In 2012 UBI Banca was the first Italian bank to issue a social bond, i.e. a debenture loan linked to the third sector and the civil economy, and today it announces that it has exceeded one billion euros placed. Social bonds, explains the bank, are debenture loans that offer the subscriber the opportunity to obtain a return on investment comparable to that offered by the bank on similar investments and, at the same time, to contribute to the support of initiatives of significant social value. "At the end of the placement, the bank donates a predefined portion of the amount raised to support these projects, mostly promoted by non-profit organizations, or allocates the amount placed to the disbursement of loans at competitive conditions to contribute to local development of social entrepreneurship initiatives”, explains UBI.
A commitment strongly desired by Letizia Moratti, chairman of the Management Board of UBI Banca: “Today, combining solidarity and profit is not only possible, but necessary. There are 91 projects with a social impact that we have supported with social bonds and there are over 100.000 direct beneficiaries of the projects themselves”, said the Milanese manager. “In particular, the funding has allowed for donations of almost 5 million euros and the allocation of ceilings for loans for social enterprises at favorable conditions that exceed 21 million. And all this was also possible thanks to the more than 36.000 bank customers who signed up for them. After all, social bonds are characterized by a double value: on the one hand they offer savers a return on investment and, on the other, they allow them to contribute to the support of projects of value for our communities”.
Here's how social bonds work in detail.
The beneficiaries, the objectives and the measurement of the result
Donations donated as donations made it possible to support 48 institutions operating in the assistance and solidarity sectors, 28 bodies operating in the field of infrastructure and public utility services, 12 universities or research centres, and three operators for economic development. territorial. The organizations that can benefit from the UBI Community Social Bonds are rsignificant realities in their reference territories, with a good ability to mobilize the stakeholders of the local communities of reference, and stand out for their management efficiency and social impact produced. With reference to social bonds that provide for the disbursement of loans, the recipients are also required to have cash flow stability and adequate creditworthiness.
The social objectives pursued through the Social Bond are declinable according to the two different types: the grant-based Social Bonds provide for the donation, as a donation to associations, foundations, universities, hospitals or other entities with a social value, of a predefined portion of the amount obtained from the securities placed through the bond loans. Through this type of financial instrument, UBI also intends to generate new partnerships between the public, private and social private sectors to generate value for the local areas. Bond loans which envisage the use of the amount placed for the disbursement of loans (loan based) contribute to the development of forms of social entrepreneurship.
Both types of social bonds have shown that they can effectively support, in the face of the structural contraction of available public resources and the expansion of the range of social needs, the ability of cooperatives and social enterprises to contribute to completing the supply of goods and services of public utility. Furthermore, since 2015, the social impact generated by projects supported through Social Bonds is measured through the SRoI (Social Return on Investment). The SRoI aims to quantify, in economic terms, the social or environmental value generated by a project, an initiative, a social organization. An SRoI analysis aims to "capture", in monetary form, the value of a wide range of expected or generated results, adding a numerical index to the account of how an organization creates value for certain categories of interlocutors (stakeholders), from beneficiaries aimed at the local community, from public institutions to supporters. SRoI evaluates change, taking the perspective of the people and organizations that benefit or contribute to it.
The choice of savers that combines individual goals and goals of collective well-being
The UBI Community Social Bonds represent for investors an additional investment opportunity compared to instruments traditionally available on the market (non-purposed bond loans and ethical funds): they meet the expectation of an ever-increasing number of private savers to combine, in their of investment, individual economic objectives with those of values of general interest, contributing to the realization of projects that create value for society and favor the development of the common good. In the moment in which he subscribes solidarity bonds, the saver in fact directs financial resources in favor of worthy initiatives or towards the development of companies that provide services to the person and to the community. Solidarity bonds therefore represent an alternative fundraising and financing tool for non-profits, useful for increasing the indispensable autonomy of an increasingly important sector in Italy at both a social and economic level.
