Celebrating its 20th year in business, Progress Investment Management Company, LLC has a vision to “change the face of the investment management industry.” Based in San Francisco, Progress creates multi-manager investment portfolios in public equities and fixed income featuring emerging entrepreneurial asset managers. Progress is a pioneer in working with these emerging firms, many of which are small but growing minority and women-owned managers across the U. S. Progress is an employee-owned and minority-owned business itself, managing $7 billion in assets for a blue chip list of institutional clients like CalPERS, CalSTRS, Boeing, General Electric, the State of New York, New York City, and the State of Maryland to name but a few. Through its portfolios, Progress demonstrates that competitive investment performance, diversification and diversity can work together to meet institutional client investment objectives in an efficient and innovative manner.
“I’ve known Bill Thomason for some time both as an investment professional and someone passionate about youth. I admire his commitment to teaching financial literacy to young people through his Wall Street Wizards,” said Thurman White, Progress’s CEO. “Beyond financial literacy, Bill is exposing these young people to the global markets, venture capital and entrepreneurship. If America is to remain competitive in the world’s economy, then we have to leverage all of our human capital. No one can be left behind. The Wall Street Wizards motivates young people to excel by giving them an understanding of money and markets.”
The Wall Street Wizards program is a match for the Progress charitable initiative for several reasons. For one, Progress has always looked for effective ways to give back to the communities in which it does business, and to the San Francisco Bay Area where its employees live and work. Progress does this through a partnership with New York City’s 21st Century Foundation [www.21CF.org]. The Progress charitable contributions focus on community-based organizations serving minority youth in four key areas: education, financial literacy, health and the arts. With a base in San Francisco and Oakland, and having recently expanded its programs to a pilot in New York City, the Wizards’ focus on youth, education and financial markets made it a ready fit for the Progress/21st Century charitable partnership. Progress has supported the Wizards for the past five years.
“I hope more Bay Area investment firms and Silicon Valley VCs will support the Wall Street Wizards’ programs like we do”. Adds White, “We don’t view our support as charity. Rather, our support for the Wizards is a long-term investment in America’s future – today’s youth.”