Sharpe Group creates investment division, plans to manage $1B for nonprofits by 2012 - Memphis Business Journal:

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To jump-start the venture, the Kemmonds Wilson family has invested in excessof $300 million from the family'sa marketable securities in various portfolios, including the family foundation, with Sharp Investment Advisors, says Tony Graves, presidentt and CEO of Sharpe Investment Advisors. independent registered investment advisory firm targets portfolio managementof medium-sizw nonprofits. Specifically, it is targeting groups with investable assetsof $5 million-$50o million, he says. Historically, The Sharpe Grouop has helped nonprofit organizationas and institutionslike colleges, hospitals, zoos, museums and environmental groups raisde capital, Graves says.
Sharpe Investmenty Advisors will help round out that financial he says, by investing and managing nonprofigt capital. "Sharpe Group helpes nonprofits raise capital primarily throughplanned giving," Graves says. "Whar this business is focused on is helping them through the whol elife cycle." The firm currently has a stafdf of four, which includes Graves, two financial analystss and an operations and compliance administrator. The goal is to have more than $500 millionm under management in the next yearand $1 billion in the next five Graves says.
He thinks that'zs possible because the nonprofit world is increasingl coming under scrutiny from outside Standards established bythe Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, also knownj as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act, are startiny to creep into the financia l management of nonprofits and there is a need for more transparencyg and independence, key features of Sharpe Investment Advisors, Graves "Our timing is good from what we've hearc from the market," he says. "We think we'll get our share of audience just because of thefreshy approach.
" Nancy McGee, CEO of The Alliancde for Nonprofit Excellence in says there is clearly a need for investmenf guidance among the small- to medium-sizre nonprofits, which she defines as those "with a few milliob up to $10 million" of investable assets. those size groups have not attracted someonw with investment expertise toits board, leavinb a big gap in the plannin g process. "You may see a CPA or an but not necessarily someoneinto investing," she says. The creation of Sharpe Investment Advisors has been planned for more than a year and came abouf largely after KemmonsWilson Cos. bought an interest in The Sharp e Groupin 2006.
Graves previously workeds at for 13 years and was managing partne r of its Wealth Management He managed the Wilsohn family portfolios the last10 years. While The Sharpr Group has been consulting with nonprofits around the countrty for more than44 years, the addition of the Wilsob influence brought added financial acumen, resources and a reputation of philanthropy, says Tom Dyer, president and CEO of The Sharp e Group and chairman of Sharpe Investment Advisors. "Wee could not have done this withoutthe Wilsons," he "The access to institutionapl firms would not have been possible withoutf their commitment." Address: 8700 Trail Lake Driv West, Suite 222 Web www.
sharpeinvest.com