BOSTON, June 17, 2019 – The 36th running of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in Boston sold out its 9,000 available spots for full-time working runners in four minutes.
One of the 365 registered companies that knows how to beat the deadline, year after year, is Acadian Asset Management, a Boston-headquartered global quantitative investment firm with approximately $95 billion in assets under management as of March 31.
Acadian will be marking its 14th consecutive year on the Charles Street starting line on Thursday night, June 20. Its employees will be prideful and in “uniform” when the 7:15 p.m. starting horn goes off.
“This event is something that Acadian employees look forward to every year,” said Brendan Bradley, Chief Investment Officer at Acadian and regular participant in the event. “The Corporate Challenge lets us support the community, have a great run, and enjoy some time together outside the office. Over the years, we’ve had hundreds of employees participate.”
Bradley noted that a favorite aspects of this event is seeing all the different firms from around Boston come out to participate. “Chances are, you’ll run into someone you know, or make a connection through recognizing what firm someone’s from. It reminds us that while Boston is a major city with a thriving business community, it’s also a tight knit community.”
And it’s a community that loves its running. The Boston Marathon may be the event most synonymous with The Hub on a global basis, but the Corporate Challenge is the largest weeknight road race held entirely within the city limits. And this year will make the 25th consecutive year that the event has reached a full capacity of entrants.
Among Acadian employees – as with so many of the participating firms – there is a high representation from senior management. In addition to Bradley, Acadian will also bring its Global Director of Human Resources Mike Miles to the Back Bay on race night.
“The Corporate Challenge is a great event on so many levels,” Bradley said. “We can give back and support an important cause, promote physical fitness, network and team-build with fellow employees, meet new people, and enjoy the energy of this huge, perennial favorite event in the city of Boston.”
The important cause Bradley referenced is The Every Child Fund at Boston Children’s Hospital. JPMorgan Chase will donate to the iconic charitable organization on behalf of all Corporate Challenge entrants.
This will mark the third consecutive year that JPMorgan Chase will partner with Boston Children’s Hospital, where each year more than 600,000 kids and their parents go for hope, healing and the chance for a healthy future.
Bradley noted that participating in the Corporate Challenge also allows Acadian to raise awareness for its own philanthropic efforts.
“Acadian has grown our philanthropic efforts in recent years with a new charitable giving model focused around a smaller number of strategic, high-impact partnerships with organizations that are local to the Boston area,” Bradley said. “We want to partner with organizations where our contribution can make a substantial difference. Our current work focuses on education for under-resourced individuals across different stages in life.” Fellow Corporate Challenge participants can learn more about these efforts at https://www.acadian-asset.com/about-acadian/philanthropy.
On the competitive side, Raytheon (men), Fidelity (women) and Puma (mixed) will be the teams to beat on Thursday. Those teams won the 2018 Corporate Challenge in the noted divisions and will represent Boston at the 2019 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Championship in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 4.
Acadian and companies from dozens of different industry groups will be looking to put a sprint in their step with an eye on qualifying for the 2020 Championship event, date and location to be announced in due course.
