Good Deals 13: Don't forget foundations, Mason urges

Isabelle de Grave
Caroline Mason, chief operating officer of Big Society Capital and soon to be chief executive of Esmée Fairbairn, today urged social investment to stay true to its social imperatives and rely on a vital contribution from foundations now and in the future.
 
"Foundations have a wealth of knowledge that exists around social issues. Social investors tend to undervalue grant-funding as the easy option but that too has its risks" Mason said.
 
"If you're going to create a Japanese equities fund in the financial services market you want someone who knows about what is involved in running it."
 
Equally if you're setting up a fund in health or criminal justice, or youth and education you need to have investors and performance manager who understands the issues, risks and regulatory environment. Foundations should always be part of that equation," Mason said.
 

Mason's comments came after David Hutchison, chief executive of Social Finance, looked to a future need for social investment to look beyond foundations.

"In terms of supply of capital, this sector won't get where it needs if it's solely founded on foundation capital," he said in response to a delegate who envisaged a future scenario where social investors would develop social investment bonds independently.

 
Mason also left delegates with her sense of what is needed in the social investment space. "Just as there is talk of the professionalisation of the social sector, we need to encourage the socialisation of the private sector and the financial system," she said.
 
"I'd like to see 'social corporate advisors' enter the marketplace" she said to help people from different sectors work together and stay focused on social value.
 
Mason's suggestion of this new breed of consultant prompted a flurry of note-taking, and was particularly well received by one delegate in the back row who remarked "good point, very good point".

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