Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) has appointed Bernice Affat to the role of Chief Portfolio Management Officer to lead the portfolio team overseeing SASC’s investments.
Bernice will continue to develop the portfolio support and management function, working closely with SASC’s CIO. Her team will manage the growing number of relationships with charities and social enterprises and support them throughout their investment journey.
Bernice is a qualified chartered accountant and brings to SASC over 20 years’ debt and equity transactions experience gained at several leading financial institutions and consultancies in the UK and internationally.
This includes Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, where Bernice worked as a Director of Strategy and prior to this, as Director of Specialist Finance, where she focused on complex financial workouts and led a team managing a £1.6bn distressed debt portfolio comprising largely mid-market debt and high clients, and in Leverage Finance, where she concentrated on originating pan-European loan financing for Sponsor backed transactions.
Bernice also brings over nine years’ Mergers and Acquisitions experience, with roles including Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at RSM (formerly Baker Tilley) and Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at EY, as well as roles at Sanlam Investments, Brait Merchant Bank and KPMG in South Africa.
Commenting on her new role Bernice says, “I’m hugely excited to join SASC at this key time in the growth of their business. After a career break, I decided to take this opportunity to move my career into a new area. I am very interested in the social investment sector and SASC was clearly an organisation going from strength to strength.
“Social and Sustainable Housing, SASC’s flagship social housing fund, is raising the profile of social investment as a funding tool for charities and social enterprises. I was attracted to the role as it offered a unique opportunity to use my commercial skills to have real social impact.
“I’m looking forward to working with our investees and getting to know them. As our funds grow, there will be more opportunities to strengthen our relationships with existing investees as well as build new relationships to reach a wider breadth of charities. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to contribute to a growing sector, with one of the UKs leading social investment organisations.”
Ben Rick, CEO, SASC said, “We’re delighted to welcome Bernice who brings tremendous experience which will be invaluable for our future growth. The SASC team and our investees will benefit greatly from her skills and expertise.”
For more information on SASC visit www.socialandsustainable.com
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Notes for Editors
About Social and Sustainable Capital
SASC provides simple finance for extraordinary charities and social enterprises. We believe greater access to the right kind of investment makes charities and social enterprises better able to tackle society’s most pressing challenges. Our funds provide flexible capital to enable social sector organisations to grow their social impact, improving the lives of disadvantaged people across the UK. SASC is a social enterprise.
