Unlocking economic opportunities and building communities
The places where we work, play, and spend time with family matter. Directing public and private impact capital to underinvested places – commonly referred to as place-based impact investing – has been shown to be an effective way to raise living standards, provide economic opportunity, and build thriving, inclusive communities.
Private investment is critical for the success of place-based impact investing and evidence shows that this way of investing can boost overall investment outcomes and financial performance. Meaningful engagement with communities can help investors to do this in a sustainable way that boost long-term outcomes for everyone. We have put together a bank of case studies that provide evidence of that.
Public and private investments – UK
The examples below show how public and private investors, as well as communities can come together when investing in places across the UK.
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Borrow (Pension Pool) – The London Fund
The London Fund was launched in January 2020 as a collaboration between two LGPS investment pools – the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) and Local Pension Partnership Investments (LPPI) – to enable London LGPS funds to access investment opportunities in three of the PBII pillars – housing infrastructure and SME finance – across the Greater…
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Buy – South Yorkshire Pension Fund
South Yorkshire Pension Fund is the eighth largest LGPS fund in the UK as of 2020. SYPA has a longstanding commitment to investing within the South Yorkshire region with the aim of generating a commercial return and positive local impacts. SYPA has made investments across all the key PBII sectors including SME finance, affordable housing…
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Build – Greater Manchester Pension Fund
Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) is the largest LGPS in the UK and one of the only pension funds to have an explicit allocation to local investment with the twin aims of generating a commercial return and delivering a positive local impact.
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Co-investment – L&G, MediaCityUK / Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, Border to Coast Pension Partnership
Focusing on Media City in Manchester and Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, this case study covers two co-investment examples led by Legal & General Capital and Border to Coast respectively.
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Direct Investment – Nottinghamshire Community Energy
In 2016, Nottinghamshire Pension Fund invested £1.5 million in Nottinghamshire Community Energy (NCE). The pension fund’s investment provided longterm funding to help finance the construction and management of a solar farm with the aim of benefitting the local community.
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Co-investment – Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund
The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund (GMPVF) was created by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund in 1990. It is a specialised vehicle for the LGPF to invest in property developments in Greater Manchester and across the wider North West area which generate a commercially viable rate of return.
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Listed Fund – Greencoat
Greencoat Capital is an asset manager which offers institutional investors the opportunity to invest into a diversified portfolio of UK and European renewable infrastructure assets delivering inflation-linked cashflows. It has successfully raised capital from a number of LGPS funds and represents a good example of how listed funds can bring scale to these key PBII…
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Listed Fund – Social and Affordable Housing
There has been a rapid rise in institutional investment in social and affordable housing over the last few years bringing equity into the sector. Recent research commissioned by the Impact Investing Institute found that the social housing sector provides attractive risk-adjusted opportunities for both equity and debt investors.
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Private Fund – Foresight Regional Funds
Foresight Group is a global investment manager which offers both private and public investment vehicles to institutional and retail investors. Foresight Group has products in the SME finance, clean energy and infrastructure PBII pillars.
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Private Fund – Bridges Fund Management
Bridges Fund Management is a private markets fund manager specialising in sustainable and impact investment. They strive to make investments that contribute to the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy, predominantly in the UK to date.
The creation of these case studies was supported by:
Community Engagement
The examples below show how investors can engage with communities in a meaningful and sustainable way.
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Astarte/Yoo Capital Shepherd’s Bush Market (UK)
Astarte in partnership with its platform member Yoo Capital Investment Management (YCIM), have sought to create positive community impact in Shepherd’s Bush Market, a 109-year-old market situated in the heart of west London.
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Barking and Dagenham Giving (UK)
Barking and Dagenham Giving (BD Giving) was set up in 2020 to give local people more opportunities to participate in local decision-making. Funding and investment decisions are made by residents to achieve social good in one of the most deprived and diverse boroughs in England. BD Giving provides funding to local businesses and non-profits.
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Gresham House – North Ayrshire forestry (UK)
Gresham House, a specialised asset manager, purchased a 3,450-acre site in North Ayrshire, Scotland to establish a sustainably managed productive forest that included diverse species, peatland restoration, access for local communities, and a run-of-river hydro scheme.
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Resonance Community Developers (UK)
In 2022, Resonance launched Resonance Community Developers, with £9m in funding from Big Society Capital and the Access Foundation. This social impact fund is designed to help communities meet local needs by creating and owning income generating assets, such as affordable homes, sports and leisure facilities and renewable energy generation.
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Schroders Capital Real Estate Impact Fund (UK)
The Schroders Capital UK Real Estate Impact Fund aims to address social inequality in the UK and deliver a risk adjusted financial return. By investing in affordable and social housing, town centre regeneration and supporting increased employment, the Fund aims to deliver a positive impact on people, place and planet, focusing on deprived areas of…
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The REAL People’s Fund (US)
The REAL People’s Fund is a $10m fund, investing in BIPOC-owned businesses in the East Bay of California. The fund is a community capital fund, designed and developed by six grassroot organisations aiming to provide equitable access to capital. Its structure allows for a collaboration of various organisations: Community Vision, a community development finance institution…
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The Ujima Fund (Boston Ujima Project, US)
The Ujima Fund is a social investment fund that sets out to empower and finance Boston’s Black, Indigenous and other People of Colour (BIPOC) entrepreneurs, most specifically where there is a severe racial wealth gap. The fund demonstrates a vision of a community-controlled economy through popular education. It pools investments from institutional investors, Boston residents…
The creation of these case studies was supported by:
