Veteran Trader Damien Dwin Launches Lafayette Sq. with $100 Million Funding from Morgan Stanley
Black American investor and philanthropist, supported by a diverse, promptly expanding workforce, will push alter in housing, careers, and money inclusion
NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Damien Dwin, a Black American businessman, philanthropist and veteran investor, is pleased to announce the official start of Lafayette Square Holding Firm (“Lafayette Square”), an affect-driven, minority owned expenditure platform. The Company confronts important societal troubles with money and expert services in three main places: housing, positions, and economic inclusion. Sharing in this eyesight, Morgan Stanley has provided $100 million of financing to launch Lafayette Square. Lafayette Sq. is minority owned with employees possessing more than 90% of its equity. In addition to personnel, other equityholders include the Capricorn Expenditure Group’s Sustainable Traders Fund and Schusterman Family members Investments, equally of whom will manage seats on Lafayette Square’s fiduciary Board of Administrators.
“The heritage of finance is one in which significantly way too several individuals, corporations and communities – primarily girls and folks of shade – have been denied accessibility to cash, means and chance. The financial fallout of COVID-19 and the social justice movement of 2020 have strengthened the inadequacies of the classic financial paradigm and made a potent case for a new, far more inclusive investment design,” stated Mr. Dwin. “We are pleased to have the assurance of our peers at Morgan Stanley, Capricorn Financial investment Group, and Schusterman Spouse and children Investments, in making a design to transform the current money paradigm to a new 1, where inclusion finds chance, access finds wealth, and transparency finds finance. We seem forward to investing within communities that have been customarily neglected by fiscal and financial policy, not only to travel short-time period recovery but also to attain true, measurable adjust for a long time to occur.”
Lafayette Square’s mission is to turn out to be the premier service provider of impression-driven, solutions-backed funds. The organization is confronting crucial societal issues with specific investment decision methods that travel measurable adjust and optimistic social impact in parts of housing, work opportunities, and fiscal inclusion:
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Housing: Lafayette Sq. creates and preserves economical housing and provides impactful companies that boost the life of people and greatly enhance the homes.
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Work opportunities: Lafayette Square invests in unbiased compact and medium dimension enterprises and business owners, with a concentration on regional and localized task creation, furnishing focused expert services to portfolio businesses and workers.
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Money Inclusion: Lafayette Square can make seed and stake investments in diverse investment administrators and delivers solutions to enable them scale, bolstering prolonged-phrase participation and inclusion of gifted girls and persons of shade in finance.
“Morgan Stanley is very pleased to spouse with Damien and the Lafayette Square staff to tackle significant societal issues with considerate and scalable financial investment alternatives. We are committed to supporting inclusion and diversity in underserved communities, and we have potent conviction in Lafayette Square’s progressive strategy to enact meaningful adjust,” claimed Thomas R. Nides, Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Dwin is an sector veteran with 23 years of financial investment practical experience and a fully commited philanthropist. He now serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Vera Institute of Justice, in addition to numerous non-earnings boards throughout New York Town, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Prior to founding Lafayette Sq., Mr. Dwin served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brightwood Money Advisors, LLC from 2010 to Oct 2020. Ahead of that, he was the Head of North American Unique Possibilities at Credit history Suisse and a trader at Goldman Sachs, wherever he acquired the Michael P. Mortara Award for Innovation. He started his finance career at Salomon Brothers and received a B.S./B.A. from Georgetown University wherever he afterwards served two terms on the Board of Regents.
Mr. Dwin launches Lafayette Square with a seasoned crew of 17 specialists with an normal 15 many years of experience in money products and services. The crew contains Chief Threat Officer Phil Daniele, Chief of Staff Doug Ebanks, Head of Trader Relations Caitlin Mixter, Controlling Director Ryan Ochs, Handling Director Joe Johnson, Director Casey Woo, and Vice President Mary Ann Raftery. The company expects to increase to somewhere around 65 workforce by 2022.
Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, who has closely followed the formation of Lafayette Sq., reported “People make the variation money will make alter doable and Lafayette Square connects the two. Their new model brings together the ideal facets of capitalism and humanitarianism to permit real transform in communities trapped in cycles of poverty and to encourage range between future generations of fiscal leaders.”
“We’re energized to guidance Damien in his vision to launch a new style of organization that will act as a model throughout finance,” explained Stacy Schusterman, Chair of Schusterman Relatives Investments and Chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Relatives Foundation. “We have robust conviction in Lafayette’s sustainable expenditure solution that aligns with our philanthropic attempts to bolster communities and advance social equity in a dignified fashion.”
“The Lafayette Square model can take a unique solution in leveraging marketplace forces to solve true issues in our region these as minority participation in finance and advancing racial equality,” included, Ion Yadigaroglu, Controlling Companion of Capricorn Investment decision Team, whose tactic to influence-driven expense is aligned with Lafayette Square. “We strongly consider that the world’s biggest difficulties involve expenditure innovation and sustainability, and Damien and his workforce have located that within just the places of housing, jobs, and money inclusion.”
About Lafayette Square
Lafayette Sq. Holding Company, LLC (“Lafayette Square” or the “Firm”) is an impression-driven, minority-owned investment platform. Launched by Damien Dwin in 2020, the Business confronts critical societal difficulties with funds and products and services in three core areas: housing, positions, and economical inclusion. For far more data about Lafayette Square, please stop by lafayettesquare.com
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Resource Lafayette Sq. Holding Enterprise