Spring 2014 Rathbones come to Norwich

In January we invited Bryn Jones, fund manager of the Rathbone Ethical Bond Fund to talk to us about the fund he manages. Among the many interesting themes identified by Bryn, we have picked two for this newsletter: Community support and social housing.

Social housing

Housing associations are increasingly issuing bonds as a way of raising capital as it can be cheaper than borrowing from the banks. So far they have proved popular and with the due diligence carried out by the fund managers/analysts, the bonds can be an excellent way of matching a client’s ethical concerns as well as providing a financial return. Bryn is keen to invest in the social housing sector and below are a number of the holdings you will find in the fund.

Community support: Scope

SCOPE is a UK disability charity. The fund has initially invested £100,000 in a FRN (Floating Rate Note) which is similar to a bond issued by SCOPE as the fund is keen to invest in community support. Bryn Jones, visited Beaumont College, Lancaster which is a beneficiary of charitable payments from SCOPE. The college offers the technology to help enable communication amongst physically disabled young adults. The college uses creative arts, dance and film-making to support the personal development of the 18-25 year olds who attend.

OFSTED have given a glowing report. The college work with partners such as the BBC and BT to support the students developmental needs.

The college and SCOPE both wish to establish enterprise hubs that provide pre-employment experience, plus possibilities for these students to run their own businesses.

Community support: L&Q

L&Q is one of 2,000 housing associations that work in the UK. Their main purpose is to provide high quality, affordable homes. L&Q residents are varied. Most families are on low incomes and usually come from the local council lists of those who need housing. L&Q manage over 66,000 homes and although most are in Greater London, they also work all over South East England. L&Q spent £5.0m installing 7,276 solar panels across 467 sites. This is expected to reduce electricity bills for over 2,800 residents.