Cornerstone identifies opportunities to create a triple-bottom line of profit, social impact and spiritual impact. As an indigenous Northern Irish business with a heart for Belfast, Cornerstone seek off-market opportunities secured through its networks in areas that have been overlooked by property developers until now. With a city that is on a rapid growth curve and by financing the developments with a combination of private investment and institutional loans Cornerstone are able to deliver excellent returns for its investors who share a passion for bringing light to the dark corners of Belfast and seeing the Apartment Life model launched in the UK, Ireland and Europe.
INVESTMENT OVERVIEW
The Cornerstone team have many years of experience in Construction Management but have shifted their business model to retaining the assets to create more opportunity for social and spiritual impact as well as creating better returns for private investors. Cornerstone offer a range of investment opportunities and have partnered with Russell Bjorkman who is collating an international property fund. When developments are funded with a mix of private and institutional funding, deals are sought that provide investors with IRR’s that compare favorably with similar property deals.
Capital Raise Strategy
Total Properties Under Management: 1
Total Equity Under Management: $3 Million
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: More than 50%
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Quarterly
Strategy: Deal by Deal
Investments to Date: Under 10
Total Number of Investors: 10
Average Investment: $175,000
Minimum Amount: $100,000
Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? TBD
Focused Industries of Investment:
Multi Family – New Development
Single Family – New Development
Commercial – New Development
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
Is all of your activity in the US? No
What countries outside of the US are you active in? United Kingdom / Ireland
Company Differentiator: An exciting Kingdom Business, Cornerstone only consider projects that meet their social/spiritual impact criteria. With a focus on regenerating the areas of Belfast that were impacted most by the Troubles they seek to be a significant catalyst in Belfast’s ongoing renaissance as a successful Global City that attracts talent and capital from around the world.
Investment Example:
Investments have all been arranged on a deal by deal basis. Cornerstone welcome conversations with interested investors and partners and are happy to provide further information.
Previous or Active Portfolio PROPERTIES:
Leadership Team
Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 10-20 Years
Daniel is passionate about the potential for design and innovation in property development and construction to transform spaces, regenerate communities and enhance people’s lives and wellbeing. A champion of change and progression in the industry throughout Northern Ireland Daniel brings a wealth of insight and experience to every project from bespoke homes to city regeneration schemes.
Andrew’s professional and academic background revolves around the intersection between business and social impact. He is passionate about connecting people and organizations to issues where their resources can make a real difference.
Lauren is passionate about seeing the regeneration of cities which also has positive impact in building and restoring communities. She loves to create and design spaces that promote quality of life and are focused on the end user and their everyday lifestyle.
Team and CULTURE
While not complete, one of the things investors have found helpful in the past is seeing how employees, customers have reviewed someone online. As of the date of completing this out …
Glass Door Rating: Not available
Facebook Review Rating: Not Available
Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
We offer investors above market financial return whilst having seeking to have high spiritual impact and integration. As we are a growing company with growing projects we currently would honestly say that there is medium Spiritual integration. However with each project and ‘Apartment Life’ style model we will continue to grow in Spiritual Integration and Social Impact.
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities:
Cornerstone’s model has been designed with intentional social and spiritual transformation in mind. We believe that God desires to see His Kingdom Come on earth and we seek to use Cornerstone to bring economic, social and spiritual transformation to the people and communities we interact with. The need for community as God intended is so key to Spiritual Impact and integration as well as overall wellbeing, in a society that struggles with an epidemic of loneliness. We are committed to an ‘Apartment Life’ model for our developments. This is an effective way of integrating Spiritual and Social Impact in each and every project/ development. Cornerstone will facilitate having an onsite ‘live in’ person or persons that links to a supportive and active local church to be a presence in a development. The live in individual will be discipled and trained and overseen by a Cornerstone representative, the individual will carry responsibility to engage with the community, be there for neighbors, facilitate ways for the community to connect, signpost to local church events and ultimately show the love and care of Jesus etc. Cornerstone appoints specific individuals in it’s team to also be focused on the Spiritual Integration of the companies vision outworked in all its projects and to think ahead and plan for the future as developments expand and the ‘Apartment Life’ model gets up and running in this part of the world.
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
Yes
Are you partnered with any other organizations?
Daniel is the current secretary and incoming chair of CBMC and is on the board of directors for Europartners and East Belfast Missions. Andrew is Head of Development of CBMC (Connecting Business and the Marketplace to Christ). Each of our team are connected to local churches that are driven by Spiritual Integration and Kingdom Work. Cornerstone has developed strong relationships with East Belfast Missions, The Church of Ireland and other local churches in the communities that we our engaged in.
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
(9) Infrastructure, Industry and Innovation (as we seek to develop cities and bring about regeneration of infrastructure and uniquely make a social impact and spiritual impact in these areas)
(11) Sustainable cities and communities (Incorporating innovative and sustainable design in our projects and using a community building model in each of our developments to provide a greater sense of community whilst also working with the wider community to bring further integration and benefit.
(3) Good health and wellbeing (by way of quality of living conditions and community)
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group?
