Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October/ November 2019 | Page 24

ACQUIRING
SPONSORED
Impact property
investment
How can impact investment in property be
described?
Direct property impact investing is an investment in
property, which has an intentional focus on measurable
positive social impact above the norm. This type of
property investment embeds impact into everything
we do and influences all stakeholders, alongside a good
financial return.
Does impact investing require the real estate
industry to think in a different way – and is
the industry capable of doing this?
Impact investing requires the real estate industry to think
about the long-term impacts of investments and look for
opportunities that achieve multiple objectives. Not just
financial and positive social and environmental impact,
but at the nexus of both.
It requires us to look at how we do business and who
we do business with. To hold ourselves to a standard of
excellence, that we believe will enhance performance
over time. The focus is no longer on misusing people’s
misfortune to enrich themselves, which was the norm in
the distressed property industry for many years.
Why do astute property investors have such
a strong drive towards impact property
investment?
Impact investing is a trend driven by underlying investors,
wanting to better understand how their money is being
applied and the impact it makes. As an industry, we have
moved away from simply avoiding investments that
are perceived as being harmful, to proactively seek out
opportunities to achieve a positive result.
Impact investing in real estate, to date, has focused on
positive environmental impact – energy efficiency, and
so on. But leading asset originators, like Property Assist,
through more innovative approaches of investing in the
private property market, still linked to social enterprise
models, are currently making huge social impact.
Property impact investment funds are now being
created by specialist impact investment managers with
other initiatives from mainstream asset managers also
being implemented.
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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
Reasons why the impact investing trend
is taking hold in the property sector:
There is great interest in impact investment overall.
The past decades have shown the need to better
align investment with environmental and social
outcomes – and what happens when these
outcomes don’t align
There is clear opportunity for positive social impact
through real estate investment.
The need for both residential and commercial
property to scale up social enterprise models is
huge and still largely unmet.
There is increasing diversity, track record and scale
within impact investment.
There are more opportunities for investors in this area and
property is an asset class they are already comfortable with.
What Impact is Property Assist (and the
Assist Group) making?
Make social impact in the lives of people and communities,
by assisting to stop a sale in executions and legal action
of properties. Build family structures and prevent the
breakdown of social fabric through:
Helping property owners in distress to recover
Minimizing potential loss of property or proceeds
Generate measurable, beneficial social impact
alongside above market related, sustainable
financial returns
To be continued in the next issue
How to onboard as an IMPACT PROPERTY
INVESTOR:
Visit the Property Assist website www.propertyassist.co.za and
register with Wealth Assist in four easy steps and start making
your first measurable impact property investment
SOURCE Property Assist