CIFC Asset Management has launched a new philanthropy – CLO Initiative for Change – which combines support from organizations promoting environmental, social and governance changes with the company’s day-to-day work as a credit manager and CLO sponsor.

Under a new secured loan obligation, CIFC Funding 2021-IV, CIFC and other companies working on the CLO are contributing $ 145,000 to Black Girls Code, a non-profit organization that provides education technology to girls aged 7 to 17. Members of the donating group are RBC Capital Markets, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Appleby (Cayman) Ltd., Allen & Overy LLP, Milbank LLP and Locke Lord LLP.

“What drew us to the Black Girls Code is that there is a significant under-representation of women of color in the financial market,” said Mark Sanofsky, CEO of the New York-based CIFC.

Once a year, CIFC leaders plan to publish a CLO associated with the CLO Initiative for Change. The CIFC will ask its business partners in this CLO to pledge a portion of their fees to a charity, he said.

Steve Vaccaro, CEO and CIO of CIFC, said he heard from other CLO executives that they wished they had thought of doing the same. “I think this will spread, not just our one deal per year. We expect this to be replicated by our peers in other deals,” Vaccaro said.