Two former City bankers are using their money making skills to boost a £20 million fund being launched today to help charities and social enterprises grow.
The Community Investment Fund will make loans and take equity stakes of between £250,000 and £1 million in its chosen targets. It hopes to invest up to £5 million a year to help charities increase in size, buy property and even bid to run local services.
Ben Rick, a former managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Adam Knight, formerly a managing director at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, are the driving forces behind the project, the first launched by their fund manager Social and Sustainable Capital.
Early backers include Social Investment Business and Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment bank. Big Society was set up in 2012 and is part funded by £400 million from unclaimed assets left in bank accounts for more than 15 years.
Rick said: “This is a great opportunity for trusts, foundations and wealthy individuals to back what we’re doing. We also hope corporates - including banks - will get involved.”
