Portfolios with Purpose

Last updated
Portfolios with Purpose
AbbreviationPwP
Formation2011
TypeFoundation
Legal statusNon-Profit Organization
PurposeHumanitarian Aid
Location
  • 295 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor
    New York, NY 10017
    1-855-JOIN-PWP (564-6797) [1]
Executive Director
Brett Waikart
Main organ
Board of Directors
Staff
No salaried employees; volunteers only
Website portfolioswithpurpose.org

Portfolios with Purpose ("PwP") was a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization [2] founded in 2011. [3] It was a fantasy stock selection competition similar to fantasy football, but with all of the collected funds going to charity. [4] [5] [6] [7] The contestants with the top-performing portfolios over a 12-month period directed the sum total of the collected entry-fees to the charitable cause of their choice. Competitions were broken up into the following categories: Novice, Professional and Master.

Contents

Novice: Open to the general public. $100 entry fee.

Professional: Open to those in finance, as well as past Novice winners. $1,000 entry fee.

Master: Open to hedge fund managers and those of similar experience, as well as past Professional winners. $10,000 entry fee.

Those who won the Novice category often had the opportunity to meet with a member of the Master class. [2] [5] [6]

A standout performer in this competition was Andy Nahas, who won the Professional competition in 2013, directing $33,000 to the Monroe Community Hospital, and placed 2nd in the Master competition in 2015, directing $56,250 to Reality Changers. [8]

Operations

Portfolios with Purpose was an all-volunteer, non-profit organization overseen by a board of directors. Competitor stock portfolios were tracked, and progress was calculated daily. The contest's financial audits were prepared by Deloitte, and player's entry-fees were held in escrow at JPMorgan Chase. [9] 100% of entry-fees net of credit card service charges were donated to the top 3 competitors' chosen charitable causes. [5] [6]

Senior Management

Brett Waikart was the last Executive Director and President. [10]

Former executives included Stacey Asher-Duran (Founding President), Joshua Williams (COO), Gabriel Pinar (COO), Christopher Pascale (CFO) and Jonathan Brand (CFO).

Media Coverage

After a year-long trial period, the public announcement of Portfolios with Purpose was conducted on June 20, 2012. [11]

On September 6, 2012 Portfolios with Purpose announced the start of public registration, and the participation of several major hedge fund players: David Einhorn, Dan Loeb, Leon Cooperman, and Karen Finerman on the CNBC Fast Money Halftime Report. [12]

Asher's professional background and the history of the formation of Portfolios with Purpose is detailed along with other notable public figures in Forbes Magazine on December 1, 2012. [3]

On December 19, 2013 Portfolios with Purpose announced the official launch of the 2014 Contest Year with several participating philanthropists. [13] The Giving Pledge signatory Leon Cooperman, and Robin Hood Foundation board member David Einhorn [13] both founding Portfolios with Purpose members announced their return to the contest. As well as James Dinan, [2] Marc Lasry, Richard Pzena, and Doug Silverman. [4]

History

Portfolios with Purpose hosted its first stock picking contest for charity in 2013. 50 friends and family played the year-long contest of building a fantasy stock portfolio and selecting a charity to represent. Following the initial game's proof of concept, involvement and media attention increased. [14] A board of directors headed up by Alexander Duran, and executive team was formed with Stacey Asher as President, Joshua Williams as COO, and Christopher Pascale as CFO. [15] By 2017, over $2,000,000 was given to multiple organizations in more than 10 countries.

Following the founding board and executives' departures between 2015-2017, the organization changed directions. According to its website, the "game" is no longer being played, [16] and outreach has also ceased. [17]

Related Research Articles

A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

Alfred Winslow Jones was an American investor, hedge fund manager, and sociologist. He is credited with forming the first modern hedge fund and is widely regarded as the "father of the hedge fund industry."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citadel LLC</span> American hedge fund and financial services provider

Citadel LLC is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Ken Griffin, it has more than $63 billion in assets under management as of June 2024. The company has over 2,800 employees, with corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Founder, CEO and Co-CIO Griffin owns approximately 85% of the firm. As of December 2022, Citadel is one of the most profitable hedge funds in the world, posting $74 billion in net gains since its inception in 1990, making it the most successful hedge fund in history, according to CNBC.

Joel Greenblatt is an American academic, hedge fund manager, investor, and writer. He is a value investor, alumnus of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He runs Gotham Asset Management with his partner, Robert Goldstein. He is the former chairman of the board of Alliant Techsystems (1994–1995) and founder of the New York Securities Auction Corporation. He was a director at Pzena Investment Management, a firm specializing in value investing and asset management for high net worth clients.

David M. Einhorn is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and amateur poker player. He is the founder and president of Greenlight Capital, a "long-short value-oriented hedge fund".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Dalio</span> American investor and hedge fund manager (born 1949)

Raymond Thomas Dalio is an American investor and hedge fund manager, who has served as co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, since 1985. He founded Bridgewater in 1975 in New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlight Capital</span> American hedge fund

Greenlight Capital is an American hedge fund founded in 1996 by David Einhorn. Greenlight invests primarily in publicly traded North American corporate debt offerings and equities. Greenlight is most notable for its short selling of Lehman stock prior to Lehman Brothers' collapse in 2008 and the $11 million fine they received in January 2012 for insider trading in the UK. Einhorn remains the fund's manager.

