Like the phoenix, the fund created by the bosses and unions in the metal sector is born a second time: the new version of Invest for Jobs wants to raise 50 million euros.
Invented five years ago by social partners in the metal sector, Invest for Jobs is a unique fund in Europe. Since its creation, it allocated 58 million euros to 22 companies. It has contributed to the creation of 270 jobs and the companies it finances employ 2,030 people.
He has however went through a crisis last year, which led his fathers to question themselves. The result of these reflections is the launch of a new fund, with clarified outlinesas described by its president Karel Stroobants and its CEO Christophe Picard.
Is the new Invest for Jobs on track?
Karel Stroobants (KS): Le projet est on the way, but not yet donee. We are going to create a second fund, for which we hope to raise at least 50 million euros, in several stages. The two funds, the one created in 2016 and the new one, will be managed by Christophe Picard’s team. The concept behind the fund is well received in the market, both by investors and by companies. The new fund will defend the same values: it will aim for a correct financial performance, combined with a social return.
Christophe Picard (CP): A “multidirectional” yield. We are not going to promise you 10% per year, but each investment decision will have a financial return and a social impact, with sustainability analysis, good governance criteria and job creation. Nothing to do with a biotech fund seeking to multiply its bet by ten…
KS: We learned from the first fund.
“Having a large board of directors, where the social partners are not all used to working in a ‘business’ structure, is not ideal.”
What lessons?
KS: We have learned how important governance is. Having a large board of directors, where the social partners are not all used to working in a “business” structure, is not ideal. They got it, and I have to commend them for agreeing to correct the model. With a small team on the board, made up of independent specialists, we are much more efficient.
Will the social partners still be present in the second fund?
KS: The economic crisis is weighing on the finances of the social partners as well. We are looking for three types of investors for the second fund: des family offices, institutionssuch as insurers and pension funds, which might include the social partners, and semi-public or public fundssuch as PMV or LRM in Flanders, Sogepa in Wallonia, investments…
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Private investors might be added, but they are not our first target. To manage the fund, we will strengthen the existing management team, retain the board of directors that we have refocused, and add an advisory committeewhere investors will be represented with possibly, among them, the social partners.
Will the Metal pension fund stay on board?
KS: He remains a shareholder in the first fund and might move up to the second.
Will the two funds be independent of each other?
CP: Yes. The new fund will have a Stronger and clearer DNA for the market, with different shareholders. The shareholders of the first fund have given their agreement to this strategy.
Have you ever signed with investors?
KS: We have started discussions with several of them. We hope to conclude by the end of the year.
“Since we launched Invest for Jobs, many others have taken up or been inspired by our slogans and values.”
Will the first fund still make follow-on investments in a few of the 22 participating companies?
KS: Yes. He is fully invested and will no longer take on new files, but he still has sufficient liquidity to monitor and meet its commitments. Recently, he came to the aid of certain companies in difficulty in the face of the crisis, by taking controlled risks. He offered them quick fixes that the banks no longer offered.
How should the second fund be defined, since it is no longer characterized by the presence of the social partners?
CP: Since we launched Invest for Jobs, many others have taken up or been inspired by our slogans and values. I’m thinking of impact funds…
KS: We are an impact fund, we want help create quality jobswe also want to help ensure Belgian anchorage companies.
CP: We are not reinventing the powder, but we are accentuating the Invest for Jobs DNA and making it more visible in a new vehicle that will carry the same values. It is a legacy that we are taking up by clarifying its characteristics, but the result of the first fund is there, as evidenced by the quality of the companies we have in our portfolio. I’m thinking of companies like Kazidomi, Galler, Degotte, Marichal Ketin, Ateliers de la Meuse, Brussels Beer Project…
Sentences
- “We are not going to promise you 10% per year, but that each investment decision will have a financial return and a social impact, with sustainability analysis, good governance criteria and job creation.”
- “We are not reinventing the powder, but we are accentuating the DNA of Invest for Jobs and making it more visible…”
- “Recently, the fund came to the aid of certain companies in difficulty in the face of the crisis, by taking controlled risks.”
- “We also want to help ensure the Belgian anchoring of companies…”
