Five reasons to invest in a B Corp – a new kind of company that makes a positive impact alongside profit, from Bridges Ventures, a fund manager that is itself one of the first UK B Corp.
You can download the full report from its website here.
- More trust = more resilience: “Businesses that pass the B Impact Assessment are generally well-run companies that have sustainability at the heart of their business model, which ought to make them less susceptible to external shocks.”
- Benchmarking against the best operators: “Certified B Corps also have access to free benchmarking tools, including the Global Impact Investing Network’s rating system GIIRS and B Lab’s own platform, B Analytics. This can be helpful from an investor point of view, since a number of large institutions (including the likes of JP Morgan and Prudential) now use these systems to help them conduct due diligence and track impact performance across their fund investments.”
- Ability to attract young talent: “B Corp certification allows companies to signal to talented young people that they, as organisations, not only see the value in a greater sense of purpose, but have also taken tangible steps to crystallise and commit to this purpose. This could make them more attractive as an employer, and thus better able to recruit and retain talented people – another positive indicator in terms of company value.”
- New business opportunities: “So for B Corps in the ‘business to consumer’ space, certification may have a positive branding effect – helping them to stand out from the competition and boost sales in a crowded marketplace (which in turn boosts valuations).”
- Protection against ‘mission drift’: “Another potential advantage of the B Corp mission-lock is that in a competitive situation, investors won’t necessarily have to compete purely on price; B Corps have much greater legal freedom to select an investor whose values they believe align with their own.”
