When looking for a way to merge her institutional finance experience with her passion for philanthropy, Vivienne Hsu decided to create LENDonate. This marketplace lending platform allows accredited investors to crowdfund loans that support various nonprofit organizations and projects. In this episode, Vivienne explains the business model that keeps nonprofits afloat, including the major role of debt financing and real estate. Vivienne also provides an overview of LENDonate’s underwriting process and shares how investors can create social change while also generating returns.
Vivienne is a CFA, entrepreneur, investment executive, and independent board member with over 20 years of financial services experience. She worked in a variety of institutional finance roles, including Senior Vice President at U.S. Trust, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager for Charles Schwab Investment Management, and lead portfolio manager for the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund. Viviennne then decided to focus on social entrepreneurship and became the founder and CEO of LENDonate.
Key Insights:
- Transitioning from investment management to entrepreneurship
- The nonprofit business model
- Debt financing for nonprofits
- LENDonate’s underwriting process
- Are nonprofit borrowers riskier than other investments?
- Nonprofit finance in periods of inflation
Guest Bio:
Vivienne Hsu, CFA is an entrepreneur, investment executive, and independent board member with over 20 years of financial services experience. As an expert in her field, she has appeared in numerous interviews on CNBC and Bloomberg TV and is frequently quoted in national publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger. Most importantly, she is passionate about strategic philanthropy and sustainable investment. She is the founder and CEO of LENDonate, a unique marketplace lending and donation sourcing platform where nonprofits and supporters leverage their collective power for the greater good. She also serves as independent trustee on the board of ASYMmetric ETFs.
Prior to being a social entrepreneur, Vivienne was Senior Vice President at U.S. Trust where she advised on complex financial matters. She served as a Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager for Charles Schwab Investment Management where she oversaw its active equity strategies and was the lead portfolio manager for the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund. Under her leadership, the firm launched three new funds which garnered close to $500 million at launch. Prior to that, she was Vice President and Portfolio Manager at American Century Investments where she co-managed mutual funds that totaled more than $10 billion. Rounding out her experience was investment risk consultant at MSCI Barra, and pension actuarial work on retirement plans. She received an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also received an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics. Vivienne is co-chair on the board of Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation; and a member of the board of How Women Lead and Aeris Insights. In 2011-12, she volunteered full time as development director at Women’s Initiative for Self Employment which helped low income women start and sustain their own businesses.
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