Bonds

We found it interesting that good old fashioned municipal bonds have become a "new" way to participate in the impact investing genre. Neighborly, an SF-based fintech that democratizes bond investing through their platform, has launched a Boston-based investment advisory - Neighborly Investments. We find the firm's expansion progression interesting, and certainly the bond market is being disrupted by many new fintechs, including Overbond, Halo Investing and others.

(Cindy Taylor/Publisher)

BOSTON

,

Nov. 15, 2017

/PRNewswire/ -- Neighborly Corporation, the

San Francisco

-based fintech company focused on modernizing public finance by empowering investors to fund positive change in communities, today announced the launch of Neighborly Investments, a next-generation investment manager that will deliver tailored impact investments through municipal bonds. The new firm will be led by municipal investment management veteran

Christine Todd

, who comes to Neighborly with more than 28 years of industry experience. Previously, Todd was president of Standish Mellon, where she oversaw

$30 billion

in municipal bond assets and led

Standish's

$150 billion

fixed income lineup. Prior to this role, she was a vice president at Gannett, Welsh & Kotler, having ascended the ranks of its municipal bond research and trading teams.
"Christine represents a tremendous strategic hire for us," said Jase Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Neighborly. "Her deep expertise in the municipal bond industry, combined with her demonstrable passion for community advancement, as well as portfolio management and client service, align strongly with Neighborly's values." Neighborly Investments will leverage Neighborly's robust technology to deliver investor access to impactful public projects, from schools and public parks to next-generation infrastructure such as microgrids. With a strong focus on transparency and accountability, Neighborly Investments will offer investors the unprecedented opportunity to make a direct contribution to projects that address environmental, social, educational and economic challenges in communities across the U.S. Crucially, Neighborly Investments ensures that each investment opportunity meets specific criteria indicative of strong economic fundamentals, transparent financial disclosure, and clear impact value. The firm's technology-powered process enhances investment decision-making that is both guided by clients' principles and fully tailored to their preferences, enabling them to generate returns while funding meaningful and economically sound projects. "This is an extremely exciting time to be joining Neighborly," said Ms. Todd. "A confluence of factors – including growing interest in impact investing, the increasingly transformative role of technology in the financial services industry, and the potential to introduce fresh thinking to a highly fragmented municipal bond market – enable a leap forward in our innovative ability to deliver value for clients. I'm delighted to be part of an organization whose foundation is so clearly built on integrity and social impact." Mr. Wilson concluded: "The humble municipal bond is the original impact investment, and our mission at Neighborly is to deliver direct, customized access to this bedrock asset class. By applying a creative and forward-thinking approach to the centuries-old market, we're empowering clients to improve communities – and the planet – while earning a tangible return on investment."