http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070608robins...oll=chi-bizfront-hed


Robinson plans private-equity fund with Goldman banker

By Scott Soshnick
Bloomberg News
Published June 8, 2007, 10:13 AM CDT

Former San Antonio Spurs All-Star David Robinson plans to start a $250 million private-equity fund with a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker, taking stakes in what the pair deem "socially conscious" companies.

Daniel Bassichis will leave his position as an associate at New York-based Goldman, the world's biggest securities firm, to run the fund, he and Robinson said in an interview at the National Basketball Association finals in San Antonio yesterday.

"It's the perfect marriage of business and philanthropy," said the 41-year-old Robinson, who in 2001 contributed $9 million to found Carver Academy, a private elementary school in San Antonio that gives scholarships to almost all of its students. "All of my energy goes into community improvement. That is where my heart is."

The fund will focus on businesses that support inner-city improvement, Bassichis said. As an example, he said they might invest in a hotel company that gives internships to inner-city candidates. Assets in socially responsible U.S. mutual funds have surged more than 15-fold in the past decade to $179 billion at the end of 2005, according to a biennial survey by Washington- based Social Investment Forum.

Bassichis, 32, said a name for the fund hasn't been picked, although it will include the word "Admiral," a nickname given to Robinson because he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. They will start raising money in three to six months, said Bassichis, who is on the board of Carver Academy.

"Several major New York financial institutions and hedge funds" will invest in the fund, Bassichis said, declining to be specific because plans aren't complete. "It's a unique combination of my Wall Street background with one of the most respected athletes ever."

Spurs owner Peter Holt said he'd be interested in becoming an investor in the fund.

The NBA in 1996 named Robinson one of the 50 greatest players in league history. The 1995 Most Valuable Player won championships with the Spurs in 1999 and 2003.