NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In response to accelerating institutional demand, three distinguished leaders in financial services and impact investing announced the launch of Tideline, a consulting firm designed to provide tailored advice to clients developing impact investment strategies and solutions.
Christina Leijonhufvud, creator and former head of J.P. Morgan’s Social Finance business, Ben Thornley, former head of the global research and consulting practice at Pacific Community Ventures, and Kim Wright-Violich, former CEO of Schwab Charitable, have joined forces to help institutional clients take advantage of new opportunities in program and product development.
“We have witnessed a significant shift in institutional interest in impact investing over the past few years, as managers have established track records of success and more investment options have become available,” said Kim Wright-Violich, Tideline Managing Partner. “Non-conflicted, actionable advice on impact investing is needed now more than ever.”
In the US alone, sustainable, responsible and impact investing grew 76% in just two years, from $3.74 trillion at the beginning of 2012 to $6.57 trillion at the start of 20141, as more individuals and institutions seek to align their financial return goals with their social and environmental objectives.
Tideline is already helping institutional clients develop and fine-tune their impact investment strategies and products by providing strategic advice and planning, investment program and product design, market research and intelligence, and impact measurement and evaluation.
Daniel F. Sheehy, President and CEO of Impact Community Capital (ICC), praised Tideline for its exceptional work charting a product-driven strategic direction for the company. “Tideline’s charge was to provide guidance as to how Impact could build on its successful legacy of providing institutional investors access to the US affordable housing market at scale. The Tideline team adroitly fashioned a strategic growth pathway based upon sophisticated financial models, and complemented with an accommodating, functional governance structure,” Sheehy said.
Among other clients, Tideline has helped focus the Ford Foundation’s impact investing efforts and designed the organizational and grants strategy for a new philanthropy created by a Giving Pledge signer.
“Tideline was tasked with recommending a handful of market sectors most aligned with the strategic objectives of our Program Related Investments, starting with a universe of over 30 sectors,” Xavier Briggs, Vice President at the Ford Foundation. “Their work was superb — insightful, creative, well attuned to our varied needs and capabilities. They helped position us incredibly well to move on to implementation.”
About Tideline
Tideline is a consulting firm that provides tailored advice to clients developing impact investment strategies, products and solutions. The firm has offices in New York and San Francisco.
About Tideline’s Managing Partners
Christina Leijonhufvud, Managing Partner: With over 20 years of experience in investment banking, impact investing, risk management and international development, Christina created and led J.P. Morgan’s Social Finance business prior to co-founding Tideline, elevating impact investment as a credible new approach for private and institutional investors.
Ben Thornley, Managing Partner: Ben led the global research and consulting practice at Pacific Community Ventures prior to co-founding Tideline, advising some of the largest financial and philanthropic institutions in the US, including the $300 billion California Public Employees Retirement System. Ben was invited to make the first expert presentation to the G8 Social Impact Investment Taskforce in 2013, at the White House, and is a co-author of The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism (Jossey-Bass, 2015).
Kim Wright-Violich, Managing Partner: Kim is a leader in strategic philanthropy and impact investing and formerly CEO of Schwab Charitable, where she grew the organization from a start-up to $5 billion in contributed assets. Kim pioneered the ability of independent Registered Investment Advisors to manage assets in donor advised funds, systems to monitor their investment performance, as well as impact investing innovations such as launching the first ever guarantees for social impact financing utilizing donor advised fund assets.
For more information, visit www.tideline.com or contact Monique Aiken ([email protected] or (201) 320-8385).
1 US SIF Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends, 2014.
CONTACT: Sean Logue
[email protected]
(201) 956-1051