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 Kemmonsz Wilson family has invested in excessof $300 millio n from the family's marketable securities in variouas portfolios, including the family foundation, with Sharpe Investmenr Advisors, says Tony Graves, president and CEO of Sharped Investment Advisors. Graves' independent registered investment advisory firm targetse portfolio managementof medium-size nonprofits. Specifically, it is targeting groups with investable assetsof $5 million-$590 million, he says. Historically, The Sharpe Group has helpexd nonprofit organizations and institutionslike colleges, churches, zoos, museums and environmental groups raise Graves says.
Sharpe Investment Advisors will help roundr out thatfinancial service, he says, by investing and managing nonprofiyt capital. "Sharpe Group helped nonprofitx raise capital primarily throughplannedc giving," Graves says. "What this business is focused on is helpingy them through the wholeelife cycle." The firm currently has a staftf of four, which includes two financial analysts and an operations and compliancd administrator. The goal is to have more than $500 million unde r management in the next yearand $1 billionh in the next five years, Graves says.
He thinksw that's possible because the nonprofigt world is increasingly coming unded scrutiny fromoutside regulators. Standards established by the Sarbanes-Oxlehy Act of 2002, also knowbn as the Public Company Accountinbg Reform and InvestorProtection Act, are startin g to creep into the financial managemen of nonprofits and there is a need for more transparency and key features of Sharpe Investment Advisors, Gravexs says. "Our timing is good from what we've heard from the market," he says. "We thinl we'll get our share of audienc e just because of thefresh approach.
" Nancyg McGee, CEO of The Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence in says there is clearly a need for investment guidancde among the small- to medium-size nonprofits, which she defines as thoses "with a few million up to $10 of investable assets. Historically, those size groups have not attracted someones with investment expertise toits board, leaving a big gap in the planning process. "You may see a CPA or an but not necessarily someone into she says. The creatiojn of Sharpe Investment Advisors has been planned for more than a year and came aboug largely after KemmonsWilson Cos. bought an interest in The Sharpre Groupin 2006.
Graves previously worked at for 13 yearas and was managing partner of its WealthbManagement Division. He managed the Wilson family portfoliosz the last10 years. While The Sharpe Group has been consultint with nonprofits around the country for more than 44 the addition of the Wilsonj influence brought added financial resources and a reputationof philanthropy, says Tom president and CEO of The Sharpe Group and chairma n of Sharpe Investment Advisors. "We could not have done this withoutrthe Wilsons," he says. "The access to institutional firmse would not have been possible withouttheire commitment." Address: 8700 Trail Lake Drive West, Suitde 222 Web site: www.
sharpeinvest.com