IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Local Enterprise
Assistance Fund, Inc.
Affordable Housing
Democracy
Food Systems and AgricultureFirm Overview
Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF) is an immigrant-led Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides financing and development services to increase wealth, health, and housing equity in low-income communities. LEAF is most well known on a national level for its lending to food, worker, and housing cooperative businesses. In recent years, LEAF has created a local Massachusetts program called Elevate Small Business. This program offers a full-service suite of access to capital and capacity-building services for Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs). LEAF's national lending to the solidarity economy includes employee-owned firms, community land trusts, resident-owned manufactured home parks, purchasing co-ops, community-owned grocery stores, and mission-aligned nonprofits.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
LEAF designs products that celebrate and benefit from the solidarity economy's atypical, cooperative governance and sees an opportunity set rife with high-quality deals across all sectors and regions in the U.S.
The solidarity economy is frequently overlooked by private debt providers, not because of credit quality, but due to deal size and unfamiliar governance. LEAF focuses on these attributes to deploy capital and technical assistance to disadvantaged businesses, community land trusts, and cooperatives. LEAF mixes low-cost loan capital, credit enhancements, and operating funds in the form of grants or contracts from federal, state, and private sources. The open-ended fund has raised approximately $12M of long-term debt across nearly 200 investors. LEAF maintains high renewal rates, above industry average loan loss reserves, and a strong net equity position of over 30%. LEAF’s debt products ensure affordability to target market companies and housing entities, while maintaining spread income and financial stability for the fund. The portfolio limits start-ups and uses a deep bench of loan participants and purchase partners to ensure sector diversification and maintain risk management controls.
LEAF's Senior Leadership Team brings a wide array of cultural competencies and experience to community development with extensive backgrounds in banking, asset management, alternative investments, microfinance, and international development. The organization differentiates itself by providing high-touch technical assistance and capital advisory services to disadvantaged businesses in Massachusetts. On a national level, LEAF’s work differentiates itself from others through an extensive track record of cooperative and related solidarity economy lending. LEAF is known throughout the ecosystem as an eager partner that can bring cooperative and shared ownership expertise to a deal; this partnership with local lenders and co-op developers is a frequent source of deal pipeline that takes years of reputation to acquire.
Investment Example
Friends of Gardens, a landscape services firm in Revere, MA was founded by Eulalio Guevara, an immigrant from El Salvador with 14 years in the industry and certifications as a Master and Organic Gardener. Although Eulalio had deep industry expertise and connections, he faced obstacles accessing capital and financial planning to expand his crew and equipment. Traditional financial institutions were not an option due to the business's short operating history. LEAF provided financial advisory services, an equipment loan, and a line of credit to support Eulalio’s growth goals. LEAF assisted with a budgeting tool and structured an approach to pricing that helps Friends of Gardens scale responsibly. Since partnering with LEAF, Friends of Gardens has exceeded sales projections and expanded services to include landscape construction. The company now provides fair-wage jobs in an industry that often underpays immigrants. LEAF continues to advise on financial strategy and conversion to worker-ownership.
Leadership and Team
 |
Gerardo Espinoza – Executive Director More Info
Gerardo has served as Executive Director of LEAF for the last nine years, spearheading the Fund’s growth at the national level and developing financing programs and technical assistance to small businesses in Massachusetts. He joined LEAF after spending many years in the commercial banking and investment management field. His background includes ten years as a Vice President at First National Bank of Chicago, and 15 years in investment management in the positions of Portfolio Manager and Senior Vice President with Baring Asset Management and John Hancock funds. |
 |
Carol Ann McAuliffe – Chief Financial Officer More Info
Carol Ann McAuliffe has over 30 years of experience in the Financial Services and Non-Profit sectors, including serving as Vice President at Fidelity Investments where she led accounting, operations, and mutual fund valuation. Before joining LEAF, Carol Ann was the CFO and Director of Strategy at Project Hope Boston, where she led a high-performing finance team responsible for a wide array of functions including analyzing financial reports, budgeting, and managing payroll and vendor payments. Carol Ann holds a MBA from Boston University and a BS from Boston College. |
 |
Amine Benali – Managing Director, Strategy & Development More Info
Amine is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and brings with him a vast experience in investment analysis and management. He joined LEAF after 19 years as an investment analyst and portfolio manager focused on Emerging Markets and Global Natural Resources. He worked as an equity analyst at Baring Asset Management, as Senior Research Officer at John Hancock Advisors, and as Managing Director at Manulife Asset Management. He has co-managed equity portfolios with up to $1.8 billion in AUM. Amine has devoted himself academically and professionally to development economics. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
|
Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
75% – 99%
|
While not all of LEAF’s portfolio companies have their own explicit social or environmental goals for their products (e.g. worker co-op of taxi drivers, housing co-op), they are all illustrations of LEAF’s socioeconomic impact goals. But LEAF does prioritize those companies that can demonstrate their product or service addresses social or environmental problems. During underwriting, LEAF asks for evidence that such impacts are tied to revenue generation and not simply a temporary corporate initiative.
Depending on the sector, LEAF asks for information on workers’ pay and voting power, sustainable agriculture practices, racially diverse sourcing, income conditions on housing units created or protected, and emissions mitigation (preferably scopes 1,2, and 3). All deals are assessed on their known and unknown social and environmental impacts during the underwriting process and this is a required section of the credit memo that is always discussed to ensure mission-alignment. LEAF conducts impact surveys at least annually to keep this information on portfolio companies current and track problems and progress.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
386 Western Avenue, Boston, MA 02135 USA
Apply for the IA 50 2022
The application period to become an ImpactAssets 50 2022 Fund Manager will open in September 2021!
To stay informed on the application process, sign up here.