Bring on the Social Stock Exchange
The idea is being explored in the UK, Singapore, South Africa, the US and Europe
The Social Stock Exchange will be a place where social mission can be built irrevocably into the DNA of both the marketplace itself and the corporates that trade there. Ultimately, a capital market for social business is really about social entrepreneurs, the individuals or teams that conceived the enterprises and made them grow and now want to find ways of attracting capital to expand.
Stagecoach Theater Arts School, Parry People Movers, Good Energy and Adilli are all social businesses that have chosen to go public and be listed on a stock exchange. The surprising thing is not that these social enterprises have decided to try to raise the long-term financing they need from private capital but that so few have taken this path. This situation may be about to change with the creation of a focused capital market.
The idea of a social stock exchange is being explored in the UK and in Singapore, South Africa, the US and Europe with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and some family offices including Halloran Philanthropies. What would this mean and how would it differ from other so-called social stock exchanges?