We are compelled to be certified and part of the Faith Driven Investor Group and develop our relationship with other like minded investors. We are passionate about investment that seeks to also have spiritual and social impact. The Faith Driven Investor Group is a group that shares the same passion and seeks to see The Kingdom of Heaven displayed in how we invest and do business. We hope to gain wisdom from those who have journeyed this longer than we have, build relationships, encourage one another and ultimately see Faith Driven Investment become established in Europe.
Eagle invests in Seed and Series A companies who need value’s aligned capital to reach their goals. We believe values-driven businesses out-perform, and we target above-market-rate returns with significant social and spiritual impact.
INVESTMENT OVERVIEW
Early-stage SaaS and FinTech companies that are located near Texas and Switzerland. Our first fund, “Eagle Venture Fund, LP” is closed to new investors. We are currently raising capital for special purpose vehicles to co-invest in our portfolio of 12 companies and preparing for fund two.
Investments to Date: 10-25
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
Is all of your activity in the US? No
What countries outside of the US are you active in? Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom
Focused Industries of Investment:
Data, Software and Technology
Healthcare
Energy
Investment Example:
World Wide Generation is a blockchain-enabled SaaS platform that is bringing an unprecedented level of transparency to Wall Street. World Wide Generation’s vision is to catalyze a generation to believe in and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The company landed more than 20 FTSE 500 companies as clients since we invested, increasing the value of our investment by 50% in six months.
Company Differentiator:
Experience: The Eagle general partners bring the experience of 60+ mergers and acquisitions, founding or co-founding 50+ companies, and 100+ seed and PE investments.
Process: Our due diligence process is rigorous, quantifiable, and repeatable. Two of our three-stages of due diligence are codified into SaaS companies. (Step 1) Opportunity IQ measures early-stage companies based on 50 criteria that make a startup more or less likely to succeed. (Step 2) We use Startup Financial Model to verify or rebuild every startup’s financial model and calculate capital needs, cash flow cycles, break-even point, key opportunities, and evaluate scaling models. (Step 3) We evaluate management teams and their impact on each stakeholder in their business using Likert-Scale scoring.
Previous or Active Portfolio Companies:
Capital Raise Strategy
Total Assets Under Management: $3 Million
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: More than 50%
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Quarterly statements and annual valuations
Average Investment: $250,000
Minimum Amount: $100,000
Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? No, but willing to be set up.
Leadership Team
Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 50+Years
Wade has founded or co-founded, invested in, and been a director of over 35 companies and has completed over 100 financing and M&A transactions as part of his business building strategy. He started selling door-to-door as a boy and worked full time most of his high school and college years at many jobs and at-risk ventures to put himself through school. His startup and business building focus has been on software and IT-enabled services companies that have high gross margins, recurring revenue, and repeatable and scalable offerings. His startups have included a firm that grew into a global IT services company that was capitalized with $75m in venture capital prior to selling to a public company and an Inc. 5000 nationwide tech-enabled real estate services company that has grown into the fifth largest firm among several thousand competitors in its industry.
Raffaele is a serial entrepreneur with a focus on FinTech and the dynamics of the Interest/Forex/Credit/Stock markets. Raffaele was the youngest director in history at a large European bank, where he was responsible for the expansion of the proprietary trading, market making, sales and new issues of international bonds. Raffaele received his post graduate program in Finance at the IFZ School in Zug and has earned the international Financial Analyst CIIA qualification. Raffaele has started more than a dozen companies since his bank career.
Wes is an entrepreneur, investor, Certified Financial Planner(R), Certified Kingdom Advisor(R), and Veteran. Wes is experienced in faith-based investments in both the public and private markets. Wes was a general partner for a multi-strategy private equity fund from 2015-2019 where he co-lead 29 private investments. In the public markets, Wes developed high-impact public market portfolios for DC-area Registered Investment Advisor, and launch Faith-Based Portfolios to help advisors launch faith-based portfolios. Wes runs a consulting firm for startups focused on financial modeling and strategy, and he is primary for operations of Eagle Venture Fund.
Rai is a Business Professional with global experience in a wide range of technologies. Rai maximizes the effective use of technology in Sales, Marketing, General Management and Business Consulting and Project Management. Rai has a record of building strong, successful relationships with prime influencers, senior executives and business partners across a range of companies and industries. His sound professional judgement allied to a strong entrepreneurial flair has resulted in delivery of results and high commercial awareness. Rai’s multi-linguistic skills and cultural awareness enables effective business interaction internationally.
Team and CULTURE
While not complete, one of the things investors have found helpful in the past is seeing how employees, customers have reviewed someone online. As of the date of completing this out …
Glass Door Rating: Not available
Facebook Review Rating: Not available
Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
Our target is the top right. We are pursuing above-market rate returns via diversified exposure to highly scalable opportunities that positively impact the world.
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities of the Fund:
We partner with entrepreneurs who are transforming dark marketplaces, and we do everything we can to help them, from capital needs to consulting, networking, board leadership, praying together, and encouraging them through thick and thin.
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
We do not currently measure our impact or spiritual integration in a scalable way, but we are working hard to figure out how to solve this problem
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
#4 (Health) is where we have the most impact
#7(Clean Energy)
#17 (Partnership for the goals).
If you’re wildly successful how will the world be different?
