LISC Reaches $100M Milestone for Social Bond Program

4.19.2022 - Press Releases

Proceeds of LISC Impact Notes program are financing community development investments, racial equity strategies

NEW YORK (April 19, 2022)—The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) announced today that it has raised $100 million from the sale of its Impact Notes to help refinance existing debt and finance investments in affordable housing, small businesses, health, community safety, education, and jobs—all focused on people and places not well-served by the traditional financial system.

Rated ‘AA-’ by S&P, the Impact Notes are offered each month in almost all U.S. states through the InspereX Legacy™ Platform, which supports values-based investing. The Notes are available in various maturities to investors with as little as $1,000 to invest.

“This $100 million mark is quite a milestone for LISC, not only because of the amount of capital raised but because of the diversity of investors participating,” said Christina Travers, LISC’s chief financial officer.

Travers stressed the importance of social investments to expanding economic opportunity and growth for underserved populations. “The proceeds are financing efforts to break down racial and socioeconomic barriers to success so that families, communities and local economies can thrive,” she explained.

The Impact Notes program is the only debt offering from a community development financial institution (CDFI) that is investment grade rated, publicly available, DTC-settled, and aligned with both the International Capital Market Association Social Bond Principles (SBPs) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is also the first from a CDFI to receive a second-party opinion from Vigeo Eiris, which evaluates social, environmental, and governance (ESG) factors to validate issuer alignment with SBPs and SDGs. The goal is to make it easier for investors to assess the value of the Impact Notes with regard to their social and financial goals.

“This program really seeks to democratize social investing by offering an instrument that is accessible to a wide range of investors,” noted Anna Smukowski, LISC’s senior director of investor relations and capital strategies.

“I think the response to date—with individual investments ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $1 million—illustrates the market appetite for straight-forward investments where both the financial and social metrics are fairly easy to understand,” she added.

“We are proud to partner with LISC and proud of the role we play in helping to deploy the power of capital for good,” added InspereX CEO John DesPrez. “All segments of our distribution network have shown interest in making investments in LISC’s important work. We are pleased to recognize this milestone achievement with LISC.”

LISC has been active in the capital markets since 2017, when it was the first CDFI to issue a publicly available bond, raising $100 million from institutional investors. The current Impact Notes program differs from that previous offering in that it is open-ended, with a rolling issuance that is specifically designed to meet the needs of retail investors.

“Our positive experience reflects the market’s growing appreciation of community development financial institutions like LISC,” Travers said. “Over the past two years, corporations, foundations, and asset managers have increasingly collaborated with CDFIs to support pandemic relief, racial equity, and other impact investing strategies. It further makes the case that CDFIs are sophisticated investment partners that are driven by mission, but with a long track record of financial performance, as well.”

The Impact Notes are part of LISC’s overall financial strategy, which includes raising capital from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. For more on the Notes, visit www.lisc.org/invest.

About LISC

LISC is one of the country’s largest community development organizations, helping forge vibrant, resilient communities across America. We work with residents and partners to close systemic gaps in health, wealth and opportunity and advance racial equity so that people and places can thrive. Since our founding in 1979, LISC has invested $24 billion to create more than 436,320 affordable homes and apartments and develop 74.4 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. 

About InspereX

InspereX is transforming how fixed income securities and market-linked products are accessed, evaluated, and traded. Home to the pioneering BondNav® platform, InspereX provides financial advisors, institutional investors, issuers, and risk managers deep access to fixed income and market-linked products markets across asset classes, as well as industry-leading origination, distribution, and education. Focused on delivering true price transparency, liquidity, execution targeting price improvement, and the information advantage gained through data aggregation, InspereX inspires greater confidence through the power of technology.

The firm is a leading underwriter and distributor of securities to more than 2,000 broker-dealers, institutions, asset managers, RIAs, and banks. InspereX represents more than 400 issuing entities and has underwritten more than $670 billion in securities. The firm has seven trading desks and more than 200 employees with principal offices in Delray Beach, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City.

Disclaimer: This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Such an offer is made only by means of a current Prospectus (including any applicable Pricing Supplement) for each of the respective notes. Such offers may be directed only to investors in jurisdictions in which the notes are eligible for sale. Investors are urged to review the current Prospectus before making any investment decision. No state or federal securities regulators have passed on or endorsed the merits of the offering of notes. Any representation to the contrary is unlawful. The notes will not be insured or guaranteed by the FDIC, SIPC or other governmental agency

Impact Notes currently are not offered to residents of Tennessee and Washington.

Ratings current as of 4/19/2022. An S&P credit rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold Notes and may be subject to suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by S&P. Please check the current Pricing Supplement at the link below for the S&P credit rating assigned to Notes currently being offered for sale.