Initiative Ireland Wins Innovation Award at Irish Pension Awards 2020 & Launches New Online Advisor Community
Pictured at NovaUCD are Sinead Byrne, COO, Initiative Ireland and Padraig W. Rushe, CEO, Initiative Ireland. (Mark Harrison, Harrison Photography).
New online advisor community established for brokers and financial advisors
Initiative Ireland was recently announced as the winner of the Innovation of the Year Award at the 2020 Irish Pension Awards. The company received the Award in recognition of its Pension Lending Accounts which were launched last year.
These accounts enable private investors to open self-managed pensions and join Initiative Ireland’s Impact Investor Community. This community is made up of Funds, Irish Businesses, Private Investors and Pension Investors who come together to co-fund the construction of energy-efficient social and affordable housing schemes nationwide.
Watch this short video of Initiative Ireland being announced as winner of the 2020 Innovation of the Year Award.
Padraig W. Rushe, CEO, Initiative Ireland said,
“We are honoured to be to have won Innovation of the Year Award and to have been shortlisted in a total of 5 Award categories at this year’s Irish Pension Awards. We established Initiative Ireland to offer honest, fair and secured opportunities to clients. Our Pension Lending Account enable everyday investors to access the Irish Property Market in a more conservative way, committing as little as €25,000 to co-fund property-backed loans. Ultimately, it’s about giving investors more control over the funds, while helping them to earn good by doing good.”
Initiative Ireland has today also announced the launch of a new online Advisor Community, aimed at financial advisors. The platform, which can be accessed at InitiativeIreland.ie, makes it easier for financial advisors to setup new self-managed pensions for their clients or invite existing clients with pensions to setup a Secured Lending Account. It also enables the Advisor to monitor their client’s loans, for increased transparency and ease.
Initiative Ireland, which is headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, is supported by Enterprise Ireland as a high-potential start-up.
Padraig W. Rushe, CEO, Initiative Ireland, said,
“Financial advisors face a challenge sourcing stable competitive investment yields for their clients while also avoiding the volatility that often comes with higher yield investments.”
“With an Advisor Account, advisors can give their clients access to co-fund secured loans that deliver social and affordable housing nationwide against a backdrop of significant unmet housing demand. We are unlocking an asset class that provides pension investors to access and support the property market in a more secured and conservative way. We are working with our Advisor Network to promote responsible financial inclusion.”
Sinead Byrne, COO, Initiative Ireland said,
“When managed carefully, co-funded secured property loans offer clients a way to earn compelling returns but also help address the significant shortfall in the housing market. Last year there was a 48% shortfall in housing supply. The true housing shortfall is understated, due to a mismatch in the affordability of supply, with many Irish families locked-out of the market due to a lack of new affordable housing stock. That’s why we focus on financing social and affordable housing schemes on behalf of our Impact Investor Community.”
“At a time when many investments have suffered from significant volatility, our projects have been able to remain active and benefited from significant collateral cover to protect our community. We manage loans from end-to-end, taking an active approach to safeguard our clients. We’re conservative and innovative and it is great for that work to be recognised on an industry level,” she added.
The Irish Pensions Awards are now in their 9th year and among the other companies announced as 2020 Award winners, across over twenty Award categories were, Aviva, KBC, Mercer and Irish Life.
The full list of 2020 Irish Pension Awards winners is available via: https://www.europeanpensions.