>
“ If we are wildly successful, our financial success combined with high impact will catalyze faith-based investors to take faith-driven investing to the next level. ”
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group? We believe in the faith-driven investor movement, and we deeply believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. We hope to see the FDI industry gain credibility, and we hope to connect with entrepreneurs and investors.
Advenir believes the current economic environment offers a truly unique opportunity to acquire attractive multi-family assets and generate superior risk adjusted returns. Our business model is centered on a “preservation of capital” philosophy – driven by strong, stable cash flows with the potential for capital appreciation. We accomplish this by acquiring stabilized, income-producing multi-family assets in markets that have exhibited, and are projecting, healthy economies, positive employment growth, and in-migration.
INVESTMENT OVERVIEW
The investment is structured as a single purpose entity. Investor equity yields an 8% annual Preferred Return, and a 70% backend share of profits. All equity is returned prior to any backend sharing of cash flow. There is no Sponsor catch-up of any sort. All debt is sourced from Freddie Mac, as Advenir is a “Select Sponsor” of the lender. Acquisitions are very selective, in 2019 Advenir underwrote in excess of 400 investments to acquire 4.
Capital Raise Strategy
Strategy: Deal by Deal
Total Properties Under Management: 42 with a total of over 13,500 Units
Total Assets Under Management: $800 Million
Investments to Date: 50-100
Total Number of Investors: 400
Average Investment: TBD
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 10%
Minimum Amount: $100,000
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Monthly
Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? Yes, however there will be UBTI
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
Is all of your activity in the US? Yes,
Florida, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama & Louisiana
What countries outside of the US are you active in
N/A
Focused Industries of Investment:
Multi Family – Existing
Company Differentiator:
Advenir is not a Fund which allows investor to pick and choose the multifamily investments they would like to participate in. Advenir’s interests are aligned with investors, as it does not charge extensive fees and relies upon overall profitability of the investment for its earnings. Advenir manages its own properties which allows for certainty of execution of the business plan. Advenir continues to invest in its people and technology in order to out-perform the market. Advenir has an investor Portal which maintains all investment results, cash flows, tax documents, and monthly financial reporting.
Investment Example:
The key to a successful investment is culture, leadership, people, proper model and underwriting, location of the asset, execution of the business plan, and economic environment. Typical investments have a four to seven-year investment strategy. Advenir acquires both value-add and new construction assets in lease-up, with a current target cash on cash return of 6% and an overall investor yield of 13% per annum. For a more detailed case study please visit the website at www.Advenir.net.
Previous or Active Portfolio PROPERTIES:
Advenir has owned and operated 78 apartment communities, 36 have been sold for an average return on invested equity of 1.99x. Our average hold for this group of assets is 4.5 years. We currently own 42 properties yielding a current cash flow of 8% or greater. The full portfolio can be viewed on our web site: www.advenir.net/portfolio
Leadership Team
Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 21-30 Years
Stephen Vecchitto founded Advenir in 1996 and serves as the company’s Managing Director. He is responsible for creating the business plan for more than 13,000 units in Florida, Texas, Colorado and North Carolina and has oversight responsibility for acquisitions, financing and investor relations.
Prior to his work with Advenir, Stephen, a licensed CPA, founded VSM, LLC, a Hartford, Connecticut-based financial services firm. The firm specialized in litigation support, mergers and acquisitions, fraud, appraisals. Under his direction as Managing Partner, VSM grew to 40 professionals and became the fifth largest private firm in Hartford.
Stephen dedicates much of his spare time to serving in the business community. He is on the board of directors for Teach for America-Miami and a cornerstone member of Make-A-Wish Foundation in South Florida. Stephen was on the board of directors at both Deering Bay and the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce. He is also a former president of the Rocky Hill Chamber of Commerce, an organization that once named him Person of the Year.
Stephen graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1978 from Bentley University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting.
David Vecchitto is Chief Executive Office of Advenir Real Estate Management. As CEO, David is responsible for executing the business plan for the portfolio of properties, providing strategic direction to the management company, and developing our people and culture. David joined Advenir as Chief Financial Officer in April 2015 and values integrity, accuracy, and outstanding customer service.
Prior to joining Advenir David has had financial leadership positions in public accounting, captive insurance, risk management, not-for-profit, and agri-business. He has extensive international experience, with a passion for providing strategic direction and implementing growth and improvement initiatives to strengthen financial and organizational performance.
David volunteers his time working with national leaders to provide leadership and social development in the majority world. David has a Bachelor’s degree from Bentley University, a Master’s degree from Trinity International University, and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Connecticut.
Arnold Faze is Director of Construction for Advenir Living. He is responsible for the oversight and management of all value add construction and asset preservation projects across Advenir’s billion dollar plus portfolio of real estate holdings. Arnold joined the Advenir team in February 2018 with extensive experience in residential, hotel, and retail construction management.
Prior to joining Advenir, Arnold amassed over 18 years in construction project management experience working for Turnberry Construction in Las Vegas and Plaza Construction in Miami, FL. His work scopes ranged from ground up new build to full renovations of existing structures including five luxury high rise condominium towers, a large casino-resort hotel, an oceanfront hotel renovation, and a regional shopping center expansion. During his tenures, Arnold helped to build over $2 billion worth of assets including Turnberry Place Las Vegas, Turnberry Towers Las Vegas, 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, and the new Aventura Mall expansion completed in November 2017. His drive and passion for achieving excellent results through collaborative teamwork will help fuel Advenir’s forward growth and success.
