iConnections, the industry-leading platform and community that connects investment managers and allocators, has announced the mental health charities that it will be supporting as part of its month-long Funds4Minds fundraising initiative in May.
They include: Batryr, an Australian preventative mental health charity for young people; Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, an organisation that awards research grants to scientists looking to alleviate the suffering caused by mental health issues; Jed Foundation, a charity supporting teenagers and young adults through protecting emotional health and suicide prevention in the US; Mental Health Innovations, a UK-based charity supported by the Royal Foundation which uses digital innovation to help people talk about mental health; NAMI NYC, a grassroots mental health organisation dedicated to improving the lives of Americans affected by mental illness; and Shatterproof, a non-profit organisation dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the US.
Throughout May, iConnections will raise money for the charities by facilitating a series of private capital introduction meetings between alternative investment managers and allocators, donating $100 to selected mental health charities for every meeting that takes place.
With two weeks to go until the start of the fundraising initiative, Funds4Minds has already confirmed 2,000 pledges by some of the biggest names in the alternative investment industry – and 350 allocators, responsible for over $20 trillion in assets, participating.
Ron Biscardi, CEO of iConnections, said: “Working with the iConnections community we have carefully chosen to raise money for charities supporting a range of mental health issues across society – from helping young people, tackling addiction and funding scientific research. We are hoping to replicate the success of our Funds4Food initiative last year which raised over $1.9m for Covid-19 hunger relief efforts and are proud to be bringing together the alternative investment industry once again to tackle a critical issue that impacts so many.”
iConnections has also announced the members of the Funds4Minds committee, co-chaired by Kate Reid of Longdean Capital and Alison Young of RWB Strategies.
Allocators on the committee include Benoit Ramsay of Cambridge University, Lauren Jacobson of Columbia University and David Ames of Kamehameha Schools – while managers include Laurie Katz of GoldenTree and Nathan Romano of York Capital, as well as Rahul Moodgal, Advisory Board member of iConnections who joins the committee as an observer.
Funds4Minds will bring together top allocators and managers from across the alternative investment industry including Aberdeen Standard Investments; Aksia; Bessemer Trust; Cambridge University; Carnegie Corporation of New York; Columbia Investment Management Company; Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Forbes Family Trust; ICG Advisors; Kamehameha Schools; Mercer Investments; Millennium Management; Oppenheimer; PAAMCO Prisma; Perella Weinberg; SB Capital Partners; Stanford University; Stable Asset Management; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; The J. Paul Getty Trust; Titan Advisors; Willis Towers Watson; UBS Wealth Management and many more.
The iConnections platform is a software that seamlessly connects managers and allocators for virtual meetings, giving managers the ability to subscribe and share information with allocators who can efficiently select and meet managers all on one platform.
Funds4Minds is sponsored by many leading organisations in the alternative investment industry, including: Bloomberg, BTIG, Citco, Haynes Boone, Jefferies, Prosek Partners, TD Securities , Cowen, WithumSmith+Brown, Agile Fund Solutions, Align, Berkower, BNY Mellon Pershing, Cohn Reznick, EisnerAmper, Evestment, KPMG, Lombard International, MS Howells & Co, Mainstream Fund Services, Marcum LLP, MUFG Investor Services, Opus Fund Services, Prager Metis, Sali Fund Services, StoneX Prime, TriNet, Typhon Capital Management, Weaver and UMB Fund Services.
