Our origin story
The origins of Thematic trace back to 2006 with the first social investment platform, Cake Financial. From that experience, we learned that great investors and investment ideas can come from outside of the established asset management firms. We created an ETF that captured the ideas of the Cake Financial community, but put that concept on the shelf when the 2008 financial crisis hit.
But things changed in 2019. The SEC passed the “ETF Rule,” which provided a clear and consistent framework for investment managers to create ETFs, and less than two years later the number of actively managed strategies and assets have more than doubled. There are now more than 600 active ETF strategies listed in the US, while assets under management crossed $250 billion.
Our founding team consists of the former founder of Cake Financial, the former product leader of Cake Financial, a team of world-class engineers, and Peter Hebert from Lux Capital. The Thematic team has a deep and proven background in creating disruptive investing and fintech products at Blackrock, Plaid, Airbnb, Dropbox, and Brex. (We also do surf lessons in Hawaii on the side.)
Our mission
Our mission is to create a world where domain experts can develop investment products and share their best ideas at scale, thereby creating economic opportunity for many.
Our vision
Our vision starts by democratizing the creation of investment products.
By lowering the cost and barriers to entry, we believe that talented individuals can build all kinds of innovative investment products.
By bringing together traditional and modern distribution methods, we believe that these ideas can find investors, which increases economic opportunity for all participants.
By developing modern technology solutions, we believe that the gains in efficiency, accuracy, and speed benefit the entire ecosystem.
Our values
We are disruptors. To achieve our mission and vision, we unapologetically and respectfully push the status quo, earning the trust of our customers and stakeholders.
We are optimists. We believe in our ability to create the future and to effectuate change. We believe in the power of creators and entrepreneurs to create outsized value.
We act as a team. We are a collection of unique individuals, working toward a common goal. We embrace the diversity of our backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
We come prepared. We show up for each other, our customers, and our community. When we say we’ll do something, we do it, on time, and give it our full effort. We hold ourselves and our teammates accountable.