Calamos Investments and Giannis Antetokounmpo Launch Joint Venture

John Koudounis, President and CEO of Calamos Investments and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Credit: Calamos Investments.

Calamos Investments, the global investment management firm, partnered with NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to leverage their successes to try to make a difference and have a positive impact on society.

“Thrilled to announce Calamos Investments has partnered with NBA superstar and philanthropist Giannis Antetokounmpo in a joint venture—creating a suite of accessible, sustainable investing products that strive to perform and also give back,” John Koudounis, President and CEO of Calamos Investments, announced on Facebook on Monday.

Koudounis said that Calamos Investments and Antetokounmpo share the aim of economic empowerment, financial education, and giving back, especially to young people in the community.

To meet this goal, they announced they are launching the new Calamos Antetokounmpo Sustainable Equity Funds, a suite of ESG funds that will be publicly accessible to investors.

To that end, the Calamos Antetokounmpo partnership structured as a joint venture adviser, Calamos Antetokounmpo Asset Management LLC, of which each is a 50% co-owner, seeks to donate a portion of its revenues to charity, and the funds will follow ESG investment principles.

Antetokounmpo: Partnership with Calamos an opportunity for a better world

“I’m grateful for this partnership since it allows us the opportunity to deliver impact on the grandest scale and leave a legacy of a better world for my children and all young people because they are the future. John and I share the principles of family, community, and economic empowerment,” Antetokounmpo said.

“The values that Giannis and I share forge the foundation for a great partnership. We chose to work together because we are both deeply passionate about our goals. We aspire to have a positive impact in the community and the world today in ways that can lead to greater well-being and a brighter tomorrow,” Koudounis said.

This new suite of ESG funds will enable investors to participate in a product that focuses on performing – striving to beat the S&P 500 with lower risk over the long term — and seeking to deliver positive societal impact.

Calamos will apply its proprietary environmental and impact scoring system that assesses a company’s ability to effectively mitigate environmental, social and governance risk, evaluating six categories: product contribution, life cycle innovation, operational efficiency, inclusive finance, ensuring health, and basic services.

The funds will be managed by sustainable investing pioneers Anthony Tursich, James Madden and Beth Williamson, 30-year industry trailblazers who were among the earliest portfolio managers in the US to assess “non-financial” criteria within their investment selection process. These criteria could include how a company interacts with its community, environment, and employees.

Antetokounmpo will not make investment decisions in the funds, but he will serve on the funds’ board of directors. He will play a role in setting the direction of the fund and partnership’s mission, as well as shaping the joint venture’s targeted annual charitable contribution.

Calamos – Antetokounmpo funds accessible in the first quarter of 2023

The funds will be accessible early in the first quarter of 2023 through many publicly available investing platforms in mutual fund, ETF and UCITS vehicles, enabling access across the globe by individual investors as well as institutions of all sizes.

The ETF will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SROI and the mutual fund ticker SROIX, acronyms for societal return on investment.

These innovative new funds are a hallmark of the tenure of John Koudounis, who assumed the position of Calamos CEO in 2016 and has more than 25 years of experience on Wall Street.

Since joining the firm, Koudounis has more than doubled its assets under management (AUM), from roughly $18 billion to almost $40 billion. He continues the expansion of Calamos’ actively managed product offerings to meet growing investor demand.

Founded in 1977, Calamos pioneered investing in convertible securities and liquid alternatives and has been a major player in the market for nearly a half-century.

The firm offers strategies through separately managed portfolios, mutual funds, closed-end funds, private funds, and UCITS funds. Clients include major corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations, and individuals, as well as financial advisors and consultants who serve them.

Headquartered in the Chicago metropolitan area, the firm also has offices in New York, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Portland (Oregon), and the Miami area.