Diverse Managers

We are a nonprofit based in Colorado with employees across the United States who are dedicated to delivering world-class education and expert advisory services.

What We’re Doing

The Colorado Health Foundation and Impact Finance Center Want More Investments With Diverse Asset Managers… But, We Need Your Help

Why Diverse Managers Matter

“Because we believe it is a performance imperative. As the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse and international markets become more accessible to investors, firms employing individuals with varied backgrounds will have a competitive advantage in understanding the nuances of investing opportunities.”

Kim Lew, CIO and Alisa Mall, Director of hte Carnegie Corporation of New York on why Carnegie is investing in diverse managers from a Knight Foundation 2020 report

The Idea

A membership organization that provides shared due diligence on emerging diverse asset managers. This model would facilitate greater investment into diverse managers with $10M – $500M Assets Under Management while reducing the friction for the asset owners and the fund managers.

The Survey

Before creating the organization, we will conduct a survey to identify asset owners who are interested in this idea and gauge the general guidelines within which such an organization would operate. This is not a commitment. We are specifically interested in gauging levels of AUM commitment, years to achieve AUM commitment, annual dues, and the availability of annual grants to asset managers to support due diligence.

We will report the results of the survey, anonymously, contact those who express interest in forming a working group, and keep in touch with those who are interested in joining the organization.

The Diverse Manager Database

Each asset owner would commit to invest a set amount of AUM into diverse managers and pay a nominal annual fee over a set number of years. The annual fee would pay for the organization to hire analysts to perform due diligence on some number of managers each year. The members would not be required to invest in any specific manager covered by the organization. Additionally, we are testing the feasibility of a sidecar grant fund to pay for the resources the diverse managers need to complete the kind of in-depth diligence many investors require.

Here’s The Problem

Asset owners with more than $50M–including foundations, family offices, companies, and high net worth individuals–who are deeply committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion have concluded that aligning the majority of their assets with their values is essential to achieving their goals.

However, there are several barriers that make this challenging.

Asset Owners Challenges

Small Investment Staff
Emerging Manager Databases that start at $500 million AUM
Lack of resources for emerging managers
Insufficient staff to conduct due diligence
Lack of commitment of philanthropic investments to improve technology & compliance systems
Outsourced CIOs or investment policy statements that restrict investments to those vetted by specific consultants and/or exclude emerging managers

Emerging Diverse Managers Challenges

Limited Resources
Lack of access to asset owners
Multiple sets of due diligence processes

How Can You Help?

Asset Owner?

Diverse Manager?

Supporter?

Steering Committee

NICOLE BAGLEY

The Sapelo Foundation

JENNIFER BARKSDALE

Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

CAROLYNN BEATTY

Sitka Foundation

BEN BYNUM

Colorado Health Foundation

MEKAELIA DAVIS

Ballmer Group

CAREY DOBBERTIN

Gary Community Ventures (Emeritus)

OLIVIA JEFFERSON

United HealthCare

NAJADA KUMBULI

Visa Foundation

LESLIE LINDO

Candide Group/The Olamina Fund

ANDY MCMAHON

United Health Care

SANTHOSH RAMDOSS

Gary Community Ventures

BAHIYAH ROBINSON

VC Include

CARLA FREDERICKS

The Christensen Fund

NOELLE ST. CLAIR

Woodforest National Bank

ERIKA SETH DAVIES

Racial Equity Asset Lab and Rhia Ventures

EMMA GOLDMAN

Goldman Family Office

GEORGE SUTTLES

Commonfund

Our List of Signatories

The following signatories express their support for the Impact Finance Center’s Diverse Managers Shared Due Diligence Research. We support studying the feasibility of a shared ownership due diligence database. We look forward to the study’s results and further work to pursue the goal of increasing the allocation of private and institutional investments into funds owned and managed by women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.

David Buchwald – Impact Investor
Eileen Ung – Calvert Impact Capital
Ricardo Rocha – Bondadosa
Molly Ross – Swift Wings Foundation
Alex Kramarchuk – Paradigm Alternative Investments LLC
William Huston – Bay Street Capital Holdings
Kyle Mylius – Humanize Wealth