Arnold obtained his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and leads his team with the mindset of exceeding customer expectations. His core values include integrity, fairness, leading by example, and living by the golden rule. He enjoys spending his free time enjoying the great outdoors with his wife and three children.
Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
The quadrant would be the middle, medium spiritual integration and market rate financial return. We are first driven by investment parameters to preserve equity and produce a reasonable risk adjusted return. Advenir’s culture is of a Christian base, driving from a biblical foundation. It becomes a weaving of leadership and financial goals.
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities:
Apartment Life – they are currently engaged on a number of Advenir properties with an expectation to be close to 100% integration. Advenir has been one of the original donors to start up the Florida Apartment Life division and we participate on both the Florida and National advisory councils.
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
Yes – Apartment Life Tracks Success at the Individual Property Level
Are you partnered with any other organizations?
Apartment Life
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
Gender equality, affordable and clean energy, quality education, sustainable communities, decent work and economic growth
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group?
Being certified compels us to continue our leadership in a faith-based direction.We hope to be an avenue for investments that yield a market risk return while maintaining a Christ-like business environment.
The Talanton Impact Fund serves faith-driven investors who understand the power of high-growth, mid-sized businesses to create good jobs for underserved populations while providing viable, growing markets to thousands of suppliers and adjacent businesses. These businesses have the power to transform lives and communities. 600 million new jobs are needed by 2030 to alleviate human suffering. 80% of those jobs will need to come from small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Talanton Impact Fund has a distinctive focus—to generate a significant number of new jobs for underserved populations by investing in high growth, well run businesses ranging in size from $500,000 to $5 million in sales. This underserved segment is commonly called the “Missing Middle”. Why? Because these mid-sized companies need capital to grow yet are generally too small for traditional private equity funds, underserved by micro-finance and traditional banks, and unreachable by nascent local capital markets.
INVESTMENT OVERVIEW
The Talanton Impact Fund is an “Evergreen Fund”, which means there are ongoing opportunities to invest in high growth, high impact businesses. Talanton focused on post-revenue (>$500K in Sales) businesses with near-term positive EBITDA prospects. We offer competitive loans, generally in a senior position, with small equity positions in select circumstances.
Investments to Date: Under 10
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
The less developed, high growth regions of the world, starting in East Africa where the Partnership group has deep on-the-ground networks and trusted partners. As Talanton goes to scale, select countries in SE Asia and Central America will come into play.
Focused Industries of Investment:
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Energy
Construction/Engineering
Consumer Retail
Banking and Finance
Investment Examples:
Long Miles Coffee:
Founded in 2013, Long Miles Coffee processes and exports specialty coffee from Burundi to craft roasters around the world and aims to lift people out of poverty in a market-driven context. LMC sources from smallholder coffee farmers, paying them above-market prices. Their niche in specialty coffee commands prices of $4.50-$6.00 per pound, compared to commercial grade coffee of $0.90/pound. Of LMC’s multiple social impact initiatives, the most important is its Scouts Program, in which scouts are trained to educate farmers on best coffee-growing practices, leading to significantly higher yields.
# of Farmers: 5,480 Permanent Jobs Created: 55 Seasonal Jobs Created: 300-400 per harvest season Communities Impacted: 38 Increased yields: 3-4x coffee cherry quantities via Scouts program Higher income: pays 20% premium over government mandated prices, totaling over $251,000 Education: 4,646 children sponsored for schools through Summer Coffee Camp Environmental: 35,000 trees planted in reforestation project
Educor:
Founded in 2010, Educor’s vision is to provide a holistic educational experience that will nurture, educate, and inspire greatness in early learners. It currently operates five Early Childhood Education schools: one elementary school, three preschools and a corporate daycare. Prisca has identified the great demand and need in lower-middle class communities in particular for high quality, Christian- values-driven preschools. In one such community, Kiambu, she will start the development of a flagship campus with Talanton’s investment.
# of Students: 200 # of Special Needs Students: 12 (2018) Jobs Created (Teachers & Staff): 60+ Expected Impact w/Campus #6: 570 students by 2023, 100 learning support students by 2022
Educor’s indirect impact on job creation and quality of life for lower-middle income families is tremendous. There are 2,365 early childhood (age 0-11 years) schools in Kenya and around 9 million children under the age of 14. Less than 12% of children in Sub- Saharan Africa have access to early childhood education services. Significant research has shown that children who receive a preschool educational start are more likely to be productive adults, including 1) are more likely to be employed, 2) have significantly higher median annual earnings, and 3) are more likely to have a savings account and own a house.
Company Differentiator:
The quality and deep experience of the Fund Managers/Partners is a key differentiator. Together we have well over 100 years of experience working with and investing in developing world entrepreneurs and taking businesses to scale. In addition, we have partnership agreements with five Christian organizations that specialize in mentoring and discipling business leaders. These five organizations have quality talent on the ground, which also helps to feed our investment pipeline.
PREVIOUS OR ACTIVE PORTFOLIO COMPANIES INCLUDE:
Long Miles Coffee – A $2.2M sales specialty grade coffee sourcing, processing and exporting business based in Burundi and expanding into Uganda and Kenya. Long Miles has helped over 5000 smallholder farmers triple their yields and quadruple their coffee prices.
