March 6, 2025

Join Natural Investments, Holdfast Collective (Patagonia), and Purpose Owned to learn how organizations can effectively transition to alternative ownership models without losing company culture or relationships. Dive deep into the role of perpetual purpose funds and ways regenerative finance can steward transformative business. As more enterprises shift towards participatory governance and worker-owned cooperatives, investors, founders, and shareholders can take proactive steps to protect mission-driven organizations and create equitable exit strategies. 

Natural Investments is a registered investment advisor and public benefit corporation exclusively dedicated to socially responsible and impact investing.  Celebrating 40 years of financial advising to investors nationwide committed to justice and sustainability, the firm established the first rating system of socially responsible funds in 1992, the Heart Rating, has been a certified B Corp since 2007, and is the first purpose trust-owned financial firm in the nation. The firm’s 22 advisors across 10 states manage $1.9 billion in assets, with particular focus on racial and gender equity, ecological regeneration, poverty alleviation, and community development. The firm’s thought leadership includes three seminal books on the field over the past 30 years: “Investing from the Heart”; “Investing With Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference”; and “The Resilient Investor: A Plan for Your Life, Not Just Your Money.”

Holdfast Collective and the Patagonia Purpose Fund are Patagonia’s new owners. The Holdfast Collective owns 98% of the company and all of the nonvoting stock. The Patagonia Purpose Trust owns 2% of the company and all of the voting stock. The Holdfast Collective (Collective for short) will use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities, as quickly as possible. As a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization, the Collective can advocate for causes and political candidates in addition to making grants and investments in our planet. Each year, excess profits—money made after reinvesting in the business (including money to save for unforeseen events, like a pandemic)—will be distributed as a dividend to the Collective to be used for its work.

Purpose Owned specializes in a new legal form of ownership called the Perpetual Purpose Trusts. Purpose Owned helps create plans that allow founders to protect their values while they step aside and new leaders to step in, deepen impact thought codifying purpose commitments, design ways to share governance and rewards with stakeholders, and bring in aligned financing to create regenerative business models. Offering a unique service as ownership transition consultants, Purpose Owned helps leaders of private companies design and implement purpose succession plans, ownership and financing models.