The UK’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE), which seeks to promote sustainable businesses, is planning to expand its focus internationally.
The SSE, which currently includes companies listed on the London Stock Exchange that meet a series of criteria including social and environmental standards, will soon start looking beyond London to admit members, according to its chief executive officer in an interview with the Financial Times.
‘We are looking at companies listed on NASDAQ OMX, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse,’ Pradeep Jethi told the FT. He said the SSE, which was launched in June this year and has received the backing of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, is seeking to increase its number of companies from 11 to 20 by the end of the year.
Current SSE members include Primary Health Properties, which seeks to modernize and improve healthcare throughout the UK, and V22, an art collective co-owned by artists and investor-patrons that aims to provide artists with affordable workspace. Accsys Technologies, which licenses and promotes sustainable wood products, and Straight, which specializes in sales of environmentally friendly products to gardeners, are among the founding companies on the SSE.
The SSE does not facilitate the trading of stocks, but collects annual fees of £10,000 ($15,500) from its corporate members in exchange for promotions targeting investors looking for sustainably run companies. At the June 6 launch of the SSE, Cameron said the exchange could help London gain international renown for promoting sustainable business.
The SSE estimates the global market for social impact investment to be about $9 bn, and says that figure is set to grow to between $250 bn and $600 bn over the next decade as environmental and social problems become more acute and awareness grows.
For admission, the SSE requires members to be a member of an existing stock exchange, to submit an impact report and to undergo a review process by the SSE’s admissions panel, which comprises ‘leading social impact investment experts’.
