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Social investment takes the form of investment in a range of traditional asset classes such as direct property, mortgage lending and enterprise finance with the dual purpose of a market related financial return and identifiable social impact.
Social Investment Australia (SIA) specialises in packaging investment products for the private investment market in line with Foresters’ strategic intent to respond to financial and social exclusion of non-profit organisations, social enterprises and individuals. Financial exclusion results from the inability of traditional financial and capital markets to effectively respond to the needs of individuals and organisations.
Barriers to Financial Inclusion
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Availability
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The kind of service needed does not exist at all or does not exist in an individual’s locality.
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Access
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A lack of access to particular kinds of financial services because of structural factors or issues that an individual faces (such as credit record, language or physical disabilities).
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Awareness
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A lack of awareness of fair products or a lack of capacity to engage with services. This could be as a result of inadequate promotion of basic, fair products by financial service providers.
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Appropriateness
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Products are not appropriate to an individual’s needs (such as small, regular repayments on loans for someone on a limited budget) or their cultural backgrounds (for example, there is a lack of systems in Australia to meet the needs of the Islamic community who have particular beliefs about the charging of interest).
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Affordability
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An inability to afford existing products (for instance, few insurance products exist for people living on low incomes) or the cost structures
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From Margins to the Mainstream: The challenges of microfinance in Australia
I Burkett & G Sheehan, Dec 2009
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