Hedge Funds Donate to Worthy Cause

Hedge Funds Rally for Children: $1M+ Raised at Help for Children’s 2023 Gala

Executives and supporters of Help for Children (HFC) pose for a photo at the 2023 Annual Gala held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

On May 10th, the non-profit organization Help for Children

(HFC), formerly known as “Hedge Fund Cares”, held their 2023

Annual Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. In attendance

were leading hedge fund professionals from the metropolitan

area alongside notable firms including DE Shaw, KPMG and

CITCO.

HFC President Dean Backer delivering his keynote address to the gala’s attendees.

The benefit organized by HFC President Dean Backer was held

to help raise funds for the organization which combats against

child maltreatment. Throughout the evening, over $1M dollars

in capital was donated from the event’s attendees stemming

largely from Wall Street and the hedge fund sector. Backer, an

esteemed Goldman Sachs executive, called HFC “the charity of

the alternative investment community”.

Founded in 1998, by finance veteran Rob Davis, HFC has now

invested more than $58M in its mission since inception and

helped transform the lives of more than 1.1M children and

families. Davis, a well-regarded hedge fund executive once

commented “This is the most philanthropic industry on the

planet…but you almost never hear about it.” As was the case

this particular evening as the donations made went largely

unnoticed and without special announcement.

HFC Founder Rob Davis posing for a photo at the 2023 Annual Gala held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Throughout the evening, a fundraiser was held with numerous

auction items on display. The items consisted of a number of

luxury specialities from trips to Paris, Bali and Bahamas to meet

& greets with cast members from the Sopranos, tickets to a Billy

Joel concert as well as tickets to a New York Knicks game. By

the end of the evening, most of the items on display were

quickly auctioned off to the guests in attendance. HFC

Executive Director Sumudu Waas said “without the support of

the alternative investment industry we would not have been able

to give out $58M dollars over 25 years and change the lives of

over 1M children and families.”

Waas went on to add that HFC originally started fundraising in

the hedge fund sector due to the close ties of its original

principals. But in recent years has also branched out to other

avenues of the alternative investment industry including private

equity and real estate asset management. With monies raised,

HFC has already received 38 LOI’s this calendar year and plans

to allocate more capital to local nonprofits throughout its10

locations spread across the United States.