Impact Report 2023 | Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust plc
Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust plc | Impact Report 2023
Impact Management Impact management and measurement is central to SBSI’s investment thesis and is integrated at every stage of the Company’s investment process. Understanding the impact that is being achieved is a competitive advantage for the funds and enterprises we invest in, reducing risk and creating long term value for investors.
How SBSI assesses and manages impact SBSI’s impact management processes draw on Big
SBSI considers impact at two levels: firstly, the impact on people , created by the organisations receiving investment through the fund managers that the Company invests in. And secondly, the Investor contribution of the Company, which is the potential for SBSI to help enhance the impact of fund managers and investees through investment and engagement.
standard for best practice in impact management. Big Society Capital’s alignment with the OPIM standard is documented and independently verified in its annual publicly available disclosure and verification statement 25 .
Society Capital (BSC) insights into the enablers of strong impact performance, based on extensive work with more than 100 Funds. As an early signatory to the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM), BSC’s impact systems and processes are designed to ensure full alignment with the industry
Impact practice throughout the investment process
Independent review of process and Impact Reporting SBSI’s portfolio manager works closely with portfolio fund managers to ensure high quality impact
Impact management embedded into portfolio management
A clear approach to sustained impact on exit
Impact intent is consistent with investment strategy
Impact aligned approach to origination and structuring
What
BlueMark’s recommendations also aligned with the priority areas identified by SBSI for enhanced impact management and measurement. These include more detailed reporting on ESG risks and metrics, which we have included in this report, and assessment of performance against impact targets and historical results where applicable, which SBSI intends to build up over time as we develop a historical record for comparison.
reporting, and has also worked over the last year to ensure SBSI reports also stand up to independent scrutiny. In 2022, SBSI participated in a pilot project for independent verification of impact reports, led by BlueMark, the third party assurance provider for impact investors. The verification statement from BlueMark summarises their findings. We were pleased to have them confirm that SBSI’s first annual impact report ‘is a thorough reflection SBSI’s impact strategy and accurately portrays BSC’s robust application of tools and processes used for ESG and impact management throughout the investment lifecycle’.
Good practice
Perserves impact integrity Exit of investment is mutally beneficial to all stakeholders and focussed on maintaining long-term impact Holistic assessment, drawing on social organisation partnerships and user voice
Holistic assessment of the social and investment solution
Partnerships with experienced social organisations
User voice used to improve decision making
Mitigates conflict risk Social impact outcomes and financial
Mitigates reputational risk
Mitigates financial and impact risk Finance is sustainable, meeting genuine sector demand and proven outcomes based solution
Finance is sustainable, meeting genuine sector demand and proven outcomes based solution
Why
return targets are intrinsically linked
Summary independent verification conclusions, 2022 – BlueMark’s verification findings indicated the Schroder BCS Social Impact Trust first Impact Report (2022) is a thorough reflection of SBSI’s impact strategy and accurately portrays BSC’s robust application of tools and processes used for ESG and impact management throughout the investment lifecycle – Impact performance is reported consistently using the IMP’s Five Dimensions for all investments within SBSI’s portfolio. BlueMark’s assessment suggests that data presented in the report is consistent with internal management processes and underlying reporting documents – In future reports, where feasible and meaningful, the Company should consider both targets and historical results for impact KPIs. The Company should also enhance its reporting on ESG and consider opportunities to provide report consumers with a broader assessment of portfolio-level learnings. Over time, the Company should seek to report on the results of investor contribution activities cited within the report – See the full disclosure statement here
25 h ttps://bigsocietycapital.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/documents/Disclosure_statement_2022_final.pdf
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