Private-credit entrepreneur Damien Dwin has scored a pile of cash from Wall Street for his new social justice–driven investment firm, Lafayette Square Holding.
Morgan Stanley just became the effort’s largest backer, providing $100 million of financing that will help the firm expand from 17 employees to 65 by next year, according to Bloomberg.
The minority-owned Lafayette — named after the square that President Donald Trump cleared of police–brutality protesters for a photo op last year — will focus on flexible capital investments in sustainable housing and small businesses. It launched late last year.
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Dwin, who co-founded private credit firm Brightwood Capital Advisors and has worked at Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., will serve as chief executive officer.
“The onset of the pandemic and social unrest has elevated ESG in the conversation, and it is my hope and expectation that we will move from rhetoric to action,” Dwin told Bloomberg, referring to environmental, social and corporate governance. “This is personal and professional.”
Sustainable housing, loosely defined, is designed to be eco-friendly and affordable.
[Bloomberg] — Sasha Jones