Four housing association ‘giants’ have launched a new social investment fund that will provide support for enterprises that create positive social impact within their communities. But other housing associations have not been so proactive. Are housing associations really sleeping or just not well understood?

2019 is the year when the rules of the road for impact finance are set out on a global scale – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has proposed “principles”, the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has “characteristics”. From the point of view of UK social investment, what would we want to see in the rules of the road? What are the principles that give impact real integrity and the opportunity to achieve for both our mission and our sustainability and growth?

How do we improve public messaging on social investment? To become mainstream, maybe we also need to speak to those who will only invest because there will be serious consequences for their own self-interest if they don’t. Evita Zanuso of Big Society Capital chaired this ‘Conversation for Change’ – a more informal discussion – at the Gathering with Amir Rizwan of Comic Relief and Rod Schwartz of ClearlySo

Social investment is so often led by the market and the needs of the investor, rarely the needs of the entrepreneur. So how do we establish a more supportive and inclusive market for social entrepreneurs wishing to access investment? 

Both internationally and in the UK pension funds are starting to think about allocating capital to impact but based on money actually commited, the UK is lagging behind its European counterparts. At the first Gathering in Dartington in 2017, investors and advisers came up with an idea to promote impact investment to pension funds. At this year’s Gathering, delegates heard about what progress had been made.

How do we make social investment work better? Who’s doing what to build the infrastructure, how does it fit together, and how do we know it’s really helping? Who should be involved, who pays for it, and how do we build a collective sense of what’s most important?

The ‘Dan Show’, with hosts Daniel Brewer (Resonance) and Danyal Sattar (Big Issue Invest) aimed to challenge the audience to leave Leicester with a different way of thinking or even concrete plans to start doing something differently. As Brewer said: “It’s not just about what The Gathering can do for you – it’s about what you decide to do as a result.” 

What are we all doing to raise the bar on impact? What’s the difference between our own ideas (and claims) on impact and the impact priorities of our investees? And are we giving enough thought to the real impact on the people who really matter?

We invest into enterprises that measure their impact – but how do we know we’ve got it right? Who owns ‘what good is’ anyway? And how can we make sure our investments leave end users more capable for their own future? This discussion explored ways to ensure the end users or beneficiaries of our investments get a say and get empowered.