “areas [of the market] where there is demonstrably a sufficient supply of private sector capital.” NAVCA commentary NAVCA believes that for the investments to be most effective the Big Society Bank should support financial intermediaries which: •
Are able to process applications quickly and distribute the money with minimal bureaucracy.
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Have developed or wish to develop products that provide short term loans to help local charities and voluntary organisations develop the capacity to make the most of commissioning and tender opportunities.
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Offer products which are not available commercially and which offer rates below commercial rates.
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Offer micro finance products, including products that can allow orgs to finance loans based on small transactions.
The Big Society Bank will not be the only source of financing. They will work to encourage other funders to offer social finance. Trusts and other funders may not have the same restrictions on them as the Big Society Bank to be self financing in the loans they offer so may be able to make loans at zero interest.
Championing Social Investment The Bank will be a champion for the social investment market. This includes: •
facilitating a gateway to the market for social ventures – signposting, through a new web portal, sources of finance and support from organisations, and constructing national networks of business angels, mentors and experts;
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advising government – on opportunities to open up public services to social ventures; on new incentives for investors; and on reforms to the regulatory and business environment;
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keeping abreast of emerging government policy – including new models of financing public service delivery, and co-ordinating a supply of investment for such models;
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commissioning and communicating research – into market development and opportunities, such as barriers to growth, new investment opportunities and new product development (such as Social Impact Bonds);
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sharing expertise – for example to align ‘investment readiness’ grant programmes and other government initiatives with the mission of the Bank;
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sponsoring and promulgating best practice – especially in the measurement of social impact and assessment of risk;
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promoting the social investment industry throughout the country – not just in London and the South-East.
NAVCA commentary The expectation that the Big Society Bank will promote social investment throughout the country is welcome. It is important that the new source of finance is available to all and not just confined to one part of the country.
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