SDS Capital Group

08/18/2026

$1.3 billion in active assets under management. Six fund and product strategies. One vision, held since 2001: engaging the private sector in the battle against poverty.

Deborah La Franchi founded SDS Capital Group to do exactly that.
Each fund on the SDS platform serves a different geography with a different investment strategy.

Each either targets a risk-adjusted rate of return or provides capital below market cost. Ms. La Franchi structures every fund's strategy, leads the fundraising, oversees the senior managers, and sits on every investment committee.

Her core role: making sure each fund is supported by a team with the expertise to execute its specific strategy.

Meet the management team behind 25 years of impact: https://sds.capital/team/

08/12/2026

The team is growing: We’re excited to share that Raphee Obong has joined SDS Capital Group full time as a Staff Accountant!

After beginning with SDS as an accounting intern, Raphee now supports our accounting team under Gail Escurdero’s leadership, contributing to the financial reporting, reconciliations, and internal controls that help guide sound decision-making across our work.

As we continue to deploy capital into affordable housing and community-focused investments, strong accounting systems remain essential to supporting both performance and impact.

Welcome, Raphee. We’re thrilled to have you growing with us!

08/10/2026

Proud to announce National New Markets Fund’s latest investment: $18M in New Markets Tax Credit allocation to support Barnwell Tissue Solutions’ acquisition and renovation of a shuttered manufacturing facility in Barnwell, SC.

The investment helps a formerly shuttered 300,000-square-foot tissue mill return to full capacity, creating 90 full-time jobs.

For a rural community where the poverty rate exceeds 35%, restoring manufacturing employment is an important step toward long-term economic stability.

“Projects like this, where a shuttered plant is brought back to life, demonstrate the power of the NMTC program to strengthen local economies and provide accessible, quality employment.” — Deborah La Franchi, President, National New Markets Fund.ç
See the full press release: https://sds.capital/shuttered-barnwell-county-mill-set-to-reopen-following-18-million-in-new-markets-tax-credit-financing/

08/05/2026

Revisiting a piece that's only become more relevant: In her Pensions & Investments commentary, Deborah La Franchi, SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO, examined how affordable housing has shifted from being viewed as a mission-driven outlier to a strategy increasingly recognized by institutional investors.

What's driving the shift?

Stronger performance data, sustained demand, and a growing ecosystem of specialized managers in the affordable and workforce housing space, giving investors the track record and clarity that didn't exist years ago.

See why institutional capital is finally paying attention: https://sds.capital/deborah-la-franchi-for-pi-why-you-should-invest-in-affordable-housing/

Pensions & Investments magazine publishes SDS Founder & CEO Deborah La Franchi's thought piece on affordable housing as an investment strategy

07/28/2026

In case you missed it: National New Markets Fund (NNMF) recently invested $20M through the New Markets Tax Credit program to help modernize American Cast Iron Pipe Company's (ACIPCO) manufacturing operations in Birmingham, AL.

Founded in 1905 and employee-owned for over a century, ACIPCO has been an economic anchor in its community for generations, and this investment helps secure the quality jobs and local impact that come with its next chapter of growth.

That's the power of NMTCs in action.

See the full press release: https://sds.capital/national-new-markets-fund-invests-20-million-in-new-markets-tax-credit-financing-to-support-upgrade-of-american-cast-iron-pipe-company-manufacturing-operations-in-birmingham-al/

07/23/2026

In AFIRE Journal, SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO Deborah La Franchi examines why affordable housing deserves greater attention from institutional investors.

Her analysis highlights several structural advantages:

▪ A persistent shortage of nearly 7 million affordable homes, with affordable construction projected to decline 40% through 2029.

▪ Counter-cyclical demand that has historically helped affordable housing remain resilient during economic downturns.

▪ Private capital can move in weeks, not years, helping close financing gaps as public funding becomes more constrained.

▪ Over the past 16 years, affordable housing has outperformed the least affordable multifamily properties by 239 basis points annually (6.54% vs. 4.15%, based on Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) research using NCREIF data).

As supply continues to tighten, the investment case - and the opportunity for impact - only grows stronger.

Read Deborah's full article in the AFIRE Journal: https://sds.capital/afire-summit-journal-affordable-housing-as-an-investment-vehicle/

07/21/2026

What an honor!

We’re proud to announce that Deborah La Franchi, SDS Capital Group’s Founder & CEO, has been named a 2026 Woman of Influence in the Investment Professional/Owner category by Globe Street!

Ms. La Franchi’s recognition reflects her profound impact on the commercial real estate industry through innovative financial strategies, her relentless pursuit of excellence, and her commitment to driving social change.

See all the winners in CRE's Women of Influence, Class of 2026: https://www.globest.com/2026/04/13/our-women-of-influence-nominees-for-2026/

06/24/2026

A counterintuitive truth about affordable housing: demand for it rises with economic uncertainty, not against it.

When budgets tighten, families seek stability and lower rents. Newly constructed units lease up before construction is even complete, waitlists form, and tenants rarely leave given the scarcity of alternatives. The result is consistently low vacancy and a return profile less correlated to the macro economy than most real estate.

That resilience is why institutional investors are revisiting affordable housing as a serious niche allocation - one that meets a critical social need and performs.

SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO, Deborah La Franchi, makes the full case in her article for AFIRE: https://sds.capital/afire-summit-journal-affordable-housing-as-an-investment-vehicle/

06/15/2026

Featured in National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS): SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO, Deborah La Franchi, breaks down why affordable housing is emerging as one of the most resilient strategies for pension funds navigating volatility, and why the window to act is narrowing.

Pension funds have long considered affordable housing as a charitable play. The data tells a different story.

A 16-year PREA study found that affordable properties outperformed higher-income ones by 239 basis points annually - not because of luck, but because of structural demand that doesn't disappear when markets get rough.

With 7 million affordable housing units missing from the U.S. market and new supply projected to drop sharply through 2029, the fundamentals only get stronger.

Read the full article here: https://sds.capital/ncpers-persist-safeguarding-pension-assets-through-affordable-housing/

Deborah La Franchi writes about the value of affordable housing as an investment strategy in the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) Quarterly Education Journal

06/10/2026

Did you know that affordable housing has outperformed higher-income multifamily by 239 basis points over the past 16 years - delivering stronger risk-adjusted returns than conventional market-rate apartments?

That finding from a 2024 Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) study covering Q1 2008 through Q1 2024, challenges a longstanding misconception among institutional investors: that affordable housing cannot generate alpha.

The fundamentals explain why. A 7-million-unit shortage of affordable housing in the US - and growing - drives consistently lower vacancy, reduced tenant turnover, and resilience across economic cycles.

In her latest article for AFIRE's Summit Journal, SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO, Deborah La Franchi, unpacks the economic and demographic forces reshaping this asset class, and why private capital is increasingly viewed as a strategic, resilient, and diversifying allocation.

Read the full piece: https://www.afire.org/summit/beyondmotivation/