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Investment Management

Fund for the 21st Century

Your impact opportunity begins the moment you set up a Donor Advised Fund at the Boston Foundation.

Since 1915, the Boston Foundation has been the trusted repository and steward of this city and region’s philanthropic capital. Our guiding investment philosophy is to promote the judicious stewardship of funds entrusted to us for the benefit of our community of donors and the nonprofit organizations we serve. We currently manage $1.3 billion in charitable assets and are a long-term investor seeking the highest total return on assets consistent with prudent investment practices. We aspire to be at the leading edge of the charitable impact investing movement and are proud to provide best-in-class options to our donor community and donor advised fund program.

We recognize that donors have varied time horizons, risk tolerances and other criteria that influence their investment recommendations. To meet these diverse needs, the Boston Foundation offers five options with the ability to allocate investment across some or all options. All options retain good liquidity that allows the deployment of grants dollars to support our community. 

Click here to view our latest Investment Performance update

Click to learn more about the Impact Pool at the Boston Foundation

Click here to read the latest Boston Foundation Investment Policy

Fund for the 21st Century Investment Options:

Impact Pool

Impact pool investment allocation
Impact Pool Allocation: December 31, 2023

Do you want your philanthropy to have a profound effect beyond the grants you recommend? One way is to consider how your philanthropic assets are invested.

This socially responsible investment pool allows donors to grow their future grantmaking balance while also generating positive social impact on a global scale and an eye toward supporting our local community. The diversified Impact Pool aims for market rate returns that reflect a competitive and balanced mix of socially responsible investments. These investments support companies with strong corporate governance and shareholder advocacy, while reducing exposure to industries involved in fossil fuels, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and weapon manufacturing. The Impact Pool also features private investments that create affordable housing and green energy infrastructure. As it produces returns to support your grantmaking, it also generates positive social impact on a global scale.

Asset mix: 90% equity-type risk, 10% fixed income/money market

Balanced Plus Pool

Balanced plus allocation chart
Balanced Plus Pool Allocation: December 31, 2023

The Boston Foundation has been entrusted to carry out the philanthropic legacy of hundreds of generous families. This is why we ensure that our discretionary endowment, the Fund for Boston’s Future, benefits from long-term capital appreciation and fuels community impact: best in class equities managers, hedge funds, private equity investments, and real estate. All donor advised funds can invest in this pool alongside the Foundation’s endowed funds.

Asset Mix: 90% equity-type risk, 10% treasury securities.


Short Term Pool

The Short-Term Pool is invested in U.S. Treasury bills. This option is appropriate for those who do not want equity- market exposure.

Asset Mix: 100% in U.S. government treasury bills and money market funds.

Use your Wealth Management Advisor:

Do you have a trusted wealth manager you would like to handle the investment of your fund? Let us know! Select new funds only (minimums required).  

Customize Your Investments:

As a true private foundation alternative, our team can facilitate custom investment allocations (minimums required).


The Boston Foundation Investment Committee

Andrew Arnott, Chair of Investment Committee
Term expires June 30, 2026

Andrew G. Arnott is President and Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock Investments, a wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, the U.S. division of Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corporation.

Mr. Arnott brings a wealth of organizational and industry expertise to this role, including more than 20 years of experience in the asset management industry. Since 2012, he has led all aspects of John Hancock Investments’ business, from investments, sales, marketing, finance, and product development to operations and technology. Mr. Arnott is also President of the trusts for the John Hancock Group of Funds, with general responsibility for overseeing day-to-day management of fund business and operations, serving as Chief Executive Officer of all funds, acting as liaison between management and the funds’ Board of Trustees, and presiding over Trustee and shareholder meetings.

In his prior position as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Investment Management Services, Mr. Arnott was responsible for all asset manager relationships across the John Hancock Investments and Manulife Financial platforms in the United States and Asia.

Mr. Arnott serves on the Board of Overseers for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, the Board of Directors for the Boston Foundation, the Board of the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy, and the ICI Board of Governors.

Elyse Cherry
Term expires June 30, 2024*

Since 1997, Elyse Cherry has served as the CEO of BlueHub Capital, a national nonprofit community finance organization with a 35-year history of building healthy communities where low-income people live and work. Under Cherry’s leadership, BlueHub has invested over $2.2 billion, leveraged an additional $10 billion, and built a national tax credit practice to: finance affordable housing, health centers, schools, and other community facilities; provide foreclosure relief through the creation of a mortgage lender aimed at stabilizing urban neighborhoods; create jobs; benchmark and drive down energy and utility costs; and promote resiliency. 

Cherry is a former partner at the law firm of Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) where her national transactional practice focused on multi-family and commercial real estate finance and development, affordable housing, and open space preservation.

An active civic and business leader, Cherry is a member of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees, the Board of Advisors of Eastern Bank, and Chair of the Board of the Forsyth Institute. She is also on the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation, where she co-chairs the Advisory Committee for The Equality Fund -- a fund supporting greater Boston nonprofits that strengthen the LGBTQ community.

Betty Francisco
Term expires June 30, 2025*

Betty Francisco is a business executive, impact investor and community leader. She is known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for leaders of color.

Betty is currently the CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investment fund that invests to close the racial wealth divide in Massachusetts. She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that is building Latinx economic and political power through Latino leadership representation and economic opportunity in Massachusetts. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Roxbury Community College. Betty obtained her J.D. and M.B.A. from Northeastern University and her B.A. in History from Bard College.

Ronald P. O'Hanley
Term expires June 30, 2024

Ron O'Hanley

Ron is chairman and chief executive officer of State Street Corporation. He is also a member of State Street Corporation’s Board of Directors. 

