Daryl Oliver: North Carolina Charities Rely on Hedge Funds
By Daryl Oliver
Charities and nonprofit organizations tie communities together. They step in where the government is either unable or unwilling to do so and provide vital services to some of the most vulnerable segments of our society. Charitable work and religious faith are intrinsic to one another. Helping one another brings us all closer to God, regardless of the label of our religions. Despite all the good they provide, charities aren’t without challenges, namely funding their missions. While individual donations are essential, the reality is they aren’t enough to keep nonprofits in operation. Many don’t know that nonprofits often invest in hedge funds to fill this gap in funding; and unfortunately, the vital role that hedge funds play is actively threatened. As a result, countless charitable missions are at risk.
Nonprofits and charities are being put at risk due to the government’s misunderstanding of hedge funds and overreach into a mutually beneficial relationship between nonprofits and their investment managers. Nearly 1,000 nonprofits across the country invest in hedge funds, which grow their investments year over year, allowing vital work on behalf of communities to continue uninterrupted. Unfortunately, the federal government demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of this relationship and inserts themselves where they don’t belong, putting North Carolina’s most vulnerable on the line.
I consider myself blessed to be able to see the impact of nonprofit work on a firsthand basis. As executive director of Safer Communities Ministries (SCM), I’m forever proud to see the formerly incarcerated individuals we serve turn their lives around with a newfound determination from the skills we teach them. Instead of becoming another avoidable statistic in our nation’s criminal justice system, SCM’s beneficiaries get a second chance at the only life they’re given, and they make the most of it.
The work that SCM and other nonprofits do is invaluable for North Carolina communities, and hedge funds provide the economic wellspring for this work to happen. For example, the Golden LEAF Foundation invests over $300 million in hedge funds to support its goals of empowering our state’s rural communities, whose plights often go unnoticed by the public sector supposedly in place to support them. Novant Health invests over $400 million in hedge funds in order to provide affordable medical care, something that has become all the more vital over the past two years. In total, North Carolina nonprofits invest over $4 billion in hedge funds. This investment amount represents the trust nonprofits have in hedge funds, and their continued existence speaks to the value hedge funds provide.
We cannot allow overreaching government agencies to disrupt the harmonious relationship between hedge funds and nonprofits. Our elected officials often claim to care about those in need the same way nonprofits do. They need to craft public policy that preserves nonprofits’ investments in hedge funds if that's true. These investments are a surefire way to change people’s lives for the better and bring them closer together in times of need.
