Family Wealth Report, By Elaine Chavagnon
June 28, 2012
A new SEC-registered asset management firm called Sonen Capital, dedicated to “impact investing” for family offices and private wealth managers, has launched in San Francisco, CA, with affiliates in New York City, Boston, MA, and London.
Sonen defines impact investing as the ability to achieve financial returns with “meaningful social and/or environmental” impact.
Examples of Sonen impact investment themes include: water, energy and resources, climate change, sustainable development and agriculture, poverty alleviation, education, and healthcare. These are available across a range of asset classes such as cash/cash alternative, fixed income, public equity, hedge funds, private equity, real estate, commodities and real assets.
At present, Sonen has $125 million in AuM and impact mandates. Its team consists of: Raúl Pomares, senior managing director; Stuart Davidson, senior managing director; Tom Bird, managing director; Anne Stetson, senior strategist; Julia Sze, managing director; Nicholas Koukopoulos, managing director; Martin Whittaker, managing director; Will Morgan, director; and associate directors Amando Balbuena, Brandy Wilson and Elena Pons.
Prior to forming Sonen, Pomares, Koukopolous, Stetson and Whittaker worked together at Springcreek Advisors to evaluate, execute and manage impact allocations.
Impact investing
The impact investment market is “large and growing,” the firm said, with assets under management in policies seeking to incorporate impact criteria estimated at between $2 and 3 trillion worldwide. Looking ahead, the firm says satisfying investor demand for impact solutions is projected to represent 15 to 20 percent of the $26.5 trillion total global AuM by 2015.
This coincides with findings from a new Calvert Foundation report, highlighting that the majority of advisors believe offering sustainable and impact investing services to clients could be a way of growing their businesses. The findings of the survey, Gateways to Impact, would benefit the sustainable community if borne out, as it found that 72 per cent of advisors would be willing to recommend sustainable investments to around one-third of their clients (the full article related to the survey can be viewed here).
See full article at Family Wealth Report.
