Options growing for charitable investments

Investors are using an increasingly diverse range of vehicles to channel their money into charitable causes, it has been claimed.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the profile of so-called ’programme-related investments’, which aim to provide a healthy return while also ’doing good’, has risen steadily since the onset of the financial crisis.

Comments from Tom Parker, a real estate developer and president of charitable organisation the Hutton Foundation, suggested that people are now looking to be more direct with the charitable investing.

He told the newspaper: ’Especially in light of this downturn, instead of investing in stocks and bonds [and using the returns to support non-profit organisations], we’re making direct investments in the non-profits we support.’

Some of the charitable investment trends indentified by the publication include microfinance - making small loans to entrepreneurs launching businesses in developing countries - and donor-advised funds.

This type of investment allows individuals to make a cash or asset donation to a charitable organisation, which then uses the money to invest in stocks or bonds.

A recent poll carried out by YouGov on behalf of the National Ethical Investment Week found that found that 49 per cent of British people with savings and investments would like to make money while ’making a difference’.
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