“I never cease to be impressed by people who have pursued a life based on the desire to do the right thing and give something back.”
— Ben Rick
Ben Rick (@SASCapital_Ben) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Social and Sustainable Capital, a company that provides flexible capital to enable social sector organizations grow their social impact, tackle society’s most pressing challenges, and improve the lives of disadvantaged people across the United Kingdom.
After graduating from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (now part of Manchester University) in 1993 with a degree in Management Science, Ben’s plans to train as an accountant changed rapidly when by chance, he attended a Goldman Sachs recruitment event and was offered a Management Trainee position there. He describes his transition from the back office at Goldman Sachs to the trading floor at Lehman Brothers, where he worked as a Euro Bond Trader, followed by a move to UBS where he jointly ran the corporate bond trading department. He later became Managing Director of the EMEA Global Proprietary Trading Group for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
In our conversation, Ben explains how after his years in the City he began to find the environment, the attitudes, and focus on personal wealth distasteful and how it was his desire to make a difference that led him to leave his City career and co-found Social and Sustainable Capital.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Connect with Ben Rick: LinkedIN, Twitter
- Goldman Sachs
- Lehman Brothers
- UBS
- Merrill Lynch
- BTG Pactual
- Social and Sustainable Capital
- Hull Women’s Network
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Episode intro and a quick bio of the guest; Ben Rick
[03:55] Ben introduces Social and Sustainable Capital (“SASC”) and its mission
[11:38] Ben describes his early career and how he became a trader
[14:50] We learn about Ben’s growing distaste for the City, its attitudes and how that led to his career pivot
[16:40] Social and Sustainable Capital is described by Ben as a “private credit fund” which lends money to small-to-medium-sized, not-for-profit companies and charities
[19:36] The organizations that Social and Sustainable Capital lends to include those who aid victims of domestic violence, people being released from prison, children leaving the foster care system, or adults with learning disabilities
[25:43] Ben explains how Social and Sustainable Capital strikes a balance between profit and impact in its investments
[28:00] Social and Sustainable Capital’s Social Housing Fund is described in detail along with examples of success stories
[32:26] Ben explains the unique lending structure used by SASC’s Social Housing Fund and the key differences between this and a typical real estate mortgage structure
[34:58] How SASC selects their investments and makes investment decisions
[42:04] Ben talks about the challenges and risks involved in this type of impact investing
[47:09] Ben shares what he now knows about social investing that he wishes he knew when he first founded Social and Sustainable Capital
[47:20] Advice to anyone wanting to work in the social impact investing space
MORE BEN RICK QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW:
“I never cease to be impressed by people who have pursued a life based on the desire to do the right thing and give something back.”
— Ben Rick
“It was hysterical how people just kept adding zeros to what was an acceptable pay packet…I found that didn’t really work for me.”
— Ben Rick
“Success in social investing lies in listening more than talking.”
— Ben Rick
“You cannot look at potential returns in isolation. Return is a function of risk—a function of where it fits into your portfolio and what you are trying to achieve.”
— Ben Rick
“I was always curious as to why people thought charities that existed on tiny margins and tiny revenues were considered bad businesses, when businesses that earned billions could fail…it’s been confirmed for me that these (charities) are some of the best businesses I’ve ever met.”
— Ben Rick
“The secret sauce for SASC…is being credible to both organisations that are motivated almost entirely by purpose – and in some cases may even find profit quite a challenging concept – and investors who are increasingly interested in purpose, but ultimately, there’s an underlying financial incentive.”
— Ben Rick
“Three years ago, it was very hard to speak to an organisation with a £Billion Fund and persuade them to part with £5 Million. Now the argument is “I’ve got a billion pounds, it’s just a five million pound investment and it’s really what we need to satisfy people that we’re thinking about the way we invest”. The whole argument has been turned on its head.”
— Ben Rick
“The great pleasure of my job is I don’t ever really have to sit down with people like me. The people I like sitting down with are the people who run these charities and operate these services. ”
— Ben Rick
