Social Investment Australia Ltd (SIA) secured an Australian Financial Services Licence in November 2009. The AFSL will provide Social Investment Australia with the capacity to design and develop Australia’s first social investment product for the wholesale investment market in Australia. Social Investment Australia is part of the Foresters group of Companies, located in Brisbane, Queensland.

Social Investment Australia intends to lead the way in the Australian investment market offering wholesale investors an option that will meet their investment criteria as well as providing a positive social impact.

Social Investment Australia expects to offer investment product into the market in March 2010. The first investment product will be unlisted property trusts with a focus on providing high quality, well located property for lease exclusively to the not-for-profit sector. “The timing is right in the market for this kind of product offering, investors want the opportunity to get up close to their investment and it is a significant bonus that their investment is also providing a social impact” said Peter Aubort, Director.

The first investment product will underpin the Foresters group Strategy to build the strength and sustainability of the social sector by offering community organisations an option to purchase syndicate property as their financial capacity increases. It will be the role of Foresters to work with these organisations to build this strength across the life of the property trusts. “The demand from the community sector currently far exceeds the supply of social investment capital; we have a large pipeline of investment which grows every day. We are now looking to match that demand with a supply of capital from the wholesale investment markets” said Belinda Drew, Managing Director.

The launch of Social Investment Australia’s new product in 2010 will be another significant contribution by the Foresters group to the creation of Social Investment Products in the Australian market. The Board of Social Investment Australia is confident that the market is increasingly looking for investment with a social impact. Social Investment Australia has had strong interest from a range of investors including superannuation funds, financial planners, and a range of other sophisticated investors, we expect the market for this kind of investment to grow significantly over the coming years” said Peter Ball, Fund Manager.