Blog
More money, more mission: Raising our rates to meet portfolio demand
June 13, 2018
Renovation for housing damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Small business lending to entrepreneurs of color in Charlotte. Affordable housing finance for families in Palestine. These are just a few of the organizations we have been able to lend to in the past few months as we continue to grow our investment portfolio.
At the end of March, our portfolio stood at $377M, which represents a 62% increase since we undertook a new portfolio strategy in 2014. While this strategy has resulted in significant growth, it is not one focused on growth for its own sake nor is it targeted towards a particular sector or place. It is intended to creatively strengthen organizations that are working at the intersection of money and mission—the critical financial intermediaries providing much-needed capital in their communities in the pursuit of a more equitable and sustainable world.
At the end of March, our portfolio stood at $377M, which represents a 62% increase since we undertook a new portfolio strategy in 2014.
The demand for our capital skyrocketed as we implemented this new portfolio strategy and shifted our approach from our old model of a single loan product for CDFIs and MFIs. There was a clear need in the impact investing market for more creativity in structuring, more leniency in sector definitions, and more flexibility in terms. This reinforced a crucial point for us: it is not our borrowers' job to fit their work into our lending constraints, it is our job to ensure that the money we raise from the capital markets is useful for the communities it is intended to serve.
As a result, today we have a robust pipeline of over $150 million in deals representing a diverse array of important work. We see demand from organizations responding to our most pressing and urgent global challenges—climate change, wealth and income inequality, housing stability, natural resource preservation, and gender equity—in unique ways.
To meet the increased demand we see in our markets, we must raise larger volumes of capital from the nearly 5,000 individual and institutional investors who currently fuel our work. This is why, late last week, we raised the rates on new investments in our Community Investment Note®.
Just as our markets have evolved over our 20+ year history, so too have the product options available to mission-driven investors. We strive to continue offering an attractive product option that provides an appropriate financial return along with deep, intentional, and measurable impact.
Our borrowers are driven by passion and purpose. They work tirelessly to expand affordable access to basic services for vulnerable populations, increase access to finance for entrepreneurs who are otherwise overlooked, and combat the pressures that we are putting on our planet. They need the same patience, creativity, and flexibility from us and our investors that they offer to their clients. When we can provide them with the tools they need, we all succeed.
