Independent broker-dealer Commonwealth Financial Network said Thursday that it had formed Commonwealth Cares Fund Inc., a 501(c)3 charity and community foundation.
According to the broker-dealer, the foundation aims to boost the impact of Commonwealth Financial’s efforts to give back to the communities in which its home-office staff and its network of advisors work in, live in and visit.
“Our advisors and home-office have been giving back locally for years,” said CEO Wayne Bloom (left) in a phone interview with AdvisorOne. “This foundation allows us to do in more formal ways what we have been doing for some time. And it lets us extend our efforts through activities that are more meaningful to our advisors.”
Commonwealth Financial is paying for the foundation’s operational and administrative expenses, so that all contributions can go directly to those in need, the broker-dealer says.
“Our advisors are always asking what more they can do to support our philanthropic efforts, and this will facilitate such efforts,” explained Bloom.
In conjunction with the foundation’s introduction, Commonwealth Cares announced its first firm-wide initiative, Chemo Caps for Kids — a program providing hand-knit hats for children undergoing cancer treatment.
In 2010, for instance, this program donated more than 250 hats to Boston’s Dana-Farber Pediatric Cancer Unit. The goal in 2011 is to donate 1,000 hats to hospitals in the Boston and San Diego areas, near Commonwealth’s national headquarters.
The foundation will also support the company’s “giving back initiatives,” held during each of the broker-dealer’s regular conferences. At the firm’s October 2010 national conference in Phoenix, for instance, advisors and others refurbished a community shelter and outdoor play area.
“These types of efforts have been so successful,” said Bloom, “and we hope they will become the mainstay of Commonwealth Cares.”
The firm has more than 1,400 independent registered representatives nationwide and some $60 billion in assets under management.
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