Educor – A $1.1M in sales early-childhood education business in Nairobi, Kenya. Educor serves over 250 students with a Christ-centered, leadership development focused curriculum. Educor employs teachers, administrators, music teachers, swim teachers, mechanics, landscapers and other service providers. Talanton is funding the development of schools #5 and #6.
Talanton expects to close on 6-8 additional investments in 2020. Average investment size per business: $1-$2 million, starting with an initial tranche of $300-$500K. Many of these prospective businesses are progressing through our rigorous due diligence process.
Capital Raise Strategy
Total Assets Under Management: $2.5M (after one-year of a capital raise)
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25%
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Quarterly (with monthly investor newsletters)
Average Investment: N/A
Minimum Amount: For investors in the fund, the minimum investment amount is $25K if through a Donor-Advised Foundation and $100K if the investment is purely commercial (no upfront tax benefit taken) or from a family foundation. Talanton is turn-key for Program Related Investments.
Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? Talanton is approved for impact investments through the Impact Foundation and the New Horizons Foundation (a donor-advised foundation). It is not difficult to invest in Talanton from any donor-advised foundation (such as NCF) through one of our two partner DAFs.
In the spring of 1984 David and his wife Kim were standing in a farm field in Guatemala, where he understood for the first time the power of business to accelerate the Great Commandment to love God and love our neighbor. He has been privileged to spend significant time of his life using sustainable, finance-driven solutions to bring hope, create jobs and transform lives for people living in poverty, principally in the developing world.
David has served as president of Opportunity U.S and Chaired the Opportunity Global board during a time when we had some ten million clients. He was a founding chair of MicroEnsure, a Bridgespan Partner, S.E.V.P. at MBNA, CEO of the Red Cross Washington/Baltimore Region, and a White House Fellow. David started his career at Bain & Co.
David and Kim live in the U.S. and have two wonderful adult sons. They enjoy sailing, touring historic sites, involvement with both their local church and C12 and serving throughout the developing world. David graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Penn/Wharton and has a joint J.D. and MBA with distinction from Harvard.
Harry has a 25 year career leading cross-cultural teams primarily in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa delivering large scale programs in the finance industry. Harry has led global teams for large commercial firms (Macquarie Bank and Anderson Consulting) and for global social impact organisations (Opportunity International and Oikocredit).
He is personally involved in several startup social enterprises in the UK, is on the board of a $50M microfinance investment Fund (Dia Vikas Capital India) and is excited about the impact of bringing significant capital into SMEs in Sub Saharan Africa, Asia and beyond. He spends his free time with his wife and three teenage children, enjoys listening to and playing good music and loves sport of all kinds – still managing to play cricket on a regular basis.
Harry has an MBA (with distinction) from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Computer Science (honors 1st class) from the University of NSW, Australia.
Jon has 25 years of experience in international business leadership, investment, development and strategy consulting with two of world’s leading food and agriculture multinationals, Cargill and Land O’Lakes, where he served as a Vice President. He has lived and worked on three continents, most notably in Tanzania where he led a talented team in executing over 50 loans to SMEs across East and West Africa. Jon witnessed firsthand the transformational impact of a thriving business achieving scale in challenging contexts. His areas of passionate interest outside of impact investing are mountain climbing, canoeing and skiing, both alpine and skinny skis!
Jon has a BA from Wheaton College and an MBA – International Business from Regis University.
Mark has a lifelong career financing entrepreneurship, in the developing world through microfinance and then in the venture capital industry. Mark led investing teams for large firms, such as GE Capital and Ares, and venture debt funds. Talanton’s work allows Mark to draw on this varied experience in pursuit of ending global poverty.
He’s a deeply rooted in Chicago, its pizza, Blues, and sports. When not trying to feed or clean-up after his three teenage sons, Mark and his wife of 25 years enjoy spending time in Wisconsin’s Door County.
Team and CULTURE
While not complete, one of the things investors have found helpful in the past is seeing how employees, customers have reviewed someone online. As of the date of completing this out …
Glass Door Rating: Not available
Facebook Review Rating: Not available
Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
Talanton offers an 8% target return net of fees and costs with a high level of spiritual integration. We evaluate the spiritual growth and ethical core of the leadership teams, as a result of discipleship and redemptive relationships with diverse stakeholders.
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities of the Fund:
We have a conviction to follow Jesus Christ’s call to love and serve those living in poverty. The Fund seeks to demonstrate a distinctively Christian approach—including a firm belief in the power of prayer— while remaining fully grounded in sound business principles.
Each person on this team is motivated by their faith and has shown a life-long commitment to sustainable business development in challenging contexts, whether large or small.
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
Yes. At Talanton, evaluation addresses three domains: financial, social, and spiritual. We look for a “return on investment” in these areas.
To asses impact, Talanton has developed 15 metrics that it gathers from each firm. These universal measures are aggregable and supplemented with narratives of impact that are unique to each firm.
Are you partnered with any other organizations?
The Navigators (informal partnership, but very active)
Agora Enterprises
Sinapis
Development Associates International (Colorado Springs)
Partners Worldwide
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
N/A
If you’re wildly successful how will the world be different?
