Barbara Bowles

It is a privilege and an honor that our team has asked me to do a short video explaining to the outside world: Who we are, What we do, and How we do it.    www.cambridgewilkinson.com   Capitalize on Our Connections. #team #capitalraise #debt #equity #privatecredit #scale #privateequity #familyoffice #insurance #sovereigns #endowments #fundfinance #specialtyfinance #realestate #partnership #buyouts

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Last year we had the amazing opportunity to partner with Givinga, a corporate philanthropy platform, in order to provide them with access to impactful and return seeking investment opportunities. While Donor Advised Funds have been around for decades and continue to grow quickly as corporations and individuals develop their charitable strategies, there are many challenges for these investments at the current point in time: 1. The investment options continue to be incredibly limited for ultimate investors and are usually restricted to traditional markets. This makes little sense and is usually to the benefit of the platform provider instead of the corporation or individual. 2. Charitable giving is a one-time event that can have hard to define outcomes on specific issues. 3. There is limited reporting on outcomes. As such, we partnered to show that you can invest in opportunities providing specific impact on issue areas you care about, potentially grow that capital and have more to contribute to future impact investments and charities. Additionally, you can have detailed impact and financial reporting details to share with your employees or other stakeholders. In this case, the foundation invested in an affordable & workforce housing opportunity that seeks to partially alleviate the affordability crisis we are experiencing in the U.S. while also providing the potential for a better than market rate return on the investment. Excited to see how the market evolves in this space and the ability to more easily utilize these dollars for impactful projects in the future. Link to full case study in the comments section. If you want to learn more about opportunities in this space for your clients or corporation, please reach out to me or our team directly. #donoradvisedfunds #DAFs #philanthropy #financialplanning Notes: This was a test investment and is not actively available to all Givinga clients at the current point in time.

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The downgrade reflects Kohl's continued EBITDA declines. The declines signal that the company may not be able to successfully execute an operating strategy to profitably defend market share in the secularly challenged department store space. Fitch views flattish revenue and EBITDA in the medium term as Kohl's best-case scenario. The company's recently reduced 2024 guidance suggests a rebased EBITDA of around $1 billion, below the $1.2 billion in Fitch's prior forecast.

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While many participants have a solid understanding of some target date features, others may need some more education. Learn more about how participants are approaching TDFs. bit.ly/4a2nXO4.

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The gold rush into venture by 'tourist VC's' from 2018-2021 has created a massive liquidity mismatch between fund sponsors and their LPs. The managers are focused on vanity metrics such as MOIC while investors are hoping for liquidity. When your fees are a percentage of AUM, this creates a powerful incentive to push your head in the sand and hope fair value eventually catches up. I think Sara Ledterman is spot-on here. Accounting firms all over the world will be FORCING managers to take write downs over the next 12 to 18 months. Opportunistic buyers of these assets should be in a fantastic position to acquire early-stage equity in future unicorns at fire sale prices!

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📢 I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Lightful's Building Resilience Impact Report, alongside a campaign that’s all around #BuildingResilience of the nonprofit sector! 📢 As we wrapped up 2023, we initiated our first longitudinal study to gain deeper insights into the impact of our work over the last five years. The results are incredibly encouraging: 96% of nonprofits believe lessons learned from our BRIDGE programme have helped them have a positive impact on the communities they serve. You can read how we have been working with an amazing group of #funders and #nonprofits - and download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g4VkF3ie We know the world faces multiple crises in a rapidly evolving (digital) world. And yet... there are incredible nonprofits and civil society organisations building a better future for people and the planet. So I ask you to join us in our campaign towards #BuildingResilience of the nonprofit sector and work together towards our mission to empower nonprofits to create more equitable communities and a healthier planet. #nonprofits #charity #digital #ai #techforgood #philanthropy #impact

