In addition to the California Endowment, the Bush, Kellogg, Mellon, and Rockefeller foundations and the UJA-Federation of New York are recent entries into the bond market.
Suzanne Shank, who sits on Skillman’s Board of Directors, co-founded Siebert Williams Shank, which served as a manager on several of the recent foundation bond offerings.
AdThe foundations’ debt offerings came in the form of social bonds, which allow investors to try to improve society and shoot for market returns simultaneously.
Advocates of the foundation bond offerings say the time is right.
Unlike nonprofits, whose finances have been crushed during the pandemic, foundations have continued to enjoy strong investment returns for their endowments from the stock market.