LONDON, Dec. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - MBU Capital today launched their inaugural Global Social Bond which will be used to invest in community focused real estate projects across the UK. Target investments are focused on a number of "social property strategies" which include affordable housing, community regeneration and high quality accommodation for students and the elderly.
The Social Bond combines both financial and social returns in a way that makes it unique to the market place. The Social Bond will offer participants a fixed 7% annual return over three years till maturity in December 2018. Subscribers will also benefit from additional upside through being a "Profit Partner" and will earn a 5% share of net profits from underlying investments. In making the Social Bond truly "Social" subscribers are further invited to direct another 5% of profits to a Registered Charity or NGO of their choosing.
MBU Social Bond holders can be confident that they will be fully protected against an attractive underlying property portfolio that will comprise high yielding property investments and development projects across the UK. The current active pipeline is valued at over £300 million and includes Student housing developments (in Bristol, Birmingham and Reading), care home developments (in Titchfield and Chippenham), as well as housing developments (in Stevenage). In addition, MBU has also identified a stable income producing pipeline comprising of affordable serviced offices and secondary shopping centres in and around London.
Mohammed Iqbal, CEO and co-founder of MBU said "we don't know anyone else in the market who has structured anything quite like this. We think we're the first. It's perfect for the socially minded individual who wants to see real investment in their local community infrastructure, and at the same time, likes the idea of directing profits to charities which matter to them - whether it's Green Peace, the Red Cross or to their local Art Gallery, it's their choice".
Mr Iqbal has a long history of overseeing diversified investments. Previously at CIBC, London based hedge fund CQS and then at Kleinwort Benson, he has managed investment portfolios worth several billion dollars. Now working with his team of property experts, Mr Iqbal is applying his considerable investment expertise to community focused real estate projects which are close to his heart.
"We want to help local communities. We want to address the shortfall in affordable housing in the UK. We're looking at building high quality care homes and purpose built student accommodation. And we want to help small and medium size companies by providing them with affordable office space".
Mr Iqbal also points out that the historical perception that social investing translates to low returns is just not true. "Based on our projections and our current deal pipeline, our Social Bond holders would see returns exceeding 27% over the lifetime of their Social Bond". At the same time, Mr Iqbal is keen to stress that all the projects are underwritten very conservatively. "We are extremely serious about reducing risk. We don't like excessive leverage, we don't take planning risks and we always try to agree a forward sale of our developments to lock in our profit margins from day one"
In relation to the risk associated with subscribing to the Social Bond, Mr Iqbal said "as with all similar financial transactions, it is important to bear in mind that capital may be at risk and there are no absolute certainties. However, we are extremely risk averse and we actively employ an array of risk mitigation strategies to ensure our Social Bond holders are protected". There is no minimum subscription amount for the MBU Social Bond and subscribers can choose to invest in the Social Bond from anywhere in the world (subject to their local laws).
For further information about MBU and to find out how to apply for an MBU Social Bond, please visit: http://www.mbusocialbond.com
About MBU
MBU Capital Limited is a UK registered company established for the purpose of making direct investments in primarily UK based real estate transactions.
For media enquiries, contact the MBU Capital media team: enquiries(at)mbusocialbond.com; +44 (0)207 100 2380 (please email in the first instance)
About Re-Give
Re-Give Global is a crowdfunding platform that helps to match capital and resources seeking social, environmental, financial and commercial returns by individuals, businesses and organisations from across the world that create these returns. For more information, visit https://regive.org/blog
Legal Information
The term 'Social Bond' as used by MBU does not bear the same meaning as it might in ordinary speech. An MBU social bond represents an unconditionally made gratuitous, honour-based promise made by MBU to give a specific amount of capital to its social bond holders on a specific date. MBU will, ex post facto, voluntarily convert its pledges and undertakings related to a specific social bond into legally binding commitments (enforceable anywhere in the world) and make a copy of the relevant documents available to all of its relevant social bond holders, who would thereafter have a right of recourse against MBU's assets. The MBU social bond does not fall under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act or the UK Financial Conduct Authority regulations and the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the UK Financial Ombudsman Service does not apply to it. Re-Give is not a party to MBU's social bond and is only acting as a technical and platform service provider to MBU.
SOURCE: MBU Capital Limited
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