Shaw and Partners reinforces commitment to 'engaged philanthropy'

Established in June this year, the Shaw and Partners Foundation's aim is to help strengthen communities through financial support, volunteering and skills sharing.

A number of advisers appear on the first committee list and Shaw and Partners' head of private wealth management, Earl Evans, said many of its financial advisers are already very active in raising money for their chosen charities and the foundation will seek to support them with donation matching.

"Many of our people raise money for their chosen charities and community organisations. Every dollar donated to a registered Australian charity by our Shaw and Partners staff will be matched by the Shaw and Partners Foundation," Mr Evans said.

He said Shaw and Partners is immensely proud of the work that has already been done by its people to help communities in need, and as the advice firm grows in numbers and profitability, the more communities will continue to benefit.

Shaw and Partners chief executive Allan Zion said the aim of the foundation is to be one of engaged philanthropy that stretches well beyond simply providing financial support.

"While financial contributions are an important role of the Foundation we are encouraging our people to contribute in more meaningful ways. We will be looking to build long-term relationships with our charitable partners that will allow them to access our business skills and the pro bono services of our staff in their areas of expertise," Mr Zion said.

"I strongly believe that companies play an important role in creating and encouraging healthy communities and that we have an obligation to look at the environments in which we live and work and support the organisations that our staff have a connection with."

Mr Zion said the Shaw and Partners Foundation would not limit itself in the ways that it could contribute to the local communities in which its staff operated. As well as pro-bono work the Shaw and Partners Foundation will support charitable causes in different ways, including fundraising; sponsorship; donation matching; volunteering; mentoring; skill sharing and employee engagement.

The inaugural Shaw and Partners committee members are:
Simon Martin, private wealth adviser
Craig Sidney, senior investment adviser
Jed Richards, senior investment adviser
Martin Crabb, head of research/Shaw and Partners board member
David Coates, senior private client adviser
Cameron Duncan, co-head of income strategies
Lisa Taranto, office manager – Melbourne
Alistair Ogilvie, senior investment manager
Victoria Macarthur-Stanham, executive assistant to the head of wealth management (Foundation Administration) and head of derivatives/risk
Earl Evans, head of private wealth management/ Shaw and Partners board member
Dan Jowett, COO/CFO
Steve Arnison, head of compliance