Agenda item

Presentation of Elizabeth Corley

The Board received a presentation on developing the retail social investment market from Elizabeth Corley. The UK government had set up an independent advisory group to consider social impact investing and barriers to its implementation amongst investors. The group looked at why the UK was failing to keep pace in international market leadership and how best to enable individuals to make social impact investment. The group reported to the government in November.

There were many issues creating barriers to social impact investment, which included a lack of investable products and a lack of relevant education for wealth advisers and investment analysts. The advisory group concluded that there was no one single solution that would allow the UK to fulfil its social investment potential, but that several factors could be addressed which would help. A series of recommendations were identified that would help to develop the market in the short, medium and longer-term, and these were grouped in 5 key action areas: improve deal flow and the ability to invest at scale; strengthen competence and confidence within the financial services industry; develop better reporting of non-financial outcomes; make it easier for people to invest; and maintain momentum and build cohesion across initiatives. There were foundations in place to grow the market and move it forward, but there was a lot of work to be done and this would require persistence and engagement.

Members discussed the City of London Corporation’s involvement in this area both as Trustee for Bridge House Estates and otherwise. City Bridge Trust’s Stepping Stones programme, run alongside UBS, had lots of interest and engagement and was currently oversubscribed, having distributed around £2.8m to over 60 organisations across London. The recent City Bridge Trust strategy review focussed on where needs were geographically. The Chief Grants Officer advised the Board that housing was found to be a significant issue during consultation and research work. The Trust and Corporation as a whole was engaged in extensive work with London boroughs and other London funders on this issue.

The Board thanked Elizabeth Corley for the excellent presentation.