Water Unit Impact
Water Unite has created Water Unite Impact (WUI), managed by FCA authorised impact investment manager Wellers Impact, to provide risk-tolerant capital to Small & Medium Enterprises (‘SMEs’) in the water, sanitation and plastics recycling sectors.
Retailer participation in Water Unite Impact will be catalytic for the water, sanitation and plastics recycling sector. Micro-levy donations will have a significant leverage effect: attracting external expertise and commercial capital to achieve social impact, in a way that cannot be achieved with philanthropic capital.
Social Impact
Water Unite Impact will address the funding gap in parts of the finance landscape for the water, sanitation and plastics recycling sectors Enhanced governance mechanisms will ensure that Water Unite Impact remains true to Water Unite’s social mission and only invests in projects which achieve both a financial return and a high level of social impact in its priority sectors.
Structure
Water Unite Impact has a risk-reward structure, where the micro-levies and foundation money will act as catalytic capital to attract commercial investment. This is a dynamic way of enabling each dollar of funding to support more than one organisation and multiply social impact many times over.
Underlying Investments
-
WUI invests in SMEs, combined with technical assistance.
-
WUI will further leverage against technical assistance provided by aid agencies and development finance institutions
-
Portfolio diversity
-
Investments provide catalytic funding
-
Investments are guided by internal investment guidelines with a view to managing concentration risks as
Micro-levies as Credit Enhancer
Catalytic Capital which will act as a credit enhancement for the senior capital is essential due to the following:
-
Impact acceleration
-
Resource optimisation
-
Better terms for SMEs