Community Involvement
Gerstein Fisher plays an active role in the community in which we live and work across three principal areas: education and charities for youth, foundation work, and the academic research community. We see our involvement in all of these areas as a natural extension of the firm’s commitment to helping individuals make positive decisions about their financial lives. Like our approach to investing and relating to our clients, our approach to community involvement is “real” and very hands-on. It can take the form of organizing benefits, donating computers or other equipment, or opening the firms’ doors to youth programs in need of gathering facilities. The firm also assists many charities with their investments, from broad-based asset allocation and investment management to tactical issues such as managing accounts for charitable contributions.
Commitment to Youth
As a young person, Gregg experienced firsthand the power of positive choices and influences on young people (and the equally powerful consequences of their absence). This experience fostered an interest in his adult life in supporting organizations that provide urban youth with opportunities they might not otherwise have to become involved with art, music, sports, community service, entrepreneurial pursuits, or other activities that instill a sense of purpose, build self-esteem, and help connect them with others and with their community in a positive way. Today Gerstein Fisher supports and works closely with a wide range of charities focused on youth, many of them in the New York metropolitan area. One organization that Gerstein Fisher has long been actively involved with is Art Start, whose purpose is to help under-served children and teenagers transform their lives through the creative process.
Commitment to Philanthropy
Gerstein Fisher is committed to making sound financial advice more broadly accessible to individuals and organizations in our community by working closely with families and foundations. Our philanthropic work often takes the form of donating our services to support fundraising efforts and assisting non-profits with their investment needs In past years, we have also taken part in pro bono work by providing financial counseling and education to families in need. As an example of this, following the September 11th terrorist attacks, we became involved with the Community Service Society (CSS) of New York's Windows of Hope (WOH) Family Relief Fund, which was established to assist families and loved ones of hospitality workers who lost their lives in the attacks. Gerstein Fisher provided workshops on such topics as setting up and managing bank accounts, buying a home, planning for a child's education, and managing credit for WOH families, approximately 20 of whom we still work with today.
Commitment to Academic Research
The firm’s deep commitment to the academic research community is evidenced in our strong ties with, and support for, leading academic institutions that include Polytechnic Institute of NYU (NYU-Poly), where Gregg Fisher has served as an adjunct professor teaching a course in Personal Investment Management; The University of Chicago Booth School of Business; and the University at Buffalo School of Management. By collaborating on and helping to fund innovative, practical research in areas such as finance and risk engineering, we hope to contribute to an effort that will have a major impact on the well-being of not only individual investors but also our financial system and society as a whole.
To learn more about our charitable involvement, contact us.