We are tremendously proud to announce Robasciotti & Philipson is merging with Abacus.
R&P is a nationally acclaimed, social justice-aligned firm based in San Francisco. Co-founders Rachel Robasciotti and Maya Philipson will serve on the Abacus team as Director of Advocacy Engagement and Strategic Advisor, respectively.
R&P was founded by Rachel in 2004 with the belief that wealth should be a tool that supports the wellbeing of people and the planet – particularly communities most impacted by social inequities. Majority-owned and operated by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, R&P launched its Social Justice Investment strategy in 2018 which eventually became Adasina Social Capital. This work has positioned both Rachel and Maya as leaders within the financial industry for integrating issues of race, gender, economic, and climate justice into investment portfolios.
Reflecting on the merger, Maya says, “At its very core, Abacus is a team of individuals who are deeply aligned with our social justice values and this influence is apparent throughout their entire approach to investment management and financial planning. This transition feels so natural to us and will be for our clients as well. We are thrilled to start this new chapter with Abacus.”
Also reflecting on the merger, Abacus CEO Brent Kessel says, “We are honored to welcome R&P’s values-aligned clients to Abacus. Since the day I was introduced to Rachel and her team, there has been tremendous synergy in how we approach the intersection of wealth and impact. This partnership enables us to leverage our platform and resources to further advance our clients’ social justice-driven investment strategies.
“We’re incredibly fortunate that Rachel and Maya will continue to work with Abacus to help evolve our practice to better serve people from racially- and gender-diverse communities. This is a significant moment in our company’s history.”
In January of 2021, Brent and Rachel co-authored the Due Diligence 2.0 Commitment, which urges members of the asset management industry to reform traditional due-diligence and risk-assessment frameworks that have led to a system in which white, male asset managers control 98.7% of the investment industry’s $69 trillion in assets under management.
This pledge outlines a substantially equivalent, but alternative due-diligence process that increases the flow of capital to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) managers, in alignment with the fiduciary responsibility of asset management organizations. To read more details about the pledge, please visit www.duediligencecommitment.com.
Abacus welcomes the R&P family into our own and we look forward to reshaping the world of finance together for many years to come.
This merger will have no impact on our existing client investment portfolios.