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Why does Employee Ownership work? Ellen Frank-Miller, PhD's recent Op-Ed at ImpactAlpha sums up the Employee Ownership "playbook" perfectly. And now that the top-secret EO "playbook" is out there, I might as well amplify Ellen's prescription for all to see: - Award meaningful ownership stakes to employees; - Transform operational practices to give employees more control over decisions that affect them and more autonomy to do their jobs the best way they know how; - Upskill frontline supervisors to help them manage their teams collaboratively and shed the command-and-control style that’s so counterproductive to achieving shared goals; - Activate the above-and-beyond employee behaviors that power better financial results; and - Enjoy superior returns for investors, wealth-building for employees, and all the community benefits that come from healthier businesses, workers, and families. Employee Ownership is nothing more but nothing less. This is the "playbook" that we are following at Southeast Acquisition Capital, along with a select few emerging and established managers, with surely many more to come. -- At its most basic level, employee equity is just a deal term or a part of an HR benefits package. True Employee Ownership happens when equity is paired with fundamental changes in the way that employee owners perceive their relationship to their employers (developing "organizational identification"), as well as changes to their actual work output (through a "social exchange obligation"). Or in non-academic terms, we refer to this simply as "employee owners thinking, acting, and feeling like owners." I've always said that I can't wait for the day that Southeast Acquisition Capital loses a deal to another firm pursuing Employee Ownership buyouts, because from then on we can just call them "buyouts", and Employee Ownership -- both the equity piece and the quality jobs piece -- will have truly become "market" and many more millions of employee owners will be better off for it. Thanks for the shout out, Ellen Frank-Miller, PhD, and I look forward to working more with the Ownership Impact Index by WORC (Workforce & Organizational Research Center)! Apis & Heritage Capital Partners KKR Ownership Works Mosaic Capital Partners Teamshares American Working Capital, LLC Verit Advisors https://lnkd.in/eremKFj5

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❗️Critical Compliance for Fund and Asset Manager Marketers: How do you stay compliant while implementing digital marketing and AI to elevate your fundraising? ➡️ Join us at the Revenue Revolution Symposium at the Questrom School of Business, Boston University to explore this and other critical business development issues in the digital age. 🎤 Featured Speaker: Derek Stern, Head of Global Distribution Compliance at Manulife Investment Management and John Hancock, and a panel of legal and compliance experts will provide crucial insights on navigating compliance in our online era: 1️⃣ Compliant Growth Strategies - Explore techniques to expand your digital presence and engage investors without crossing regulatory boundaries. 2️⃣ Surviving the New SEC Marketing Rule - Understand how to optimize your marketing strategies while complying with the latest regulations. 3️⃣ Thriving under multiple regulators - Learn how to grow your business while complying across multiple jurisdictions and regulations. 📍 Event Details: Join us on May 29, in Boston or online, for this groundbreaking symposium, sponsored by the Digital Business Institute BU. 📅 Act with Urgency: The regulatory landscape is swiftly evolving—stay ahead of the curve. Register now: https://lnkd.in/eYynjitW #DigitalMarketing #Compliance #AssetManagement #QuestromMeansBusiness #DigitalRevolution

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I talked to hundreds of potential LPs last year -- many of whom had never invested in emerging or frontier economies. I started to hear some of the same questions and so, last year, I wrote this post to address a few FAQs on "Investing in Africa." For a good number of the LPs in our African fintech fund, we are the very first investment they've made into Africa 😎. (no pressure!) Africa is the most diverse continent on the planet - culturally, ethnically, linguistically, and genetically. There is so much nuance, depth, and beauty. And opportunity -- for the right teams executing the right strategies in the right places. https://lnkd.in/gncNNbG6

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#Charlesbank Charlesbank Capital Partners, a middle-market private investment firm, announced today that it has successfully completed fundraising for Charlesbank Technology Opportunities Fund II. The Fund closed at its hard cap of $1.275bn of commitments from a diverse set of existing and new limited partners, surpassing its target of $1.1bn and initial hard cap of $1.2bn. TOF II is the successor fund to Charlesbank’s inaugural Technology Opportunities vehicle, which closed in 2020 with total limited partner commitments of approximately $700m. TOF I broadened the range of technology transactions Charlesbank pursues, giving it the flexibility to focus on smaller investments in high-growth companies. TOF I is fully invested across 12 platform transactions. TOF II will advance the team’s strategy of investing in lower middle-market technology-focused companies, looking to back innovative companies that have strong leaders, proven business models and predictable financial profiles. TOF II has strong momentum already, having completed four investments and deployed ~20% of total capital commitments. https://lnkd.in/dvx4Si4u

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Secondaries and structured liquidity solutions provide creative portfolio management tools for both sponsors and investors as they alleviate the duration mis-match problem particularly exacerbated by the sustained high base rate environment. 