> “There are two primary areas where Talanton seeks to generate redemptive and scalable impact. For each investment, we develop a CEO and leadership team professional mentorship and discipleship program. Our aim is to come alongside CEOs to help them grow as leaders and Christ-followers. In addition, we seek businesses that serve ‘the least of these’ (Matthew 25) by providing good jobs while bringing thousands of suppliers (e.g. small-holder farmers) and service providers into a growing market ecosystem. ”
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group? At the very core of Talanton’s mission is a desire to transform lives, both spiritually and socially. We hope to connect with like-minded, values-driven investors who care immensely about leveraging their resources or “talents” for redemptive impact through scaling-up Christian-led high impact businesses.
> “WeldenField is our brand name but we operate a number of companies in the real estate sector including construction, property management, mortgage services, development, etc. Our real estate activities include multifamily, single family, hotel, active adult, and land development. ”
Investment Approach
INVESTMENT THESIS
The primary objective of the Fund is to achieve Business as Mission quadruple bottom-line returns on invested capital for value-add multi-family properties. The quadruple bottom-line for us means achieving market or near market returns while impacting all the stakeholders (employees, tenants, neighborhood, competitors, vendors, investors, etc.) from a spiritual, social and environmental perspective. We plan to leverage our industry experience to identify opportunities and inefficiencies in the market and achieve operational synergies through our property management and construction management companies. In a world of so much capital chasing every deal, we must be efficient during our execution to arrive at good returns.
INVESTMENT OVERVIEW
We plan to invest in value-add apartment properties ranging in size from 100 to 250 units. We anticipate these properties will located be in the southeast United States. We will likely concentrate on two target cities for investment by the first fund to achieve operational efficiencies and maximize spiritual impact.
Capital Raise Strategy
Strategy: Fund and Deal by Deal
Total Properties Under Management: SPM is our property management company and it manages 18,000 units. We have developed and/or acquired (value add) over 9,000 units.
Total Assets Under Management: Our plan is to raise $15,000,000 to $25,000,000 of equity for the fund. We’re still raising money.
Investments to Date: 100-250
Total Number of Investors: Over 30 different investors including high net worth individuals, family offices, and funds
Average Investment: TBD
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Quarterly
Minimum Amount: Typically $100,000
Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? For our current Business as Mission Apartment Fund we are working on approval with Impact Foundation.
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
Is all of your activity in the US? No.
Which states? Southeast primarily but we have also done deals in Texas, California and the northeast.
What countries outside of the US are you active in?
Working on labor accommodation housing in Dubai with Andre Mann.
Focused Industries of Investment:
Multi Family – New Development
Multi Family – Existing
Single Family – New Development
Commercial – New Development
Company Differentiator:
The WeldenField Real Estate BAM Fund I is being set up with the full intention of having a kingdom impact through its activities. Fund leadership has specifically set this as a fund goal. We anticipate most of the investors will also be spiritually aligned going in, and also hope that this fund-raising process allows us to witness to other investors about what we hope to achieve and how to think about integration of business and missions.
WeldenField is a flat organization where the executive leadership team is directly involved in all aspects of the business from acquisition, renovation, asset management as well as the spiritual integration. We believe in our key stakeholders taking direct responsibility for executing and managing the investments.
Investment Example:
WeldenField has successfully executed many new construction and value-add apartment investments over the last 10 years. In 12 of these projects we have brought on a mission focused on-site program called Apartment Life, which creates a social fabric for the communities and strives to generate gospel presentations through their interactions with residents.
Our new fund will bring a focused Business as Missions approach to apartment value-add investing where we will proactively purchase properties that are uniquely positioned to allow us to have a kingdom impact with the residents. The evangelism and discipleship strategies will be customized for each property based on location, demographic, etc.
We anticipate that we will own each of these properties between 7-9 years and achieve Limited Partner returns in the 12 – 14% IRR range. Rehab usually takes 6 to 12 months and stabilization occurs in 2nd or 3rd year depending on size of property and level of repositioning.
Previous or Active Portfolio PROPERTIES:
We have 12 deals under development or in planning stages. We also have 5 others under contract. These transactions include multifamily (new and value add), active adult, hotel and land development. The fund will focus on value add multifamily. We have closed on 3 value add multifamily deals in the last 12 months and have one under contract currently.
Leadership Team
Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 50+ Years
Chuck Welden holds a B.S. from the University of Alabama in Commerce and Business Administration, a J.D. from George Washington University School of Law, and LL.M in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
After practicing law at the Birmingham law firm of Burr & Forman, Chuck joined WeldenField, a Birmingham-based family real estate company. He focuses on alternative investments and real estate opportunities that include both acquisition and development in multifamily, single family, hotel, active adult, and land. He currently serves on the Board of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the National Christian Foundation of Alabama.
Chuck and his wife, Lauren, reside in Birmingham, Alabama. They have four children and five grandchildren. Lauren is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They attend Third Presbyterian Church. Chuck and Lauren have visited over 14 countries while working on missions and/or Business as Mission. Chuck enjoys tennis and most any hunting or fishing adventure–his favorites are gator hunting and redeye bass fishing. Lauren enjoys investing in others, especially younger women and children. She devotes time each week to Discovery Club where she leads a Bible study for elementary age children in urban schools in the Birmingham area.
