San Francisco-based fund manager RSF Social Finance has drawn capital from a social investment fund to allocate a combined $5.5 million to three organizations in the firm’s core lending areas of alternative ownership, climate and environment and natural products, said RSF’s Michael Jones.
RSF provided a $3 million loan to Cambridge, Mass.-based Sunwealth for a portfolio of solar installations in California, Maine and New Jersey. The solar projects are projected to save about $11 million in lifetime energy costs and to create more than 100 green jobs. Sunwealth, RSF’s biggest borrower with $13 million, is raising a $60 million solar justice fund for local solar developers and installers of rooftop and parking lot projects.
In a separate deal, RSF purchased $1.5 million of a $2.5 million revolving line of credit from Walden Savings Bank on behalf of 88 Acres. The Boston-based and women-led company will use the loan to deliver on a contract with Delta Airlines for zero-waste, health-conscious snack bars.
Ownership trust
Earlier this year, the founders of registered investment advisor Natural Investments sold to a purpose trust governed by a trust stewardship committee. The deal “made it possible for anyone working in our firm to steward it as a strategic leader without going into substantial debt to purchase an ownership stake,” wrote the firm’s Michael Kramer in a guest post on ImpactAlpha.
A $1 million loan from RSF enabled the sale, which provided an exit to Natural Investment’s founders. The new trust stewardship committee, which votes on the strategic and financial planning of the firm, is made up of 43% women and 29% people of color.
