SOCAP10 Fuses Divergent Worlds

Realm of new opportunity revealing itself
Investors and social entrepreneurs gathered last week in San Francisco for the third annual Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP10), an event designed to put profit and social purpose together. In what may be seen as two polar opposite worlds coming together each with their practices, purpose and lexicons well established, there is much hope, optimism and social benefit to be gained from the migration towards one another.

On one hand, we have traditional capital markets that measure success by the mitigation of risk and maximization of returns for shareholders. On the other, social enterprises, non-profits and charitable organizations that measure their success by the magnitude of their social impact or the number of lives touched.

It is possible to see one of these as serving efficiency, profit, and money whilst the other empathy, purpose and meaning.

In capital markets there is a comprehensive infrastructure to assess opportunity, evaluate risk, and securitize investments and accountability mechanisms to track performance.

Social enterprises have largely relied on government subsidy, charitable donations and foundation endowments. Systems are less robust and their purpose geared towards serving others and fulfilling a human or environmental need. Read More