Robert Field earned a B.S from the University of Alabama with a major in Accounting. He was a CPA in the Washington office of Arthur Andersen prior to returning to Alabama. Robert’s responsibilities have included the daily operations of Corinthian Mortgage Company and Highland Mortgage Company prior to the sale of these assets. In addition to other duties within the WeldenField organization, Robert serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Southern Hospitality Services, LLC.
Ed has been involved in the Section 202, PRAC, and Section 8 programs of HUD for over twenty years in his role as Manager of SPM, LLC. Additionally, Ed has been involved in the refinancing and redevelopment of numerous 202 Properties through the use of bond financed, tax credit, FHA financing and also with new construction of Senior Housing with HUD through the PRAC program. Ed also served as Managing Partner of Interactive Video Technologies, LLC. Ion247 focuses on video monitoring as well as the installation and service of Security Cameras, Access Control, and Alarm Systems at communities and business in the Southeast. Ed graduated from the University of Alabama in 1991 with a B.S. degree in Commerce and Business Administration from the University of Alabama. Ed is involved in such organizations as the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and the President’s Cabinet at the University of Alabama.
Bill currently serves as President of SPM, LLC. Over the last 40 years, SPM has evolved into one of the most respected and innovative property management companies in the industry. As President, Bill provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for SPM and its affiliated companies.
Bill works closely with property owners and SPM’s management team to enhance client relations and to achieve positive revenue goals and operational efficiencies. Bill has been responsible for the development, acquisition and management of more than $2 billion of multifamily assets. Additionally, Bill has served as an officer and on the Board of Directors of various multifamily housing associations, including the Greater Birmingham Apartment Association.
He holds an Alabama real estate broker’s license and has been involved in the management of over 50,000 units of conventional, bond financed and tax credit communities for the past 30 years. Before joining SPM in 1987, Bill earned a B.S. degree in Commerce and Business Administration from the University of Alabama and a Law Degree from the Cumberland School of Law.
John Grady Welden has been with WeldenField since May 2019 on the team’s acquisition and development projects and has managed all aspects of the capital raising, acquisition, renovation and asset management on his deals. Prior to WeldenField he worked as an acquisition analyst at Covenant Capital Group in Nashville, TN and was involved in six transactions totaling approximately $100 million in purchases across nearly 1,000 units. He received his M.S. in Finance from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and B.S. in Finance and Economics at the University of Alabama. John Grady attends Redeemer Community Church in Birmingham, AL and presented on BAM at the Lion’s Den event in 2019.
Matt Scarola has been with WeldenField since April 2018. He has led four apartment acquisitions over the past year and managed all aspects of capital raising, acquisition, renovation and asset management for these projects.
Prior to WeldenField, he worked at Newmark in Florida on the multifamily investment sales team where he was involved in 28 of the teams sales across 2017 and 2018 for over $1.5 billion in transaction volume. Matt worked at Ladder Capital Finance in New York in 2016 as an Underwriter and at EY in their Transaction Real Estate department in 2014 and 2015 as a Senior Analyst.
Matt received his M.S. in Real Estate and his B.S. in Finance at the University of Florida. Matt attends Arise Community Church in Birmingham, AL, and presented on the Real Estate BAM (Business as Missions) panel at Lion’s Den 2019.
Team and CULTURE
While not complete, one of the things investors have found helpful in the past is seeing how employees, customers have reviewed someone online. As of the date of completing this out …
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Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
We believe we will be in the medium to high spiritual integration with a slightly below market rate financial return. Typically, we see IRRs for market rate value-add multifamily deals in the 14 – 18% IRR range for 5-7-year hold periods. With our investment of 1.5% – 2.0% in a “compassion overhead” fee to fund the cost of the spiritual and social mission work at each property, we believe we will be looking at returns in the 12% – 14% IRR range for 7-9-year hold periods.
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities:
Our budget will include compassionate overhead to fund and leverage ministry on site and in the surrounding neighborhood. This will be accomplished by collaborating with national, regional and local Churches and ministries such as Apartment Life and Crown Financial Ministries.
Each property will have a customized program for evangelism and discipleship based on the property’s location and demographics.
Strategically attract certain residents, such as a church planter, to help build an evangelistic and discipleship-oriented community.
We believe impact which is achieved by a sustainable, self-funding model will yield stronger results and will be viewed more favorably by the community as the transformation will be self-sustaining and a long-term strategy rather than just parachuting in on the weekends or for quarterly serve days.
The Fund will seek opportunities for outreach in multiple demographic sectors. While workforce housing will be a key component of our missional focus, the categories below could all be potential impact sectors (alphabetical order). WeldenField has experience in most all of these demographics:
Immigrants
Millennials
Seniors
Suburban
Urban
Work Force
Community Outreach will be customized based on the community. To achieve community outreach, many of the programs below will be used to connect with the residents and provide access points to share the gospel.
