SASC strengthened its investment team with the appointment of three new investment managers this year: Hermina Popa, Toyin Ogundana and Krishna Chokshi.

Hermina is the latest appointment, joining in February 2018 from Masternaut, where she worked as an independent financial consultant. Hermina also has 11 years’ investment banking experience working at Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort.

She holds an MSc in Financial Economics from the BI Norwegian Business School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Hermina said, “From the very first meeting I could sense the enthusiasm and dynamism of the SASC team members, and their strong belief in the work they are doing. I found that inspiring and very much aligned with my own principles, and I am delighted to join a team that is passionate, innovative and solutions-focused.”

Toyin joined in January 2018 from Venturesome, the social investment arm of the Charities Aid Foundation, and one of the most active players in the UK social investment market, where she was Investment and Funder Relations Manager.

Prior to this she worked in the investments team at the Homes and Communities Agency, as a credit risk manager at Nationwide Building Society and as a Relationship Manager in corporate banking at Lloyds Banking Group. She holds a BA in Politics and Business Management from Loughborough University.

Commenting on her new role, Toyin said, “I was attracted to the role because SASC is a very innovative social investor working with a number of highly impactful organisations. I’m looking forward to learning from the team and working with organisations across the UK who are dedicated to delivering social impact.”

Krishna joins from Baxendale, an impact focused management consultancy, where he was a Senior Financial Analyst. Prior to this, he worked as an Equity Analyst at RWC Partners and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking. He has also qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and holds a 1st class honours degree from the London School of Economics.

Commenting on his appointment, Krishna said, “I was attracted to the role in order to be closer to the positive impact that social investment enables, and to have the ability to continue working with organisations to achieve their aims after capital is deployed.”

Ben Rick, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SASC said, “Hermina, Toyin and Krishna bring extensive investment expertise to SASC and will be a real asset to our team and the organisations we work with.

“We are seeing faster growth in demand than at any time since we launched in 2012.  Current projects will result in over £25m of investment to more than 20 social sector organisations by the end of 2018. We will continue building the team this year to fulfil our plans of helping even more organisations grow their social impact and improve the lives of disadvantaged people across the UK.”