Franciscan Sisters of Mary

John O'Shaughnessy serves as both CEO and CFO of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, concentrating investment authority in a single executive. He also co-founded the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative, indicating he drives both internal portfolio construction and external field-building efforts. The office does not publicly list additional investment professionals, suggesting a lean team structure common among religious congregations of this size.

The Franciscan Sisters of Mary founded SSM Health, a Catholic hospital system that operates across Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma with over $10 billion in annual revenue. The congregation remains a sponsor through SSM Health Ministries, maintaining governance ties while the investment office functions as a separate financial steward. This origin creates an asset base distinct from congregations whose wealth comes primarily from donations or bequests.

The Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC) is a membership network of Catholic institutional asset owners that facilitates co-investment and impact measurement. John O'Shaughnessy co-founded CIIC, positioning the Franciscan Sisters of Mary as a convening node within the faith-aligned impact investing ecosystem. Members share deal flow, due diligence, and frameworks for evaluating investments against Catholic social teaching.

The portfolio includes both explicitly faith-aligned initiatives like CIIC and secular impact funds such as Vision Ridge Sustainable Asset Funds and the Morgan Stanley Climate Solutions Fund, according to Altss research. This suggests the investment office prioritizes environmental and social outcomes over exclusively Catholic branding when evaluating managers. The blend of timberland, climate infrastructure, and venture positions reflects a practical rather than doctrinaire interpretation of mission alignment.

The portfolio mixes direct property holdings, such as the Lyme Forest Fund and The Sarah Community residential facility, with LP positions in external funds including Vision Ridge and Morgan Stanley vehicles. This dual approach — direct real assets alongside delegated fund commitments — mirrors the endowment model more than the fully-outsourced OCIO structure typical of religious orders. The office does not appear to pursue control-oriented private equity transactions.

Through CIIC and affiliations with Confluence Philanthropy and GIIN, the office participates in peer networks that commonly facilitate co-investment, but there is no public indication that the Franciscan Sisters of Mary actively syndicates deals to outside parties. The congregation's assets are stewarded exclusively for its own benefit and its sponsored ministries, consistent with the structure of a religious single-family-office equivalent.

The congregation's financial base originated from its founding and long-term sponsorship of SSM Health, a multi-billion-dollar Catholic hospital system. Unlike many religious orders whose endowments derive from pooled donations or parish contributions, the Sisters' assets reflect nearly a century and a half of operating a healthcare enterprise. The congregation formally transferred day-to-day operations to a lay-led health system, retaining sponsorship rights and the financial legacy of that enterprise.