Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Big Issue Invest

Sarah Forster Deputy CEO and Development Director 2006 – March 2015 (9 years)London, United Kingdom

Big Issue Invest is the social investment arm of The Big Issue and one of the UK's leading and most innovative social investment organisations. Its mission is to help tackle poverty and create opportunity by financing sustainable social enterprises. BII provides debt and equity finance from £50,000 to £3 million from early stage to growth capital.

Responsible for new business development, investor relations and social impact assessment.

Played key role in taking BII from start-up in 2005 to managing and advising on over £120 million of social investment funds by 2015 including:
- Social Enterprise Investment Fund I (SEIF I) LP, £9.25 million fund launched in 2010.
- Social Enterprise Investment Fund II (SEIF II) LP, follow-on fund which successfully launched and raised £21 million in 2015.
- Threadneedle UK Social Bond Fund, in partnership with Columbia Threadneedle, the first UK listed social investment fund offering daily liquidity so bringing social investment to mainstream retail and institutional investors. Launched in 2013 and achieved £86m AUM by 2015.

Led the conceptualisation and launch of the Rental Exchange, in partnership with Experian, tackling financial exclusion by integrating rental data into credit scoring.