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An important but counterintuitive truth: investment performance is NOT the top priority for most institutions! Chestnut's market research has been demonstrating this truth for over a decade. If you don't believe me or our research, please listen to this outtake of Teresa Araco Rodgers of The Presser Foundation on the Chestnut Solutions Institute's recent webinar, discussing several non-performance factors that are top of mind for her as Presser considers retaining its first OCIO. #OCIO #investmentsolutions #endowmentsandfoundations #nonprofits #investmentmanagement #assetmanagement #investmentconsulting

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On the latest iCapital x Alt Goes Mainstream Monthly Alts Pulse, iCapital Chairman & CEO Lawrence Calcano and I welcome a special guest - Hightower Advisors Managing Director, Head of Alternative Investments Robert Picard - to discuss the operational challenges and solutions in private markets. In this episode, Lawrence, Robert, and I discuss: * How wealth platforms like Hightower and infrastructure operating systems like iCapital are creating straight-through-processing solutions across the lifecycle of a private markets investment for the wealth channel. * The importance of bringing alts directly to the advisor’s desktop. * Why improving the experience for advisors in private markets is critical to increasing adoption. * Why it’s important to build across the continuum of needs for different types of high-net-worth investors. * The importance of customization and differentiation with private markets solutions for advisors. * What is the biggest unlock to enabling greater flows of capital into private markets? * What are the implications of opening up the alts superhighway? Thanks Robert for joining us on the show for a fantastic discussion!

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Streaming Live, and Love from New York City yours truly - OC - will be hosting Mytheresa’s CFO at 11:30am est, Dr. Martin Beer on the future of global digital luxury. Tune into the webcast to listen in! If you are participating in the Institutional Investor poll, we greatly appreciate your recognition in the Retailing/Department Stores category. You can request a ballot here: https://lnkd.in/ecrzYTF6 This is TD Cowen’s Future of the Consumer Conference in New York City. How do the best retailers and brands compete in the new instant and experiential retail economy? The future is about combining digital and physical into a phygital experience, reinventing convenience, and curation through personalization and artificial intelligence. TD Cowen believes new retail must combine the “logic” of a test, read, and react supply chain with the “magic” of creativity, innovation and purpose; meanwhile, a connected and contextual consumer experience with community engagement underpins maximization of customer lifetime value. https://lnkd.in/eC5cRYVg

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WhatIsMyBizWorth? Since 2018, Neri Capital Partners has completed over 750 comprehensive, affordable, and accurate business valuations. Whether you are planning to sell your business, or your wealth manager is preparing your exit plan. WhatIsMyBizWorth prepares your market value as Asset Value, Equity Value, and Business Enterprise Value. Wait, you also receive 13 KPIs that are compared with your KPIs with thousands of other NAICS codes that are the same as your businesses. Your comparison is shown as: (i) overperforming, (ii) underperforming, or (iii) average for your market sector. Your business valuation report is presented to you by a Neri Capital Partners Advisor, with the opportunity to ask questions and/or make recommendations to increase the value of your business. info@whatismybizworth.com (800) 216-4819 x0 https://lnkd.in/g4g_WMiA https://nericap.com #businessowners #babyboomers #sellsideadvisory #wealthmangement

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Finishing up a productive week at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in California. It was an honor to participate in a panel discussion on the significant changes we’ve seen in asset management over the past few years, and what they mean for our business moving forward. My thanks to fellow panelists Kamal Bhatia from Principal Asset Management, Dan Bienvenue, CFA, CAIA from CalPERS, Katie Koch from The TCW Group, Tony Minella from Eldridge, and our moderator, Matt Brown from CAIS. I truly enjoyed our conversation and the opportunity to share and compare insights on the issues affecting our business.   From the generational amount of cash still sitting on the sidelines, to the rise of alternatives from being the subject of a mostly academic exercise to one that carries significant urgency for investors today, it was a privilege to share my thoughts and those of our clients on such an important stage. Milken offers a unique opportunity for our industry to talk openly about the challenges we face and opportunities we see in serving those who entrust us with their financial futures. And a conference like Milken reminds me of two fundamental truths that guide our firm through all market cycles and environments: access is what drives alpha for investors so it’s our job to find more ways to provide them with more of it, and if we focus on the things we can control and the fundamentals of what we do – investment excellence and world-class service for our clients – then we’ll be ready for volatile and uncertain market conditions. #MIGlobal

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