From Large Money Manager CEO to Social Impact Entrepreneur

Shundrawn Thomas is the Founder and Managing Partner of Copia Group, a new private investment firm that provides capital solutions to lower-middle market companies and drives social impact. Shundrawn was a past guest on the show while in his prior seat as President of Northern Trust Asset Management, a leading global investment manager with over $1.3 trillion in assets. That conversation is replayed in the feed.

This time around we pick up with Shundrawn's decision to leave Northern Trust, his mission at Copia, and transition from public company executive to budding entrepreneur. We discuss his plans for Copia across investment strategy, team building, capital raising, investment process, and social impact. We close with Shundrawn's vision for the next five years in his new venture.

Show Notes
5:00 Leaving Northern Trust
8:50 Open letters to corporate America
11:53 Calling as an entrepreneur
13:45 Beyond buzzwords in impact investing
16:44 Shared values as an organization
20:04 Copia’s focus within asset management
22:18 Specializing in middle market private equity
23:49 A strategic offering to investors
26:17 Building a team from scratch
28:29 Launching and raising capital
30:37 Best practices in the investment process
32:54 Narrowing the opportunity set
35:58 Measuring social impact
37:21 Assessing management teams
39:57 Investment decisions and meetings
41:16 Principles to protect the partnership
45:20 Closing questions