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Cadiz Asset Management wins another Socially Responsible and Impact Investment Mandate
24 November 2011
Media Release
Cadiz Asset Management has been appointed as the fund manager to
the Access to Medicines Impact Investment Fund, an initiative of
the Southern African Regional Programme on Access to Medicines and
Diagnostics (SARPAM).
The Fund has been developed in the belief that effective
collective action and innovation will improve Access to Medicines
across the regional economic community. Africa faces a higher
disease burden than virtually all other regions of the world, and
it is unlikely that government and donor organizations alone will
find sustainable solutions. Working with member state governments,
civil society, regional institutions, international agencies,
research networks and the private sector, SARPAM is establishing a
Fund that will act as a catalyst to increase the access to
medicines and diagnostics in the region.
Cadiz Asset Management, together with Greater Capital, has a
proven track record in socially responsible and impact investing
demonstrating that meaningful social return can be achieved
together with commercial return. We believe the focus of socially
responsible investments on the continent must be dominantly social
in nature with respect to the Environmental, Social and Governance
spectrum given the enormous social challenges we have here in
Africa. Our research shows convincingly that poor people both
demand and can pay for good quality, well priced services and
products. Companies that successfully offer appropriate solutions
into a poor client base can demonstrate strong financial track
records in creditworthy indicators. In our experience these
companies offer significant diversification benefits to comparable
listed companies. The missing link has always been well functioning
intermediaries that facilitate the supply of capital.
Furthermore the economic case for investing in access to
healthcare is powerful. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)
estimates that the total annual market demand for private sector
healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa will double to $35 billion by
2016.[1] The Fund's goals will be to provide recyclable investment
capital into medical and diagnostic SME's with a focus on providing
underprivileged women and children with access to medical and
diagnostic facilities hitherto not available to them. Cadiz Asset
Management, in partnership with Greater Capital, offer investors
the ability to earn commercial returns together with a positive and
measurable contribution to the social realities of our
continent.
Cadiz Asset Management's skill lies in identifying those
companies and organizations that are best placed to sustainably
access the supply of capital. Greater Capital's skill lies in the
monitoring and measurement of social impact and providing that
feedback to our investors.
[1] International Finance Corporation, "The Business of Health
in Africa" (2007)
For further information, please contact Sonia Jamoulle on
021-657-8552, Communications and Investor Relations Manager at
Cadiz