Over nine in ten investments contribute to core solutions to poverty.
A new report has revealed that the social investment arm of Britain’s biggest street newspaper has supported 138 social enterprises across the UK and had £37.5 million Assets Under Management (AUM).
Big Issue Invest’s (BII) annual impact report for the year to March 2022 has shown those social enterprises were able to support over 2million customers across the UK in the same period.
More than nine in 10 (92%) of investments made by BII contribute to core solutions to poverty, while investees supported by BII have an average turnover of £5.59m and employ on average 72 employees.
The organisation also reported that, of BII’s total investment portfolio, almost 60% of investees are based in the areas of highest deprivation, according to the UK Index of Multiple Deprivation.
23% of BII’s total portfolio is invested into organisations directly tackling inequality in the UK in order to improve health, education and job outcomes in deprived areas.
Of the total number of investments, 47% organisations support people living in poverty and/or financial exclusion, 35% support people with mental health needs and conditions, 31% support vulnerable young people, 27% support those experiencing unemployment and 21% support older people.
The top five Sustainable Development Goals contributed to by BII’s investees were: Good Health and Wellbeing (30%), Decent Work and Economic Growth (17%), Sustainable Cities and Communities (14%), Quality Education (14%) and Reduced Inequalities (8%).
Danyal Sattar, CEO of BII, said: “As a pioneering impact investor in the UK, our aim is to innovate and collaborate to pre-empt as well as respond to social challenges. We are continuing to work with our partners on investment programs such as the Growth Impact Fund and Social Enterprise Support Fund, dedicating time to learning, improving, and sharing best practices to drive the sector forward.
“We have been focusing on developing our new lending programmes and our new Funds. It has been year of challenges and that continues into 2022 and beyond. We are up for it and we have to be. The charities and social enterprises we support are delivering the services that society needs right now. At Big Issue Invest, we are right there with them.”
