Sir Ronald Cohen, an Egyptian-born refugee, co-founded Apax Partners in 1972 and built it into a firm managing over 50 billion dollars before inventing the social impact bond.
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Sir Ronald Cohen, born in Egypt to a Jewish family that fled to Britain, co-founded Apax Partners in 1972 and built it into one of Europe's largest private equity firms, investing over 12 billion euros across more than 500 deals before he retired in 2005. He then created the social impact bond, a financing tool now used across 17 countries, and today chairs the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment.
Who Is Ronald Cohen?
Ronald Cohen is a British venture capital pioneer widely credited with founding Europe's private equity industry, who later devoted his career to inventing financial mechanisms that direct capital toward social problems.
At a Glance
| Birthplace | Egypt, to a Jewish family that emigrated to the United Kingdom as conditions for Jews in Egypt deteriorated |
| Education | Oxford University, where he was President of the Oxford Union; MBA from Harvard Business School |
| Apax Partners | Co-founded 1972; served as Executive Chairman until retiring in 2005. Apax today manages more than 50 billion dollars in assets |
| Social Impact Bond | Devised in 2010 at the request of the UK Treasury; the first bond reduced reoffending rates by 9.7 percent while delivering a 3.1 percent annual investor return |
| Current roles | Chairman, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment; Chairman, The Portland Trust; co-founder, Social Finance UK, US and Israel |
| Author | Wrote the bestselling book Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, published 2020 |
| Recognition | Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Award, 2012; often called the father of British venture capital and the father of social investment |
How Did Ronald Cohen Build Apax Partners?
Cohen was born in Egypt to a Jewish family that left the country as antisemitism intensified around Israel's founding. After earning an MBA at Harvard Business School and working at McKinsey, Cohen co-founded Apax Partners in 1972 while still in his mid-twenties, at a time when venture capital as a concept barely existed in Europe. Early backers were scarce and half of Cohen's original partners left the firm before it found its footing in the mid-1970s.
Over the following three decades, Apax grew into the United Kingdom's leading venture capital and then private equity firm, investing more than 12 billion euros across over 500 deals by the time Cohen retired as Executive Chairman in 2005. He was a founding director of the British Venture Capital Association and the European Venture Capital Association, and a founder and former Vice-Chairman of EASDAQ, the pan-European stock exchange for growth companies.
How Did Ronald Cohen Invent the Social Impact Bond?
In 2000, then-UK Chancellor Gordon Brown asked Cohen to find market-based solutions to poverty. Cohen devised the Social Impact Bond, a financial instrument in which private investors fund a social program and receive a return only if the program hits measurable outcomes. The first bond, launched in 2010 with 5 million pounds from private investors, targeted reoffending rates among young offenders and cut them by 9.7 percent while delivering a 3.1 percent annual return. The model has since spread to 17 countries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ronald Cohen?
Ronald Cohen is a British private equity pioneer who co-founded Apax Partners in 1972 and later invented the social impact bond, a financing tool that ties investor returns to measurable social outcomes.
What is Apax Partners?
Apax Partners is a global private equity firm Cohen co-founded in 1972 and led until 2005, growing it into one of Europe's largest venture capital and private equity investors, now managing more than 50 billion dollars.
What is a social impact bond?
A social impact bond is a financing structure Cohen developed in 2010 in which private investors fund a social program upfront and are repaid, with a return, only if the program achieves agreed measurable outcomes.
Where was Ronald Cohen born?
Ronald Cohen was born in Egypt to a Jewish family that emigrated to the United Kingdom as conditions for Jews in Egypt worsened following Israel's founding.
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מי הוא סר רונלד כהן?
סר רונלד כהן, יליד מצרים למשפחה יהודית שנמלטה לבריטניה, ייסד ב-1972 את Apax Partners והפך אותה לאחת מחברות הפרייבט אקוויטי הגדולות באירופה. לאחר פרישתו ב-2005 המציא את איגרת ההשפעה החברתית (Social Impact Bond), כלי מימון המקשר תשואת משקיעים לתוצאות חברתיות מדידות, המשמש כיום ב-17 מדינות.
The Olam Editorial Team | The Builders / הבונים