Tom Faust is throwing Eaton Vance's [profile] financial weight behind a longstanding musical tradition for the people of the fund firm's hometown of Boston.

Tom Faust Eaton Vance Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops orchestra, confirms that Eaton Vance has signed on as the "presenting sponsor" of the Boston Pops' famous annual Fourth of July "Fireworks Spectacular", a giant concert open to the public that dates back to 1929. Eaton Vance has committed to sponsoring the concert for at least three years, starting this summer.

Faust, chairman and CEO of Eaton Vance, tells the Boston Globe that, of all the asset manager's favored charitable causes, "this is the only one ... that has 'spectacular' in its name."

"We don't view this as a major marketing move for us," Faust tells the paper. "Primarily, it's our way of giving back to the community and our way of celebrating America's birthday."

The Boston Pops and Eaton Vance both declined to tell the Globe the value of the deal. Yet the paper notes that over 11 years the concert's then-main sponsor, Liberty Mutual, shelled out about $25 million in total (ending with the 2015 concert). That translates into about $2.27 million per year. And in 2016 David Mugar, the concert's retiring longtime organizer, paid about $2 million himself to put the show on.

Bloomberg has also signed on for three years as "a major sponsor and media partner" and will broadcast the concert on its TV and radio stations. This year's concert, on July 3 and July 4, will feature special guests Melissa Etheridge (a folk rock singer-songwriter) and Andy Grammer (a pop singer). 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE