About developmental investments

Defining developmental investments

We define developmental investing as that which provides investors with both commercial returns and tangible social and developmental impact. In South Africa, the primary development focus is around the provision of basic services and infrastructure development.

Our philosophy

Futuregrowth is dedicated to the development and empowerment of South Africa and its people, with many of our products geared towards supporting change. We are passionate about improving the lives of all South Africans and so we're always striving to identify opportunities that will not only yield optimal financial returns for stakeholders, but also make recognised contributions to society. Our belief is that thriving communities result in thriving businesses, therefore, business can and should develop the communities in which they operate.

We also believe that while providing a retirement benefit for members is critically important, so too is improving the lives of individuals and their families while they are still working. 

View our development funds

Our process

Futuregrowth has a 20 year track-record of investing in developmental investments and the current capability is supported by the investment process. We use a fundamental investment approach with active decision making and judgment applicable in all processes including all our developmental funds.

Click on the below thumbnail for an overview of
our developmental investments.

Overview of our developmental investments

Our team

The team consists of a diverse group of professionals ranging from portfolio managers, credit analysts, client reporting, marketing and business development experts. The team leverages off the existing investment process and taps into resources from the interest rate and credit teams. A dedicated resource oversees all aspects of the Responsible Investment (RI) function within the company.

Measuring & reporting

Futuregrowth recognises that different investments have different on-the-ground impact. For example, funding the provision of low-income housing has a much higher impact than holding a listed parastatal bond. And an investor, in addition to earning suitable risk-adjusted returns, may also want recognition for such a high-impact investment.

Measuring developmental impact is highly subjective. Futuregrowth classes all our developmental investments into High, Medium or Low impact, depending on the actual nature of the investments and/or funds. For example: 

High impact: infrastructure project finance, access to finance for the previously "unbanked", social infrastructure (health care, education, etc).
Medium impact: investor engagement.
Low impact: environmentally-screened ethical investments.

Futuregrowth is able to provide customised social impact reporting to our clients based on the various infrastructure and development sectors. Please contact angeliquek@futuregrowth.co.za for further information.

Our belief is that thriving communities result in thriving businesses, therefore, business can and should develop the communities in which they operate.