Community Capital Management Invests $25 Million in Innovative Impact Investing Asset-Backed Securities

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Capital Management, Inc. (CCM), a leading fixed income impact investing manager, today announced new innovative financing activities on behalf of its clients within the asset-backed security (ABS) sector. These types of investments demonstrate the transformation occurring in impact investing, specifically within fixed income, for various types of bonds to have a positive social and/or environmental impact.

"ABS, while common on Wall Street, has been sparsely available to the market-rate impact investing community," said David Sand, chief investment strategist and impact officer at CCM. "Since we began managing impact investments in 1999 and up until a few years ago, I could only point to a handful of ABS deals with positive impact outcomes; however, over the past couple of years, we have seen a substantial increase in deal flow for ABS with a focus on sustainability and community development. We anticipate and look forward to even more activity in impact-oriented structured finance."

Examples of CCM's innovative asset-backed securities (ABS) added to its client portfolios of fixed income impact investments include:

• Securitized loans issued by Oportun, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), whose mission is to provide affordable loans to underserved Hispanic communities and other communities with little or no credit history. Founded in 2005, Oportun uses advanced data analytics and technology to score the "unscoreable" and offer responsible, affordable, credit-building loans to individuals with limited credit history.
  
  
• ABS Green Bonds under the Home Energy Renovation Opportunity (HERO®) Program.  Renovate America issued the Green Bonds which are secured by 24 limited obligation improvement bonds called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Bonds. Proceeds are used to finance eligible energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water efficiency home improvement projects in California.
  
  
• Toyota Motor Credit Corporation's third ABS Green Bond, the proceeds of which will be used to finance new retail finance contracts and lease contracts for Toyota and Lexus vehicles that meet specific criteria, including powertrain, fuel efficiency, and emissions.

"CCM is at the forefront of impact investing and we are continuously looking for alternative financing activities that fit our clients' goals from a financial and impact perspective," said Andy Kaufman, senior portfolio manager at CCM. "Our traditional ABS exposure has been to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans providing access to capital, job creation and small business development. We are excited to add these offerings to our portfolio, especially given their strong social and environmental outcomes. We are equally enthusiastic to be a participant in helping shape the growth through our analysis and discussions with issuers and hope these offerings will spur future innovative ABS in the field of impact investing." 

About Community Capital Management, Inc.

Community Capital Management, Inc. is an independently-owned investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts, the firm was founded in 1998 and currently manages over $2 billion in assets as of 9/30/16. CCM's flagship intermediate fixed impact investing strategy is available as a separate account or via a mutual fund. Other products managed by CCM include a liquid alternative income fund and customized separate account strategies. For more information, please visit www.ccminvests.com. 

Community Capital Management, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The securities identified and described herein are current holdings and for illustrative purposes. Their selection was based upon non-performance criteria, such as the security's social and/or environmental attributes. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Market conditions can vary widely over time and can result in a loss of portfolio value.

SOURCE Community Capital Management, Inc.

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