Intermediary perceptions of investment readiness in the social investment market

The ‘social investment market’ (SIM) in the UK is a growth area due to the governments’ focus upon building up the supply-side element of the market over the last decade, often through the direct financing of ‘social and investment finance intermediaries’ (SIFIs). However, this ignores problems that can occur on the demand-side of the SIM, such as a lack of ‘investment readiness’ (IR) amongst social enterprises (SEs) seeking investment. Indeed, whilst there is now a significant body of policy-based and practitioner research exploring the SIM, there remains a paucity of empirical academic research. The research reported in this paper sought to explore SIFI perceptions of what constituted IR in the SIM. Semi-structured interviews were held with the fund managers (or relevant personnel) at 15 SIFIs in order to explore what they believed constituted IR and how they assessed this. The results indicate that the conception of IR in the SIM is similar to that held in mainstream financial markets. The results are discussed in relation to the prior literature and theories of the SIM.