Financial Training
Life Skills Training
Career Training
Resume Building
Computer Literacy
Mentor Relationships
Career Prep Classes
Evangelism
Discipleship
Neighborhood Engagement
Family & Marriage Counseling
Youth Programs
On-site Preschool Care
After School Tutoring
Youth Mentoring Programs
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
Over the last decade, the partners comprising WeldenField Development have been involved in multiple conversations with a variety of organizations that promote and educate companies on how to effectively bring spiritual integration into their business and how to measure the impact. As a few examples, Chuck Welden was a co-author on BAM Global Congress paper on investing in BAM, authored a paper for CEF on the issue, one of the co-founders of The Birmingham Lion’s Den and National Christian Foundation of Alabama, and has invested in 30 different BAM companies and serves on the board of several of these companies. Through this involvement, our principals have been exposed to and have helped structure spiritual integration plans within these companies and others that we have consulted with. WeldenField has been a part of conversations covering strategies of spiritual integration in a wide spectrum of businesses and sectors and recognize that they need to be catered to the unique aspects of each business. We have partnered with other advisors in the field to help us think through our customized KPIs (Kingdom Performance Indicators) list. We are currently creating our own tracking tools for the Real Estate Fund based on our experience in our prior investments and activities.
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
Goal 11 – We plan to create a social fabric of connectivity and inclusiveness at the properties. We are striving to provide a safe and friendly place to live where residents can feel a part of a community and be proud of where they live.
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group?
We have been talking for several years with other BAM practitioners, investors and leaders in the movement about starting a BAM Real Estate fund. Our views line up well with FDI. The FDI Group concepts of Steward vs. Ownership, Capital = Influence, Abundance Economy, and investing for Impact are completely in alignment with what we hope to create.
We hope to be able to be able to connect with the larger FDI Group to gain wisdom into best practices for integrating faith and business. We believe we have a good foundational understanding but to be connected with a larger group of business and real estate professionals will advance our thinking and impact.
We believe that God speaks to us through His word and that all of Scripture is useful for instruction on how to live, work, and serve in any capacity. Scripture, when taken in aggregate, provides us with a great handbook on every question of life, and that includes how we steward our investments.
If you need a book to start with, this is the one. It’s easy to overlook, but it’s vital if we want to steward our life and our business for God’s glory.
Christians around the world are investing billions of dollars to support biblical values for God’s glory and their joy within a movement called Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI). Hear firsthand from one of the leading voices in the BRI movement about the exciting impact being felt on Wall Street, in corporate America, in families and churches all over the globe and how you, too, can experience the blessing of aligning your investments with biblical values for God’s glory and your joy!
Read how author Robert Netzly’s career as a successful financial professional was turned upside down when he discovered BRI, how the Holy Spirit pierced his heart on the issue and his harrowing experience of leaving everything to follow Jesus into an uncertain future with no safety net — and how God proved himself faithful time and time again, and used that step of faith to advance a movement that is literally changing the world, completely by his grace.
What does the good news of Jesus mean for economics? Too often, Christian teaching and ministry have focused only on the gospel’s spiritual significance and ignored its physical, real-world ramifications. But loving our neighbor well has direct economic implications, and in our diverse and stratified society we need to grapple with them now more than ever.
In The Economics of Neighborly Love pastor Tom Nelson sets out to address this problem. Marrying biblical study, economic theory, and practical advice, he presents a vision for church ministry that works toward the flourishing of the local community, beginning with its poorest and most marginalized members. Nelson resists oversimplification and pushes us toward more complex and nuanced understandings of wealth and poverty. If we confess the gospel of Jesus, he insists, we must contend anew with its implications for the well-being of our local communities. Together we can grow in both compassion and capacity.
The church in the West is rediscovering the fact that God cares deeply for the poor. More and more, churches and individual Christians are looking for ways to practice economic discipleship, but it’s hard to make progress when we are blind to our own entanglement in our culture’s idolatrous economic beliefs and practices.
Practicing the King’s Economy cuts through much confusion and invites Christians to take their place within the biblical story of the “King Jesus Economy.” Through eye-opening true stories of economic discipleship in action, and with a solid exploration of six key biblical themes, the authors offer practical ways for God’s people to earn, invest, spend, compensate, save, share, and give in ways that embody God’s love and provision for the world.
Faith-based organizations are sometimes known for what we’re against–and all too often that includes being against each other. But amid growing distrust of religious institutions, Christ-centered nonprofits have a unique opportunity to link arms and collectively pursue a calling higher than any one organization’s agenda. Rooting for Rivals reveals how your ministry can multiply its impact by cooperating, rather than competing. Peter Greer and Chris Horst explore case studies illustrating the power of collaborative ministry. They also vulnerably share their own failures and successes in pursuing a kingdom mind-set. Discover the power of openhanded leadership to make a greater impact on the world.
Slowly, silently, and with little fanfare, organizations routinely drift from their purpose, and many never return to their original intent. Harvard and the YMCA are among those that no longer embrace the Christian principles on which they were founded. But they didn’t drift off course overnight. Drift often happens in small and subtle ways. Left unchecked, it eventually becomes significant.
Why do so many organizations–including churches–wander from their mission, while others remain Mission True? Can drift be prevented? In Mission Drift, HOPE International executives Peter Greer and Chris Horst tackle these questions. They show how to determine whether your organization is in danger of drift, and they share the results of their research into Mission True and Mission Untrue organizations. You’ll discover what you can do to prevent drift or get back on track and how to protect what matters most.
