Former NTAM CEO Forms New Investment Firm

Financial services industry executives Shundrawn A. Thomas and Anthony D. Hoye this week launched a new private investment firm designed to provide “growth capital and the support and resources needed to develop scalable, sustainable business models that generate equity and impact,” according to a news release. 

Shundrawn A. Thomas

Thomas, formerly the president and CEO of Northern Trust Asset Management, has 27 years of leadership experience. Hoye, who has more than 30 years of experience in credit risk, banking and investment management, was most recently a director and senior credit officer in the corporate and investment banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  

The new firm is The Copia Group, LLC, a diverse-owned private investing firm that will provide debt and equity capital to privately held, lower middle-market companies.  

Thomas and Hoye “have developed an intentional framework designed to achieve impact at scale,” according to the release. Copia has partnered with Morningstar Sustainalytics to develop a proprietary social-impact framework, and will focus on lower middle-market companies, providing credit and other financial solutions, working to limit the dilution of existing equity owners. 

“There is a growing array of untapped opportunities in the private markets,” said Thomas, the founder and managing partner of the new firm, in the release. “This is particularly true of the lower middle-market segment where we are focused. We believe that scalable businesses, managed in a socially responsible way, have the potential to deliver superior results. We add value by increasing access to expertise and resources that accelerate growth and drive impact at scale.”  

“We add value by providing access to the essentials designed to accelerate growth, which we identify as the four Cs: capital, counsel, colleagues, and clients,” Thomas shared in a LinkedIn post from The Copia Group about the new company. “We emphasize partnering with women and ethnically diverse business operators. To achieve that end, we target 50% or more of our investments with ethnically diverse and/or women business operators.” 

Thomas and Hoye plan to capitalize on the growth of diverse and women-owned businesses while also taking meaningful steps to close the wealth gap.  

“We see a need in the market for more bespoke financing services tailored to the needs of private companies,” said Hoye, who serves as partner and managing director of private credit, in the statement. “There is also both a need and opportunity to provide greater access to capital for women and ethnically diverse business operators, which is core to our mission. We believe that full inclusion provides the greatest long-term value for investors, portfolio companies and the communities we serve.”  

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