Endowments (Equity Funds)
Levisky Legado has become an advocate for endowments. Together with partners such as the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), it has organized the International Forum on Legacy Endowments – a relationship and communications platform that offers manuals and a book to support the industry – and has also contributed towards the enactment of Law 13,800/19, the regulatory framework on endowments.
Learn about the history of the International Forum of Endowments through this video that highlights the event latest edition
Working alongside several civil society institutions, Levisky Legado has closely followed the financial sustainability challenge that surrounds the sector. There are several examples of entities that, in one year, manage to mobilize bulky resources and, in the following year, need to start the fundraising cycle practically from scratch, making it difficult to have medium-long-term planning and threatening the perpetuity of these organizations.
In this context, Levisky conceived the International Forum of Endowments for Legacies in 2016, aiming at reverberating good financial sustainability practices, starting with Endowments (Equity Funds). The initiative is supported by the Institute for the Development of Social Investment (IDIS), strategic support from PLKC Advogados, sponsorship from BNDES and support from Caixa.
Since then, the Forum has already helped to place Endowments on the agenda of the major Brazilian institutions, public authorities and investors, influencing debates and initiatives such as the Provisional Measure signed in 2018 that led up to the Endowments Law, sanctioned in January 2019. A great achievement for everyone!
What are Endowments
Endowments – or Equity Funds – are financial structures designed to gather donations from individuals and companies, which serve as a predictable and perennial source of resources for the beneficiary institutions, since they bring on financial income from the funds directed to the endowment.
Unlike an investment fund or a reserve fund, most Endowments arise under the obligation to perpetually preserve the amount donated, and entities can use the fund's income to maintain or expand their activities, according to agreed rules. Thus, they offer protection against inefficient or disorganized use of resources.
Experience shows that, in addition to financial sustainability, the adoption of Endowments contributes to the maturation of institutions, since it requires the structuring of solid governance, with a long-term vision. This creates a safer environment for investors as well, encouraging the obtainment of new sources of revenue.
