Real Impact, Real Returns ℠
JPS Global Investments
Our Founder's Story
Jan Schalkwijk is the founder and lead portfolio manager of JPS Global Investments. Helping clients achieve the financial goals that underwrite their life goals is his life’s work.
Conservation has been part of my life since childhood. I grew up in a town in Holland, where the garbage is collected infrequently, and all compostable material ends up in the yard. Caring for the environment was not a political act; it’s just the way things were. The reality of living in a resource constrained world is built into the way of life in towns and countries that are space constrained.
Years later, when I started in the investment field, I didn’t realize that investing could reflect one’s values. And as a 20-something I wasn’t yet trying to connect the dots between my career and my values. However, after about a decade in the traditional investment industry, I was ready for a change. I knew I wanted more from my career, but I wasn’t exactly sure what that “more” was. Contrary to sound financial advice, I spent a good chunk of my savings and left a well-paid job to travel the world for a year, visiting over 30 countries on 5 continents. This trip was perhaps the best thing I ever did, rekindling my love for this planet, its pristine landscapes, and its delicate ecosystems.
In 2007, upon my return from that trip, I founded JPS Global Investments with the goal of serving people who wanted something different from what the big financial institutions had to offer, people who wanted a greater connection with how their money was being invested and with the people managing it. That goal led me to impact investing, where clients can earn financial returns and have a more meaningful relationship with their money through the impact their investments are having in the world.
Initially, my impact investing focus was on opportunities that had a positive environmental impact, such as renewable energy, resource efficiency, and land, air & water pollution mitigation. This focus was self-driven, based on my childhood and travels, and it seemed like a natural fit. Over time my focus has expanded as my clients have expressed interest in other areas and they have opened my eyes to a wider variety of impact investments, such as financial inclusion, sustainable agriculture, education, and affordable housing.
I am passionate about listening to my clients, focusing in on the issues they care about, and tailoring portfolios to have the unique impact that each client desires.
“It is when I help my clients achieve the impact that they seek and the investment goals they have set, that I feel the most meaning in what I do.” – Jan P. Schalkwijk
Our Team
Jan Schalkwijk, CFA
FOUNDER & PORTFOLIO MANAGER
Jan manages the investment portfolios and financial planning services at JPS Global Investments. He enjoys working with a diverse investor base, including clients interested in socially responsible investing and impact investing. Being in Silicon Valley, he also enjoys advising clients with company stock options and concentrated stock positions. What ties it all together for Jan, is the desire to offer customized financial planning and investment management services, tailored to the client’s unique circumstances.
Jan has over 20 years of experience in the investment industry and is the founder and senior portfolio manager of JPS Global Investments. From 2013–2017, Jan also served as portfolio manager and partner of Africa Capital Group (ACG), where he co-managed the Africa Frontier Fund and was the director of impact investing. Prior to JPS and ACG, Jan was vice president of investment platforms at Franklin Templeton. Jan received a degree in Economics from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, his Bachelor of Science degree from Menlo College and his Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara University. From 2013–2015 Jan was an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon, where he taught a class on Impact Investing in the undergraduate and MBA programs.
Jan currently resides in San Carlos, CA with his wife Kizzy and son Nicholas. In his spare time, Jan is an avid outdoorsman, snowboarder, traveler, and student of history.
Meghan Lape CFP®, EA®
FINANCIAL PLANNING AND TAX CONSULTANT
Meghan Lape-Lefevre CFP®, EA is a senior advisor at JPS Global Investments. Meghan has spent the last 11 years conducting financial life planning, counseling and education and is dedicated to empowering others to transform their finances into personal advocacy. As a member of the JPS team, she is glad to bring her knowledge and experience into enhancing clients’ relationship with their money and creating customized financial life plans. She received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Franklin University and Master of Science in Family Financial Planning from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
When Meghan is not working, she volunteers to provide free financial counseling, financial planning, and tax preparation to individuals through the Yellow Ribbon Fund, Family Reach for cancer patients, and the VITA program. Her remaining personal time is dedicated to her spouse, rescue dog, and their many travels around the world.
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” -Henry David Thoreau
Tom Konrad
RESEARCH ANALYST
Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA, is an investment analyst and writer focused on clean energy stocks. He is best known for his cautious and income-oriented approach to investing, and his warnings leading up to the bursting of the 2015 Yieldco bubble. His writing has appeared in publications such as GreenTech Media, The Guardian, Renewable Energy World, Forbes.com, but his primary outlet has been AltEnergyStocks.com since 2007.
Tom is a CFA charterholder and has a PhD in mathematics from Purdue University. He wrote his thesis on a branch of chaos theory. This study of chaos theory led to his conviction that knowing the limits of our ability to predict is much more important than predictions themselves, a lesson he applies to both climate science and the financial markets.
He volunteers as the Chair of the New York Town of Marbletown’s Environmental Conservation Commission (ECC), and is a long distance runner. The ECC’s efforts have turned Marbletown into a locally recognized leader in the shift to renewable energy while producing a net benefit to the Town government’s and residents’ budgets. In 2019 he completed a 28.2 mile ultra-marathon up and down 4000 vertical feet of the hills of Tuscany to celebrate his 50th birthday.
Terri Schlabs
OPERATIONS
Terri Schlabs supports JPS Global Investments in business operations. Terri brings 20 years of operations management experience working in the financial planning industry, including client support, compliance, and accounting. She received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Terri is a Colorado native and loves the outdoors and adventure – from hiking, biking, trekking in the snow to gardening. She also loves to travel and experience new places, cultures, and people. She has always volunteered her time and energy – currently helping out at Project Angel Heart. She is married to Greg and they have 2 grown sons (who, she will tell you, live too far away) and a favorite hiking buddy – their fluffy Labradoodle, Ezra.
Edmund Neo
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST
Edmund is a research analyst at JPS Global Investments, holding a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. Edmund’s engineering background and experience working with digital signal processing in mobile phones have equipped him with strong skills in analyzing large amounts of data and extracting useful information. This expertise enables him to analyze investment accounts and recommend trades that keep client portfolios optimized to their investment goals, risk tolerances, and individual directives.
In addition to his technical skills, Edmund is a CFA charter holder and earned an MBA from the Nyenrode Business University in The Netherlands. He also serves as an adjunct professor of finance at Menlo College, and volunteers as a mentor for the Menlo College CFA research challenge team, where he guides students to apply their analytical skills in valuing publicly traded firms.
Edmund has lived in eight cities across Singapore, The Netherlands, and the United States, which has fueled his fascination for different cultures and how they communicate and work with one another. In his free time, Edmund enjoys attending Tango classes and dancing socially with his wife Shannon.