Snowball

Snowball is an impact investment management firm operating as a fund of funds, established to demonstrate that capital can generate both positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. Founded in 2017 by James Perry, co-founder of the food business Cook, and Alexander Hoare, former CEO of C Hoare & Co, the firm was created to make this investment approach accessible to all. In May 2025, Snowball was acquired by Tribe Impact Capital, a wealth manager, to enhance its private markets capabilities and broaden its impact investment offerings.

The firm operates on a distinct business model designed for positive impact, structured as a B Corporation which legally requires it to consider the impact of its decisions on all stakeholders. Snowball charges a simple flat fee, avoiding performance-based fees, a practice it terms “non-extractive finance”. Its client base primarily consists of family offices, high-net-worth individuals, endowments, and charitable foundations, with an ambition to expand its services to retail investors. Revenue is generated through management fees, which are structured to decrease as the fund grows, passing the benefits of scale onto the investors.

Snowball offers a diversified multi-asset class, open-ended fund that invests in a portfolio of other impact funds across both public and private markets. This fund of funds strategy provides investors with broad diversification, aiming to reduce volatility while targeting specific impact themes like social equity and environmental sustainability. The portfolio is constructed by selecting managers who integrate measurable impact into their investment process, with commitments to funds managed by firms such as Bridges Fund Management and Circularity Capital. The firm's approach is to actively manage the portfolio to optimize for impact, risk, and return, with a long-term target of a 7% annual return net of fees. This model provides access to specialist expertise and private market funds that might otherwise be unavailable to its clients.

The firm is led by CEO Daniela Barone Soares, who joined in 2019 and was instrumental in its public launch in 2020. Her background combines private equity and venture capital experience at firms like BancBoston Capital and Goldman Sachs with leadership in the non-profit sector, including a nine-year tenure as CEO of the venture philanthropy organization Impetus. This blend of commercial and social-sector expertise aligns with Snowball's core mission. Barone Soares has been recognized for her work in impact investing, including receiving an OBE. Keywords: impact investing, fund of funds, multi-asset, sustainable finance, private markets, B Corp, wealth management, social equity, environmental solutions, non-extractive finance