Prudential has a long tradition of making investments that support and improve communities, having established a formal program in 1976 and investing more than $1 billion dollars since. Social Investments collaborates with partners who share the dedication to create healthy, sustainable communities. These investments support projects that develop and preserve affordable housing, improve access to quality education, and connect neighborhoods and residents to mainstream economic opportunities.
Strategy
By providing capital, Social Investments creates opportunities for disadvantaged communities. In this effort, at-risk affordable housing is preserved and supplemented by creating secondary markets for community development loans; poor educational facilities are improved by extending funds to quality charter school management organizations; high-density unemployment areas are infused with capital by investing in entrepreneurship and financing comprehensive community development initiatives. The investments' payoff comes from improving the sustainability of communities.
Community Focus
There are common themes of distress in each community, however community dynamics require local attention. Social Investments has worked closely, by way of direct and indirect relationships, with many players in the communities, to identify needs and create strategies for change. Currently, Social Investments concentrates in the following urban locations:
- Newark and State of New Jersey
- Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA
- Hartford, CT
- Philadelphia, PA
- Minneapolis, MN
- New York, NY
- Jacksonville, FL
- Chicago, IL
- Boston, MA
- New Orleans, LA
- Dallas and Houston, TX
- Phoenix, AZ
Asset Management
Social Investments, an innovative asset management group for Prudential and The Prudential Foundation, manages portfolios that are made up of private placement debt, equity, and various tax credits, including low-income housing and new markets tax credits.
In 2007, approximately $60 million of new deals was approved and $50 million was disbursed. As of December 2007, Social Investments managed assets of $312 million.
Capital has been made available at different positions on the risk and return spectrum and expected yields range from 2% to 16%. As the capital returns, Social Investments reinvests into disadvantaged markets throughout the world. This reinvestment approach exponentially increases the amount of capital that is available to satisfy future needs.
Business Prospects
Social Investments continually seeks opportunities to make investments in socially motivated projects. Social Investments supports nonprofits, CDCs, CDFIs, social enterprises, and community ventures whose mission and operations are broad and non-discriminatory, and whose activities address social needs or benefit underserved groups and communities.
Social Investments is expanding its domestic involvement into the international community. Social Investments will engage in microfinance and social venture investing in:
- Mexico
- Korea
- Brazil
- Taiwan
- Japan
- China
- India