Here's how millions of dollars flow from Wall Street to charter schools
The charter school movement is surging in popularity among hedge fund investors, where there are plenty of investment opportunities and tax breaks in a safe and quickly growing sector.
A recent report produced by a union-backed group called the Hedge Clippers says New York Governor Andrew Cuomo got $4.8 million in hedge fund donations during his time as state attorney general and governor. This report implied that the political donations reflected the desire of hedge funds to have more pro-charter initiatives passed.
The below graphic shows some such donations from hedge funds individuals to Cuomo's political campaign, and their connections to charter schools. Scroll from left to right to see the connections.
Even more investment professionals may soon be investing in charter schools. The Walmart family cosponsored a symposium last week for money managers eager to learn about investing possibilities in charter schools.
The event called "Bonds and Blackboards: Investing in Charter Schools," was held at the Harvard Club in New York City and featured a number of finance industry panelists, as well as a Wall Street heavy attendee list.
The attendees included investment professionals from:
- Baird
- Bank of America Merill Lynch
- Blackrock
- Jefferies
- JP Morgan
- Kase Capital
- PNC Capital
- Piper Jaffray
- Prudential Investments
- RBC Capital Markets
- Wells Fargo
The event, which had representation from over 45 different financial institutions, as well as from nonprofits and schools districts interested in the charter movement, focused on issues of how to judge charter schools' credit quality, how to create a more efficient market, and borrower trends.