03.31.08
Rockefeller Supports Another Exchange Effort: SSE London
It’s official. Announced this past Friday afternoon at the 2008 Skoll World Forum – the Rockefeller Foundation will be investing $500,000 USD in support of studying the feasibility of a social stock exchange. If the appropriate demand and support are identified – the hope is to launch an exchange next year. Pradeep Jethi, formerly of the London Stock Exchange, will head up the research efforts. If developed, the social stock exchange would resemble a small market, listing social businesses with as little as $1MM annual turnover and two years’ trading history. This latest investment builds on increasing dialogue with the UKK governement and Third Sector UK in support of financial innocvations (see below). It also specifically builds upon Rockefeller’s previous announcement to support the development of the BX public stock exchange by US based B Corporation. Both initiatives are a part of Rockefeller’s Impact Investing Collaborative – which is working to create infrastructure in the social capital markets. Antony Bugg-Levine, managing director at Rockefeller Foundation, joined the SSE team in the announcement at the Skoll World Forum, after sharing his thoughts and strategies on ”impact investing” as part of a panel discussion (which included Mark Campanale, one of the lead architects of the SSE) on performance and impact measurement (more coming on panel discussion).
