Breaking new ground

Mon, 6 October 2008

When GreaterGood South Africa created SASIX in June 2006, we hoped to move corporate and individual donors from simple ‘feel-good’ giving to a more strategic and measured approach to tackling the very real challenges we face in South Africa. SASIX’s extraordinary success since then has allowed us to break new ground in the social investment sphere by introducing socially responsible investment opportunities and taking the concept global.

With the help of considered corporate and individual givers, SASIX is taking on South African development issues and having a great deal of success: over R15 million has been invested in 49 social development projects in just over two years. This has had a positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people living in impoverished communities all over South Africa.

Levelling the playing field

“SASIX represents the next step in a giver’s journey,” says GreaterGood SA Executive Trustee, Tamzin Ractliffe. “It is about more considered social investment which demands real results.” The research, evaluation and monitoring of projects listed on SASIX aims to raise the bar for public and corporate participation in social development in South Africa as well as build a culture of accountability for social performance amongst beneficiary organisations.

SASIX also works to level the playing field by giving small, pioneering non profit organisations the same access to funds and capacity development as the better-known causes. And while most non profits today are typically funded by a single instrument – the charitable donation – there are, in fact, a range of alternative financial instruments available that could provide investors with a social and a financial return; and non profits with a sustainable alternative income stream.

Innovative solutions

There is an enormous savings pool in South Africa – around R3 trillion in largely life and pension funds – but only an estimated R10 billion is dedicated to socially responsible investing. At the same time, South Africa is struggling with an infrastructure backlog that needs to be urgently addressed. The global precedent shows South Africa lagging seriously behind international trends in the use of commercially viable responsible investments for pension fund portfolios.

This, coupled with our experience with both the corporate and the development world, has led to the evolution of SASIX so that it can provide investments on a continuum from SASIX Social investments (or grants) to SASIX Financial investments which offer market-related financial returns in socially responsible initiatives.

Working with fund-managers, the Cadiz Group, we are creating a socially responsible investment product that will combine investment return imperatives with sustainable development. The first R10 million investment into SASIX Financial projects is already yielding positive returns – both socially by supporting low income housing for families and financially by performing better than typical comparative benchmarks.

“This is an investment in the future of our country,” says Carol Tappenden, GreaterGood SA’s Managing Director. ”The returns are financial, certainly, but these investments will also yield real, measurable change in people’s lives.”

A forum for change

The success of SASIX and the development of SASIX Financial has led to the creation of the SA Social Investment Forum (SA SIF). The forum is a national membership association which aims to raise awareness about the value of investment in social enterprises and to advance the visibility, credibility and growth of socially responsible investing (SRI) in South Africa by stimulating debate, providing research and examining the opportunities that exist for SRI investors.

“We need to establish an effective framework within which interested social investors can understand more about the range of returns that responsible investment can provide, beyond the clear financial benefits.” says Ractliffe.

Going global

The SASIX concept is also being expanded to create the Global Social Investment Exchange (GSIX). GSIX is intended to be a federation of Country Social Investment Exchanges linked by comparative operational and due diligence frameworks that aims to raise the bar for effective social and responsible investment globally.

The central idea behind the Global Social Investment Exchange is to make robust information on social development available to interested companies and individuals no matter where they are in the world. The power of technology means that it really doesn’t matter where people live – an investor in France can research and support causes in South Africa without having to leave the comfort of their home.

Like a financial stock exchange, country social investment exchanges under the GSIX umbrella will provide a range of investment opportunities, whether these are purely social or combined social and financial forms or responsible investment, establishing a global social broking, investment and trading service for businesses and individuals alike.

For more information email carol@ggsa.co.za for details on SASIX Financial or GSIX.