Our Approach to Investing

Chordata Capital is an anticapitalist wealth management firm with a commitment to support clients in redistributing rather than continuing to accumulate wealth.

We started Chordata with a vision that investors can enact wealth redistribution in practical and visionary ways, guided by an ethic of repair and a dream for a just economy.

What makes this work unique?

From the beginning, we have been clear that our work is to dismantle the extractive economy, to support wealth redistribution, and to work for racial justice. There are many alternatives to capitalism. Chordata’s work is to support and invest in radical experiments building Solidarity Economies*: an ecosystem of just and sustainable economies where we prioritize people and the planet over endless profit and growth.

But can an investment advising practice be anti capitalist? We believe that it can be. Here’s how:

We center radical interdependence, grounded in the belief that we need each other.

How? We have deep, ongoing relationships with leaders in the solidarity economy movement. Read more about these in the “Investment Highlights” section of our impact report.

We redistribute wealth, rather than accumulate it. We don’t believe in the premise that wealthy people should gain a profit just from being wealthy, or that people without wealth should pay a price for not having money to begin with.

How? We don’t invest to generate profits for our clients. This looks like zero interest or below-market-rate loans in the majority of our investments. Check out an example of this in the story of Manzanita Capital Collective redistributing land to farmers of color with 0% loans in the “Investment Highlights” section of our impact report, here.

We shift power away from people with capital and to community controlled funds

How? We invest in communities, not in Wall Street. We facilitate direct investments into local economies that focus on racial, economic and gender justice. We are especially excited about models that shift decision-making power away from investors and into communities. An example of this is SEED Commons, a national network of locally-rooted, non-extractive loan funds. They share capital and other resources to support local cooperative businesses, and they make decisions together about how to allocate grant and investment capital between the many loan funds.

We support businesses that are moving wealth and governance power to workers and working class people

How? Our current favorite example of this is Reem’s, one of our direct investments. Reem’s is an Arab bakery that the owner is transitioning to be cooperatively run. Read more about Reem’s in our interview with Nina Robinson here!

We acknowledge the violence and harm done by wealth accumulation and we work towards repair, with an emphasis on returning resources to and investing in the economic self-determination of Black and Native communities

How? We invest in CDFIs in Black and Native communities, such as Oweesta– the only Native CDFI Intermediary that provides lending capital and development services exclusively to Native American CDFIs. Another example is Hope Credit Union, a Black-led credit union in the Mississippi Delta.

We believe that everyone is a leader, and that decision-making and organizing work should be done by those most impacted by the decisions

How? Our current favorite example of this is Black Farmer Fund, who we invest in. Black Farmer Fund centers Black farmers in funding decisions by practicing collective decision-making with their community-led investment committee. You can learn more about how they are building community-based decision-making power here.

We honor seasons, integrating ritual and spirit into the work we do together and in community

How? Our 9-month cohort program was guided by a seasonal cycle, and we worked with altars, ancestors, and other practices that feel authentic to us. Though we no longer run this program, these practices continue to find their way into our gatherings and meetings.

We are committed to our business growing sustainably and being here for the long-haul. We grow at the speed of relationship, and we take the time we need to care for ourselves.

Our commitment to being an anticapitalist investment advising firm is a grounding anchor. It’s a beacon that we shine to call in aligned collaborators and partners in doing this work of shifting investments into the Solidarity Economy.

Chordata Capital is housed at Natural Investments. Natural Investments is the Registered Investment Advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Natural Investments transitioned ownership from six human owners to a perpetual purpose trust (PPT) supervised by a seven-member Trust Stewardship Committee comprised of our advisors and staff. Natural Investments made this change to ensure that the firm, in perpetuity, stays committed to building a more just, equitable, and regenerative world.

*Solidarity Economy – Growing out of social movements in Latin America and the Global South, the solidarity economy provides real alternatives to capitalism, where communities govern themselves through participatory democracy, cooperative and public ownership, and a culture of solidarity and respect for the earth.