A Capital Market for Cooperatives and Mutuals

A Cooperative Stock Exchange

Coop Exchange is building a global network of cooperative stock exchanges, an international platform for raising capital and trading financial instruments rooted in the cooperative and mutual sector. This platform enables institutions—and, subject to regulatory approval, individuals—to invest in cooperative financial instruments. It is designed to uphold cooperative values and principles, ensuring investments align with these ideals while safeguarding coops against liquidity risk. Together, we're turning capital into a force for good – where capital empowers people, rather than people empowering capital.

Global Reach and Accessibility

Coop Exchange aims to revolutionise how cooperatives access capital by offering a global platform for raising funds. This initiative will enable cooperatives worldwide to connect with a broader investor base, fostering international investment and cooperation. By breaking down geographical barriers, the platform significantly expands opportunities for growth and development within the cooperative sector.

Adherence to Cooperative Principles

The core of Coop Exchange's mission is to ensure that cooperatives can engage in capital raising and trading without compromising their values. The platform is designed to align financial activities with the cooperative principles, ensuring integrity, member control, and mutual benefit. This commitment protects the unique identity and values of cooperatives in the global market.

Our Mission and Vision

Our vision is of a future where Coop Exchange will accelerate the move to an increasing number of publicly owned enterprises operating on cooperative principles because our platform and processes will reduce the cost of doing so – technology costs, regulatory costs and compliance while at the same time not losing sight of those cooperative values and principles which serve our communites and planet. We see demand for publicly owned organisations increasing as sustainable investing using ESG criteria becomes the dominant paradigm – the ‘S’ for social and ‘G’ for governance fits better within member-owned cooperatives. Similarly, we expect increased demand from certain demographics (for example, future generations) for funds (through their pension, or otherwise) that contribute to reducing wealth inequality, leading to the majority of investment money flowing into funds that invest in sustainable, purpose-orientated organisations, like cooperatives.

Our Mission

To be a global platform coop that aims to address wealth inequality by: growing the cooperative economy by providing coops with access to new sources of capital; and by enabling everyone to invest in tradable coop shares.

Increased demand from the public

Last year, the Co-operators polled to find over 60% of [their] market is interested in aligning their investments with their values. Victor van Hoorn, Executive Director of Eurosif, the association that promotes sustainable investment across Europe, says that, "every single survey of retail investors reports their desire to see their savings invested in a way that aligns with their values, and that is particularly true among younger investors."

A larger pool of sustainable businesses to invest in

The current paradigm where just 0.08% of all (for profit) businesses are publicly owned is on the cusp of change and Coop Exchange is perfectly placed to drive that change. We see a future where more private businesses use a conversion to coop as an exit strategy, thereby offering a substantially greater number of investable businesses for sustainable fund managers.

Impact Investing

This new paradigm goes hand in hand with a new focus on impact investing and a need to recalibrate how businesses operate to meet increased global challenges. These new challenges call for new and innovative solutions to help meet them. For example, the World Bank states that “According to our estimates, 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, which makes SME development a high priority for many governments around the world” . While some estimate that a new USD 3.5 trillion economy is needed by 2050 in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. While there may be room to debate when exactly this change will fully materialise, that this change is coming is, in our view, inevitable – the scale of the current global problems require bold and ambitious solutions of the type of Coop Exchange.