June 2014 - Editorial

Since 2005, PhiTrust Partenaires has been supporting the growth of social entrepreneurs by providing them with financing as well as being actively involved in their governance structures.

These companies all have social missions and are eager to modify their strategies in order to increase their impact, while protecting their business models and being profitable. Although many doomsayers though it would be impossible, we are pleased that several of our portfolio companies have strengthened their business models and are showing clear development perspectives.

Today, this ‘Impact’ investment vision is in accordance with several government authorities: the European “Social Business Act”, the French “Law on the Social and Solidarity Economy”, and the G8’s “G8 Impact Investing” group (in which we are actively involved). These authorities have recognised the urgent need to develop new growth and financing models to address current social issues.

We have invested in some twenty projects in France, Europe and Africa, providing them with the means to develop in their countries or internationally. We have exited three investments: we received a 50% reimbursement of our investment in I&P Développement, and sold our shares of Durable.com (2012) and Alter Eco (2013).

At the same time, we worked closely with our portfolio companies to refine our tools for measuring the impact of our investees in order to enable them to be more effective in their missions as well as report to our investors on the impact achieved.

These initial results would not have been possible without the entrepreneurs and their teams, as well as the investors and the active members of our Investment Committee who dedicate themselves on a daily basis to provide support to their businesses! It is important to note the lengthier time horizon necessary for these companies to achieve their objectives (we appreciate the American phrase “Patient Capital”).

We are in the process of strengthening our financial capacity by structuring a fundraising round to further assist these businesses, and hope that you will join us in supporting this wonderful adventure of “Social Impact Investment”!

Olivier de Guerre

Chairman of PhiTrust Partenaires