Anders Faijersson Ferguson

Anders Faijersson Ferguson is a founding principal of Veris Wealth Partners, an impact-focused wealth management and investment advisory firm founded in 2007. Veris says it was created to help individuals, families, foundations, and endowments align financial assets with values, mission, and long-term impact goals. Ferguson led Veris’ strategic marketing and business development before retiring from the firm at the end of 2020.

Before Veris, Ferguson chaired Uplift Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on sustainable health and wellbeing markets. Public sources describe him as a long-time entrepreneur and financier who has worked on sustainable companies and nonprofits since 1978, with specialties in sustainable alternative assets, capital formation, and business strategy. He also served as vice-chair of Uplift Media LLC, described by Value Mentors as the largest portfolio company of Uplift Equity Partners.

Earlier in his career, Ferguson served as chair of Northeast Cooperatives, an organic distributor that he helped grow 20-fold to $125 million in revenue before its sale to United Natural Foods, Inc. in 2002. He founded Spirit in Business in 2000 and co-founded the Global Leaders Academy and Dalai Lama Fellows. Veris also identifies him as a former advisor to the Evergreen Cooperatives initiative in Cleveland and a 12-year director of the National Cooperative Business Association and Foundation.

Ferguson studied agriculture at Purdue University and graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in History and Environmental Studies. Oberlin identifies him as Anders Faijersson Ferguson ’75 and as chair of Friends of the Oberlin Project.

• Ferguson’s investing work is rooted in sustainable and impact investing. Veris describes its founding vision as building “a values driven wealth management firm fully devoted to impact investing across asset classes.”
• Veris’ current platform invests across public and private markets and focuses on four core themes: climate solutions and the environment, sustainable and regenerative agriculture, racial and gender equity, and community wealth building.
• Veris says it seeks intentional opportunities connected to those impact themes across asset classes, with an “intersectional approach” because social and environmental challenges are intertwined.
• Through Uplift Equity Partners, Ferguson’s earlier private equity focus was health and wellbeing. CSRwire described Uplift as investing in companies using leading-edge science and technology to improve human performance through health and wellbeing products and services.
• Ferguson has also advocated for creativity as an investable sustainability theme, writing with Laura Callanan that creativity can strengthen communities, drive change, and help address issues including healthy food, climate change, criminal justice, and immigration.