El Ministerio de Inclusión constituye el Comité Interministerial de Inversiones del nuevo Fondo de Impacto Social, dotado con 400 millones de euros

Today, the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Investments (CITI) of the Social Impact Fund (FIS) has been constituted, attached to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration through the General Secretariat for Inclusion and managed by COFIDES.

This fund – approved by the Government last June – is one of the new financial instruments included in the addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and is endowed with 400 million euros. Its objective is to strengthen the impact ecosystem and promote investments that generate a positive and measurable social and/or environmental impact, as well as an economic return.
At the Committee ' s first meeting, it was formally established and its internal rules of procedure and the Fund ' s Operational Guide were approved. The Committee is made up of representatives from six ministries (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise; Ministry of Labour and Social Economy; Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 and Ministry of Finance) and COFIDES. 
 
The CITI will be chaired by Elena Rodríguez Navarro, General Secretary of Inclusion.

Governance on three levels

The Social Impact Fund is based on a solid governance structure composed of three levels. Firstly, COFIDES, a public-private company, will be responsible for identifying, analysing and structuring all operations as fund manager.

Next, the operations proposed by COFIDES will be subject to the assessment of a Panel of Independent Experts (PEI), an aspect that is new in the management of Spanish public funds and that is aligned with best practices at international level. The PEI will be responsible for evaluating the proposals presented by COFIDES and drawing up the respective independent technical opinions.  

Finally, proposals that receive a positive opinion from the IEP will be submitted to the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Investments for final validation.

The first operations are expected to be approved by the end of the year.

Commitment to social and labour inclusion

“The creation of the FIS is a milestone in Spain because it will allow us to meet social and environmental challenges hitherto not covered by the markets, while seeking to attract additional private resources,” said Elena Rodríguez at the meeting, while highlighting the importance of public-private collaboration. “The Fund offers a new perspective on how the public and private sector can work together to address new global challenges and provide an effective response to critical issues such as the fight against poverty or inequality.”

Some of the areas in which the Fund is expected to impact are the social and labor inclusion of people with disabilities and in a situation of homelessness or gender equality. In addition, it will focus on promoting the reduction of inequalities, territorial cohesion, social entrepreneurship or facing the demographic challenge.

Angela Pérez, president and CEO of COFIDES, stressed that “the FIS intends to strengthen the impact economy and social entrepreneurship, in order to strengthen and increase the size of the market and make the sector even more professional”. With these objectives, “the FIS will invest in profitable projects that have a clear vocation to contribute to solving the social and environmental challenges neglected and that generate a clear measurable impact”.

Various forms of financial support

The FIS is highly flexible and will be able to finance social impact operations by subscribing to fund shares, equity shares or debt instruments. In addition, one part will be aimed at providing technical assistance so that entities can strengthen their capacities to measure and manage the impact, thus supporting their professionalization.

The beneficiaries can be both entities and companies of the social and impact economy, as well as funds or investment vehicles of impact that invest in Spain.

This fund is born with a vocation of permanence, in such a way that the returns obtained will be reinvested in new operations to continue supporting, in the medium and long term, the challenges associated with the sustainable transformation of the Spanish productive model.