Impact Investing with Fixed Income: From Bonds to Portfolio

Join 280 CapMarkets, Bell Investment Advisors, Just Invest, and Low INCOME INVESTMENT FUND (LIIF) for a panel discussion on IMPACT INVESTING WITH FIXED INCOME. Our speakers will discuss the steps to implement IMPACT INVESTMENTS, from originating and issuing BONDS TO CREATING A FIXED INCOME PORTFOLIO.They will also speak about the overall growth and trends of impact investing. They will examine the challenges at each stage to adoption and potential solutions to move greater amounts of capital to investments that have a positive impact on the environmental and social issues of today. Each panelist will share impact investing perspectives and provide guidance on how to invest in fixed income more intentionally. JANE BULNES-FOWLES (MODERATOR) Operations Manager, Veris Wealth Partners Jane Bulnes-Fowles joined Veris in 2013 and is currently the Operations Manager for Veris Wealth Partners. She helps develop and monitor the firm’s internal business operations and systems and leads strategic improvement projects. Beginning in April, she will be the new COO for US SIF in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Veris, Jane was Director of Learning Materials at Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps organizations learn and implement operational and management techniques to improve value and reduce waste. She has also worked with the Hult Prize, a social entrepreneurship accelerator dedicated to solving the world’s pressing social issues by fostering the next generation of scalable start-ups for social good. Jane received a B.A. from Reed College and M.B.A. from Boston University, with a focus on public & nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship. She volunteers with the Lean Startup Circle and Hopalong Animal Rescue in the Bay Area. She is also an advisor for local socially-responsible and fintech startups. She lives with her rescued African wildcat in Oakland. JENNIFER TONDA (PANELIST) Director of Institutional Sales, 280 CapMarkets Jennifer Tonda has over 25 years of fixed income trading and sales experience. She currently serves as Director of Institutional Sales at 280 CapMarkets, an innovation-driven fixed income technology firm providing price transparency and bond market access to advisors, institutions and issuers through its cloud-based trading platform-BondNav. Jennifer’s specialty focus is Impact Investing as well as traditional fixed income products. She works closely with advisors and creates custom bond ladders and portfolios that align with their investment objectives.  Prior to joining 280 CapMarkets, Jennifer was Senior Vice President at Falcon Square Capital, and was the Director of Taxable Trading at Crowell, Weedon & Co. where she opened the firm’s San Francisco office and helped develop their Institutional business. She also previously worked at Stone & Youngberg as Vice President of Corporate Trading and traded corporate bonds and structured products. She started her career at Charles Schwab where for over 10 years she worked as a Senior Corporate Bond Trader and pioneered positioning and risk management of taxable fixed income products. Jennifer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Social Science, concentration in finance.  She is a member of 100 Women in Finance and the Women’s Syndicate Association. Jennifer lives in Oakland with her husband and three children. In her free time she enjoys travel, swimming, biking, yoga and photography. LAURENT HARRISON, CFP (PANELIST) Senior Financial Advisor, Bell Investment Advisors Laurent Harrison, CFP® serves as a Senior Investment Advisor and Financial Planner with Bell Investment Advisors. As a senior member of Bell’s leadership team and seasoned financial planner, he works with nonprofits, individuals, and businesses. Laurent enjoys helping clients navigate the investment and financial landscape, helping them to create their vision of financial success and confidently pursue their goals. Laurent has had the good fortune of working with a variety of non-profits – both personally and professionally. Laurent spent five years serving on the board of Rebuilding Together Oakland East Bay from 2012-2017 as board member, treasurer, and vice president. In his role at Bell, he has helped numerous nonprofits manage their assets – including endowment funds and reserve accounts. And when entities wish to incorporate their social preferences, Laurent partners with Just Invest to create customized socially-responsible portfolios that align with both the client’s values and financial goals. Laurent grew up in the Bay Area and holds a degree in Business Information Systems. He spent 20 years working in tech, and then found his calling in financial planning. Laurent completed the Personal Financial Planning program via the University of California, Berkeley. He joined Bell in 2010, attained his CFP® certification in 2012, and has been an advisor on staff since 2011. He also holds a Series 65 securities license. VIJAY RAO, CFA, FRM (PANELIST) CIO, Just Invest Inc. Vijay Rao, CFA, FRM is a co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Just Invest, LLC, a tech asset manager focused on creating tax-efficient ESG optimized portfolios for financial advisors and their clients. He previously served as the Head of Product Management and on the Board of Directors of Alpha Omega Financial Systems, Inc., where he launched FIXAffirm, a product that aimed to change the post-execution processing of allocations, confirmations, and affirmations process of US and Global equity, futures, and fixed income trades. At Just Invest, LLC we aim to provide fully personalized investing indexes and digital advisory services for our clients. Just Invest offers advisors institutional investment capabilities, such as ESG (environmental, social and governance) research, smart-beta/factor investing, and portfolio optimization for client portfolios using single securities, not mutual funds or ETFs. Vijay previously worked on the US Corporate bond desk in the Fixed Income Trading group at Barclays Global Investors (now Blackrock Inc.) and continues to have a strong interest in fixed income and equity investments in the domestic and international markets. Just Invest currently manages equity and fixed income portfolios for high net worth individuals and institutions. Vijay is a CFA Charterholder, a Certified Financial Risk Manager and an FSA Credential Holder. CHRISTINA TRAVERS (PANELIST)  Vice President of Finance & Capital Strategies, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF)  Christina Travers, Vice President, Finance & Capital Strategies at the Low Income Investment Fund. Ms. Travers joined LIIF in July of 2018. In her new role, Christina is responsible for raising capital to support LIIF’s loan portfolio and serves as liaison with, and resource to, LIIF’s banking and other lending relationships. Additionally, she manages LIIF’s budget process, financial forecasting, investment portfolio management, cash management and treasury services. Prior to joining LIIF, she spent ten years at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) as its Senior Vice President for Finance & Capital Strategies. In this role, she oversaw LISC’s financial planning and analysis, maintained relationships with LISC lenders, and supervised the loan servicing of LISC’s loan portfolio. Prior to joining LISC, Ms. Travers worked as a Policy Analyst at New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, completing her service in Zambia, Africa. Ms. Travers earned her B.S. in Biology from Duke University and her M.S. in Urban Policy and Management, with a concentration in Community Development Finance, from The New School in New York City.