Ron Cordes, Co-Founder & CEO, AssetMark & Co-Founder, Cordes Foundation
Steph Stephenson, Co-Chair, Cordes Foundation
Eric Stephenson, Director of Client Services, Align Impact & Co-Chair, Cordes Foundation
You're invited to an intimate chat on impact investing with Ron Cordes, who sold AssetMark Investment Services to Genworth Financial in 2006 for $230 million. An early pioneer in impact investing, Ron proved during the 2008 financial crisis that by committing to Impact, you can not only make strong returns, but also protect against market risk and mitigate your downside.
He’ll be joined by his daughter Steph & son-in-law Eric, Co-Chairs of the Cordes Foundation, who worked with Ron to refine the strategic focus areas of the foundation and its impact portfolio. Together they will share their thoughts on legacy - on family, impact investing & philanthropy - and how to catalyze 100% of your balance sheet for impact. Learn from their experience as a family working together to strengthen the impact and legacy of their family foundation!
Ron Cordes has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the investment industry. He was a co-founder and CEO of AssetMark, a leading U.S. managed account platform with $30+ billion of AUM, co-authored “The Art of Investing” published by McGraw Hill, and was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Since co-founding the Cordes Foundation in 2006 with his wife, Marty, Ron has focused on impact investing and social entrepreneurship and currently serves on the boards of MicroVest, ImpactAssets, Fair Trade USA and the Social Impact Lab at Lynn University. His work in this area has been profiled in an array of publications including the New York Times, Barron’s, FastCompany, Forbes and FORTUNE.
Steph Stephenson is co-chair of the Cordes Foundation, working to advance the Foundation’s ethical fashion and sustainable supply chain initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Steph held positions at Condé Nast and luxury fashion brands Alberta Ferretti and Maiyet. Passionate about the intersection of fashion and philanthropy, she serves on the board of directors for Indego Africa, a non-profit dedicated to lifting artisan women and their families out of poverty, and advisory board of Remake, an advocacy group committed to building the conscious consumer movement. As an active member of NEXUS, Steph co-chairs the NEXUS Impact Investing Working Group and the NEXUS Ethical Fashion Lab. She is a StartingBloc Fellow, Milken Institute Young Leader and Hive Global Leader.
Eric Stephenson is Director of Client Services at Align Impact and member of its investment committee, advancing the firm’s work helping investors and their advisors form and implement effective impact investing and philanthropic strategies. For five years prior to joining Align Impact, Eric was the Portfolio Director at the Cordes Foundation, tasked with assessing, proposing and implementing a strategic plan towards 100% mission alignment across asset classes, and overseeing the Foundation’s philanthropic initiatives. He was previously part of the fund investments team at Hamilton Lane and started his finance career with the global leasing group at Xerox. Eric serves as co-chair of the Cordes Foundation, member of the advisory board for Duke University’s CASE i3 Initiative on Impact Investing, and is a due diligence mentor at Harvard University’s Initiative for Responsible Investment. He earned his BBA from Temple University, MA from University of the Pacific and is an active CAIA charterholder and alumnus of the SEO Career Program.
