Alpha - September 2007 - (Page 22)

The Good Guys Going Public Through Youth, I.N.C., Jeffrey Blumin is investing in the future of inner-city students. By Imogen Rose-Smith s hedge fund managers vie to get their children into Manhattan’s most elite private schools, Jeffrey Blumin is making every effort to keep kids in the city’s public school system — and to help better their experiences while they are there. Blumin serves as co-chairman of the consulting A “Education has been a focus of mine for as long as I can remember,” says Jeffrey Blumin, co-chairman of Youth, I.N.C.’s consulting advisory board. advisory board of Youth, I.N.C. (Improving Non-proﬁts for Children), an organization dedicated to helping charities that work with at-risk children. “Education, and improving the lives of those less fortunate, has been a focus of mine for as I long as I can remember,” says Blumin, 42, who heads debt ﬁnancing and co-investment for New York–based Marathon Asset Management, a $9 billion hedge fund firm specializing in global debt. Youth, I.N.C. was established in 1995 by Steven Orr, then a Goldman, Sachs & Co. investment banker, in an effort to aid New York’s inner-city schoolchildren. Volunteers work with Youth, I.N.C.–sponsored organizations to help with fundraising, governance and organizational issues. To date, the charity has helped raise more than $16 million for 75 not-for-profit groups and has reached roughly 325,000 children. “Youth, I.N.C. brings together buyers and sellers of charity,” says Blumin, noting that small nonproﬁts usually need operational support almost as much as they need help with fundraising. The organization looks for professionals willing to lend their business expertise to charities. Blumin, who attended public school in his hometown of Syracuse, New York, came across Youth, I.N.C. in 2002, when he was working in the investment banking division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Manhattan. In the past he had mentored disadvantaged kids, but the emphasis, he says, had typically been on getting children out of public schools and into private ones. “For me, it was important to help kids within the public school system,” says Blumin, whose three children all attend New York area public schools. One of the first nonprofits Blumin got involved with through Youth, I.N.C. was iMentor — a program that uses e-mail as a way for executives to serve as mentors to inner-city schoolchildren. Although Blumin was initially skeptical of the idea, after visiting a participating school in Queens and seeing how much the students looked forward to their e-mails, he realized it was an ideal way for busy professionals to play a role in the lives of at-risk children. He quickly lined up JPMorgan as a sponsor. Youth, I.N.C.’s goals and structure are similar to those of New York’s Robin Hood Foundation — a charity started by hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones II, whose board is a Who’s Who of hedge fund managers. To date, Youth, I.N.C.’s supporters have been primarily in the private equity and banking world, where the organization got its start. In the past year, however, it has begun aggressively reaching out to hedge fund executives. Blumin, who joined Marathon in February 2006, is among a growing list of hedge fund managers involved with Youth, I.N.C. Others include Elizabeth Cohen Kojima, director of strategic planning with New York–based TPG Axon Capital Management, and Marc Lasry, cofounder and CEO of New York’s Avenue Capital Group. Still, Blumin takes advantage of almost every business opportunity available to try to drum up additional support for the organization and its underlying charities. “It is ﬂattering that someone like Jeff thinks so highly of us,” says Caroline Kim Oh, president of iMentor and a Youth, I.N.C. board member. For more information visit www.youthinc-usa.org. Photo by Rayon Richards for Alpha 22 • INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR’S ALPHA • SEPTEMBER 2007 http://www.youthinc-usa.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alpha - September 2007

Contents Letter from the Editor Longs & Shorts Pension Corner: Keeping the Faith The Good Guys: Going Public Interview: Barry Bausano - A Delicate Balance Cover Story: Cruel, Cruel Summer Profile: Phil Cooper - Alternative Flight Plan Strategies: Marshall Wace - TOPS in Its Field Profile: Fortis Investments - Banking on Alternatives Research Center: Top Equity Trading Firms Alpha Bytes: Desktop Duel Unhedged: Commentary - The Taxman Cometh

Alpha - September 2007

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