The Sohn Conference Foundation was founded in 2006 to raise money to support medical research, the development of research equipment, and programs to help children with cancer and other childhood illnesses. As of 2018 more than $85 million has been raised. The Sohn Conference was founded in 1995 in memory of Ira Sohn, a Wall Street professional, who died of cancer at the age of 29. At that time the conference raised money for Tomorrow's Children's Fund. The foundation has 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Marc Lasry is a Moroccan American billionaire businessman and private equity manager. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Avenue Capital Group. He was a co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks basketball team from 2014 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Spitznagel</span> American investor and hedge fund manager (born 1971)

Mark Spitznagel is an American investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder, owner, and chief investment officer of Universa Investments, a hedge fund management firm based in Miami, Florida.

Elliott Investment Management L.P. is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist funds in the world.

Leon G. Cooperman is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He is the chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, a New York-based investment advisory firm managing over $3.3 billion in assets under management, the majority consisting of his personal wealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SumZero</span> Financial service company

SumZero is an online community for professional investors, which hosts investment research, job opportunities, and capital introduction services. Buyside professionals are granted membership per an application, where they must be on the research team at a hedge fund, mutual fund, private equity fund, or investment banking proprietary trading desk. SumZero is a closed, application-based community, which currently has over 16,000 buyside members and over 60,000 'Basic' users. Roughly 75% of buyside applicants for membership are rejected. Members gain access to SumZero's Research platform and approximately 12,000 long-form theses on publicly traded securities. SumZero's ancillary products include Cap Intro and Job Vault.

Larry Robbins is an American hedge fund manager and philanthropist. He is the chief executive of Glenview Capital Management, a hedge fund with approximately $7.7 billion of capital under management as of March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinay Nair</span>

Vinay Nair is a serial entrepreneur and academic. He is involved as an advisor or board member in several companies in financial services, across investment management, venture capital and fintech. He is the founder and chairman of TIFIN, an AI platform to create and manage a portfolio of fintech brands and companies in areas of wealth management and asset management, as well as founder and chairman of 55ip, a fintech firm with offices in Boston and Mumbai, India that was acquired by J.P.Morgan. Nair was a visiting professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he taught Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital and Private Equity. He is also on the board of the Center for Leadership at University of Colorado, Boulder and Endeavor Colorado to support entrepreneurship in the region.

Omaze is a for-profit fundraising company that partners with charities in fundraising events. To enter the draw for the prizes, financial contributions were encouraged, with 15% to 60% of the money going to the partner charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles J. Gradante</span>

Charles J. Gradante is an Italian-American businessman in the hedge fund industry, appearing on television and before the United States Congress in that role. Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute's PensionDaily.com called Gradante "one of Wall Street's most sought after opinion leaders" for financial and economic areas. Gradante is known as one of the first hedge fund industry executives to spark a legendary debate about the risk of hedge funds growing too large rather than focusing on finding investments where they have a competitive edge; he most recently discussed the issue at a conference hosted by The Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association that was covered by Yahoo Finance and CorpGov.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melvin Capital</span> American investment management firm

Melvin Capital Management LP was an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, who named the firm after his late grandfather.

Hometown International was an American holding company, best known for operating Your Hometown Deli, a delicatessen in Paulsboro, New Jersey. It attracted attention in 2021 for having a market capitalization of over US$100 million despite the deli having annual sales of only about $25,000. The company changed its name to Makamer Holdings after merging with Makamer, a bioplastics startup, although the stock continues to trade as Hometown International, Inc. The deli closed on June 19, 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us". Portfolios with Purpose. Portfolios with Purpose. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Russolillo, Steven (5 November 2013). "Portfolios With Purpose: Stock Picking for a Cause". WSJ. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 Ziegler, Maseena (1 December 2012). "When Quitting Is Not An Option - How You Can Find Purpose And Fulfillment Through Your Career". Forbes. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Scene Last Night: Stock Pickers Ready for Charity Contest". BloombergLuxury. Bloomberg. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Contest". Portfolios with Purpose. Portfolios with Purpose. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Williamson, Christine (23 July 2012). "Stock-picking competition all for a good cause". Pension Investments. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Chen, Jing (29 June 2012). "Hedge Fund-Backed Charity 'Stocks Up' for Good Cause". eVestment Alliance. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  8. ↑ Portfolios with Purpose. "Andy Nahas".
  9. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". Portfolios with Purpose. Portfolios with Purpose. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Beta Alpha Psi". Beta Alpha Psi. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  11. ↑ "PwP Tests Your Investing Acumen, All In The Name Of Charity". FINAlternatives. FINAlternatives. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "CNBC". CNBC Video Archive. CNBC Video Archive. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Trading for Charity". CNBC. CNBC. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "Contributing to Communities". thehedgefundjournal.com. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  15. ↑ Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon (2013-05-09). "Portfolios With Purpose Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-10-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Portfolios With Purpose | Play" . Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  17. ↑ "Portfolios With Purpose | Charity Spotlight" . Retrieved 2024-10-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.