The Case for Getting Values Alignment Right

Caption: [left to right] Kimberli Cavazos Haywood, Christina Oakes, and Neal Parikh sort and pack food at the Alameda County Community Food Bank during our annual vision week in February, 2026.

Earlier this month, we released a piece, written by Founding Partner Morgan Simon, about the potential hidden misalignments between financial intermediaries and the intentions of the families and foundations they serve. She writes:


“When we choose a financial service provider in general — whether it's a donor-advised fund, custodian or financial advisor — we do so on the presumption that our money is our money, and that our desires for social impact will be honored. 


This presumption has increasingly become threatened by the preemptive obeyance of service providers to the Trump administration’s attacks on the critical work of equity and inclusion, whether inside financial institutions themselves or by well-established non-profits at the forefront of social change. Recent examples should cause us to reflect — how can we ensure that we’re not just handing over the keys to our money to institutions that not only don’t share our values, but may be actively working against them?” 

This is of course not a new problem, and surely we have all been surprised by some of the misalignments in our own portfolios.


As traditional capitalists become more adept at tilting the playing field in their favor and using all their tools to make the outcomes of “the game” more predictable, it has become even more critical that those of us fighting for social justice and a “fairer playing field” do the same.

Accordingly, we have expanded our focus at Candide Group from solely deploying catalytic private investments, to considering how we can leverage 100% of our partner portfolios to pursue the mission of creating a more equitable future. We have been asking the following questions:


1. How can we utilize our public equities allocations to incentivize good corporate behavior (over-weighting some stocks) while keeping a small position in companies that we want to actively push to improve their social-economic footprint through shareholder advocacy?

2. How do we leverage fixed income allocations to do more than support corporate scaling, but instead to increase demand for municipal bonds that support schools, hospitals, and other public services, particularly in low-income areas? Increasing demand for these bonds lowers the borrowing cost for those municipalities and gets funding towards critical needs in communities.

3. How do we better utilize holding cash or cash reserves to support lending at local community lenders and diverse-led banks, versus supporting the deposit spreads at mega-banks?


These solutions work at a scale that would be hard to match in catalytic private portfolios, but serve an important part in changing the direction of our economy and the supply of opportunities available to under-invested communities. We like to think of this body of work as changing the world as it works today, as a compliment to our catalytic work, which creates solutions for the way the world should work tomorrow. We also recognize it has not always been easy to access 100% impact solutions that combine ease and depth, which has been our goal. If you are interested in learning more about these solutions, please reach out to us for more information.

-George Ashton, CEO

In Case You Missed It: Candide Now Offers a 100% Impact Portfolio Solution

Built on years of rigorous private markets work across private equity, private debt, and real assets, we've expanded to meet what we kept hearing from families, institutions, and foundations: a desire for full portfolio alignment through a single, trusted partner.


Our platform now spans every asset class — cash, fixed income, and public equities — through three new strategies designed with the same depth of intention as everything we do: Half Water Cash, placing deposits at CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions; Moving Train Munis, deploying capital into municipal bonds supporting affordable housing, clean energy, and equitable infrastructure; and Bought & Bossed, a public equity strategy combining index efficiency with rigorous ESG screening and active shareholder advocacy thanks to our Director of Shareholder Advocacy, Tanay Tatum Edwards.


After 12+ years supporting investments into 169 companies and funds, we see this work as the next logical step — making comprehensive, mission-aligned investing not just possible, but simple and joyful.

Other Recent Thought Leadership

In addition to Morgan Simon’s piece noted above, our team has had a stellar streak of articles breaking down and responding to how the ecosystems where we work are evolving.

Candide, Toniic, and Impact Alpha Celebrate Earth Day at Oeste

Caption: Candide Director of Partnerships surrounded by ecosystem partners at Candide’s Earth Day Event at Oeste, co-hosted with Toniic and Impact Alpha.

On Earth Day, against the backdrop of SF Climate Week, Candide Group brought together investors and ecosystem partners for an evening of connection and alignment at the intersection of climate justice and finance. The gathering reflected our belief that community is infrastructure — and that the relationships we build are foundational to how and why capital flows. 


In partnership with Toniic and Impact Alpha, we met in Oakland at Oeste, one of our favorite BIPOC woman-owned venues. The energy was incredible with conversations centered on impact, capital, and collective action. Attendees included fund managers, philanthropists, founders, and advocates united by a shared commitment to directing capital toward justice. While the past year has brought profound challenges across the ecosystem, the urgency and opportunity to move capital with intention have never been clearer. That sense of purpose was palpable throughout the evening, alongside a deep sense of hope and community. 


Founding partner Morgan Simon and her local band, Iya Lingua, wove music and meaning into the evening. The festive atmosphere was a salient reminder of what makes our community so special. We are so grateful to collaborate with and be inspired by so many incredible minds.

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Disclosure: The information contained in this document is intended for educational and information purposes only and should not be considered investment tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security. Please consult with your tax and legal advisors regarding your particular circumstances. Certain statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts, and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results and are based primarily upon a hypothetical set of assumptions applied to certain historical financial information. Certain information has been provided by third-party sources, and, although believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified, and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Any opinions, projections, forecasts, and forward-looking statements presented herein are valid as of the date of this document and are subject to change. To see the last 12 months of recommendations, please email ops@candidegroup.com with your request. Please allow up to five business days for a response. For more information about Candide, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A.