Impact Policy Tracker Policy

Better Society Capital (formerly known as Big Society Capital)



Better Society Capital is the UK’s leading social impact investor, established in 2012 to increase the flow of capital to organisations tackling social challenges and inequalities. Created as a  £625m (~USD 782m) wholesale impact fund, BSC has since mobilised over USD 3.6 billion to more than 2,000 charities and social enterprises across the UK, working on issues from homelessness to mental health.

BSC provides funding to investment managers and social banks that, in turn, finance social purpose organisations, helping them access repayable capital while building financial resilience. It offers a range of investment products, including debt and equity through fund managers, pooled vehicles, underwriting, and, in specific cases, direct investments to address market gaps.

Beyond investing, BSC plays a critical role in building the UK’s impact investment market, working to grow market infrastructure, develop new financial products, and unlock co-investment from private and institutional investors. Its efforts have contributed to the UK social investment market growing 11x in eleven years, reaching £10bn (~USD 11.7bn) in 2023. Around 75% of enterprises receiving investment serve vulnerable and underserved groups, with 60% operating in the UK’s most deprived communities.

Highlights

  • Pioneering unlocking unclaimed assets for social investment: The UK was a global pioneer in using unclaimed assets to finance social investment, following early recommendations from the government-backed Social Investment Taskforce (2000) and enabled by the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act (2008). This landmark policy unlocked £600 million from dormant accounts and major banks, directing them towards initiatives tackling social challenges across the country.

  • Champion of impact management and transparency: BSC has played a leading role in advancing impact management and measurement practices, supporting intermediaries with training and capacity building, and contributing to global standard-setting initiatives, including the Impact Management Platform.

  • Clear Theory of Change embedded in the organisation’s strategy and culture: BSC’s structured approach links its investment and market-building activities to long-term social outcomes. Its organisational culture encourages market segmentation, proactive problem-finding, and multi-stakeholder engagement, helping to position social investment as a mainstream tool for addressing inequality.

Government’s Role:
Market Facilitator


Country:
United Kingdom

Policy Type:
Government-enabled Wholesale Funds

Year: 2012

Responsible Institution:
Cabinet Office

Additional information:
Impact Investment Wholesalers and Fund-of-Funds Design: Insights from the GSG Impact Partnership

Government-enabled Wholesale Funds

What Can Governments Do to Enable Wholesale Funds?

Wholesale funds are financial platforms that aggregate large pools of capital to provide flexible and catalytic financing to businesses and intermediaries. They help grow the volume of private capital flowing to purpose-driven enterprises and contribute to broader market development, mainly by supporting pipeline development, deploying de-risking mechanisms, and facilitating collaboration across the ecosystem.

Governments have played a critical enabling role in the establishment of wholesale funds. This has included enacting legislation to unlock dormant or unclaimed assets -as seen in the cases of Big Society Capital in the UK and JANPIA in Japan- or directly deploying catalytic capital to support the creation of these funds, as in the case of Spain. 

For more information on Wholesalers, visit GSG Impact’s reports: Impact Investment Wholesalers and Fund of Funds and Building Impact Investment Wholesalers.