A few years ago, Houston had no professional football team after the city lost the Oilers to Tennessee. That was a problem. A professional sports team brings a city bragging rights and promotes business development and tourism.
Houston native and billionaire Robert C. McNair was determined to use his fortune to help the community, and one way to do that was to bring a National Football League team back to Houston. After a hard-fought battle, the city won the franchise and the newest NFL team, the Houston Texans, was added to the league in 2002.
That was only one of many community projects McNair, the founder of the McNair Group, has sponsored to give back to his community.
Scott Schwinger, president of the McNair Group, this week told McNair’s story at the Invest in Women conference in Houston (the conference is sponsored by Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines).
Schwinger also explained how the McNair Group has helped direct the impact investing wishes of the McNair family. The group has grown into more of a corporate office than a simple family office, Schwinger said, and has a staff of 30.
It has about half its money in private equities and half in managed funds, and it has three foundations it oversees. Robert McNair is estimated to be worth $3.8 billion, according to Forbes’ 2018 billionaires list. The family is only interested in long-term investments, rarely buys and sells, and holds no bonds, said Schwinger. It adds to good, long-term investments over time in both public and private equities as the portfolio continues to grow.
But the way the group invests its money tells only part of the story. The real story is the positive impact it has, Schwinger said, which is a priority of McNair, his wife and two sons.
The group is invested heavily in medical research, education, energy and technology, as well as the football team. In addition to looking for companies that do well financially and socially, the group invests in some high-risk, “long shot,” start-up companies, especially in the medical and technology arenas.
“We look at the types of people who are starting these companies and assess how they might perform,” Schwinger said. “We’d like to get our money back, but we are willing to take the risk that we might not.”
The group calls it “venture philanthropy.” “It’s like venture money but for a good purpose,” Schwinger said. “It often involves super-high-risk investments, but we retain some control if things go wrong.”