Ron was previously president and chief operating officer of State Street Corporation, and before that president and chief executive officer of  State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation. He joined State Street in 2015. 

Prior to State Street, Ron was president of Asset Management & Corporate Services for Fidelity Investments, responsible for all Fidelity asset management organizations and Fidelity’s corporate functions and enterprise technology. He served at Fidelity from 2010 to 2014. 

Prior to joining Fidelity, Ron served as president and chief executive officer of BNY Mellon Asset Management in Boston, a position to which he was named in 2007. During this time, he also served as vice chairman of Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and was a member of its Executive Committee. Additionally, Ron oversaw all of Bank of New York Mellon's activities in Asia. Prior to the 2007 merger of Bank of New York and Mellon, he was vice chairman of Mellon Financial Corporation and president and chief executive officer of Mellon Asset Management. He served at Mellon and Bank of New York Mellon from 1997 to 2010. 

Prior to Mellon, Ron was with McKinsey & Company, Inc., from 1986 to 1997 and was elected a partner in 1992. He founded the Investment Management practice worldwide and was co-founder and co-leader of the firm's North American Personal Financial Services practice. Additionally, he was a member of the Worldwide Property & Casualty Insurance practice. During his tenure with McKinsey, Ron served in the firm’s Boston, New York, and Stockholm offices. 

Ron received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Syracuse University in 1980 and his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1986. 

Ron serves on the boards of Unum Corp. and Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. He also serves on the boards of Beth Israel Lahey Health, The Boston Foundation, IYRS School of Technology and Trades, Syracuse University and WBUR. Ron’s philanthropic and civic interests include corporate governance, retirement/healthcare policy and funding, education, and climate. He has led several initiatives on gender equality. Ron is a frequent speaker and writer, and an avid offshore sailboat racer.  

Raj Sharma
Term expires June 30, 2027*

The founder of The Sharma Group, Raj Sharma has more than 30 years of financial services experience. Before joining Merrill in 1987, he worked for 12 years as a financial analyst, management executive and media specialist.

Thoughtful and analytic, with an excellent understanding of the global markets, Raj has received numerous industry recognitions. Barron's has named him as one of America's Top 100 Financial Advisors for 18 consecutive years through 2022 - putting him among the "Barron’s Hall of Fame’, a distinction accorded to advisors who have been on the top advisor list for ten years. In 2021 and 2022, Raj was named the #1 Financial Advisor in Massachusetts on Barron’s America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors list for the thirteenth consecutive year. Forbes named Raj the #1 Financial Advisor in Massachusetts on Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019-2022. He was also named to Forbes' "America's Top Wealth Advisors" list 2016 – 2022. Most recently The Sharma Group was featured by Barron's as a Top 50 Private Wealth Teams in 2020 and Top 100 Private Wealth Teams for 2021. Additionally, he was named to the Financial Times Top 400 Financial Advisors 2013 - 2021.

Raj earned a Master’s degree in Business Management, with a concentration in Finance, from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and a Master’s degree in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston. Raj holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation and is a member of the Investments & Wealth Institute™ (The Institute).

Paul Gannon (ex officio)

Paul Gannon

Bio last updated 2022.

Paul Gannon is a retired Partner and former Chief Operating Officer of The Baupost Group where he was also a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to joining Baupost in 1991, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Real Estate Group of Bank of Boston and was the VP of Finance for a chain of home centers.

Mr. Gannon earned his CPA designation while working with Ernst and Whinney in Boston and Sydney, Australia, after graduating from the University of Virginia’s School of Commerce.

Mr. Gannon is the Chair of the WBUR Board of Directors, serves on the Board of Advisors of The Baupost Group, as well as on the Board of Directors of Volos Software, Upstream USA, Opportunity Solutions International, the Boston Foundation, and Tenacity. He also serves as a Board Observer or mentor for a number of startup companies.

Grace Fey (ex officio)

Grace Fey, CFA, is President of Grace Fey Advisors. For 20 years, Ms. Fey was a partner at Frontier Capital Management Co., LLC, serving as Executive Vice President and Director of the investment management firm located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ms. Fey currently serves as a Trustee of the John Hancock Financial Services Funds and is on the Board of Directors of the Fiduciary Trust Co., Tufts Medical Center, the Museum of Fine Arts and WGBH. Ms. Fey is the recipient of the David Knapp Award for Trusteeship from the New England Board of Higher Education and the Big Sister Association of Boston Leadership Award. She is a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum and the Boston Club.  Ms. Fey graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.A. in English and lives in Boston with her husband, Ted.

Ms. Fey served as Chair of the Investment Committee until the expiration of her term on the Board of Directors in June 2019.

George C. Wilson
Chief Investment Officer

George Wilson has been active in the investment field for more than thirty years. His career has included serving as a Senior Investment Officer at Pension Reserves Investment Management, the $50 billion Massachusetts public pension plan, with responsibility at various times for overseeing its real estate, REIT, timber, and private equity portfolios. He also was a Vice President for Asset Management with GE Capital Investment Advisors, Inc., a partner with the New Jersey based investment banking firm of Robert A. Stanger & Co., and a certified public accountant at Price Waterhouse.

George earned a BS in accounting and an MBA from Babson College, and a master’s degree in taxation from Bentley College.

Prime Buchholz
Investment Consultant

Prime Buchholz has served as an independent investment consultant for two decades, partnering with clients to create and extend their investment programs. It advises more than 260 institutional and private clients ranging from non-profits and corporate entities, to high net worth families. The company was founded in 1988 in Portsmouth, N.H., and today it employs over 100 investment professionals and support staff with offices in Portsmouth, Boston and Atlanta.

*Eligible for another five-year term.