Equalize Capital is an SEC-registered asset management company with a mission to create and manage strategies that provide capital, investments, and loans to underserved small businesses and persons that serve local communities throughout the United States.
Key Differentiators:
1. Equalize Capital houses the only S. mutual fund that focuses solely on community development loans including SBA 504 First Lien Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, USDA Energy Infrastructure loans, and Bureau of Indian Affairs Loans.
The Equalize Community Development Fund (EQCDX) is a non-diversified, closed-end interval fund that invests primarily in U.S. SBA loans. The fund’s socially beneficial investments are considered Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments, and offer attractive dividend yields to investors while still creating high degrees of integration and impact in underbanked communities.
2. Equalize Capital also has the only S. private fund, the American Home Opportunity Mortgage Fund (AHOMe), which focuses on increasing the availability of mortgages to deserving taxpayers with no defined residency status or a social security number through the origination of purchase of individual taxpayer identification number loans (ITIN loans).
AHOMe maintains a well-diversified portfolio of loans to allow investors to benefit from owning residential ITIN loans in an attractive vehicle that offers economies of scale, quarterly liquidity, and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) security. As a private fund rather than a public one, Equalize has greater flexibility to offer liquidity to investors while incurring lower expenses that can bolster investor return.
The Equalize affiliation with Alden Investment Group:
Equalize Capital is further supported by Alden Investment Group, which consists of registered investment advisors and broker/dealer entities. This affiliation provides nearly 30 years of additional ties to the banking industry through Alden’s history of providing equity research services focused on the banking industry and macroeconomic research, as well as a sales force of over a dozen experienced individuals who focus on providing benefit solutions to banking companies. The Alden team provides Equalize Capital with additional financial resources, compliance accounting, and operational support through the experience of its representatives that have dealt with over 800 banking and credit union clients.
Transparency, Growth, and Innovation:
The Equalize Community Development fund has grown to over $50 million and purchased over $100 million of loans since its life—a clear indication of positive investor sentiment towards investing for impact. Recently, Equalize has enhanced the liquidity and expanded the mandate of its community development fund to include more USDA community development loans that help produce clean power and similar investments in rural communities throughout the United States. You can find out more about the fund’s activities by looking through the quarterly reviews, 504 market updates, and monthly market monitors on the Equalize website.
Equalize CEO Lee Calfo and CFO Joe Gladue also hope to create a semi-annual webinar series that answers questions about the fund, the team, and the ESG aspects of the firm. Transparency is a major value at Equalize Capital and commitment to transparency will continue to grow as the firm expands.
