SPEARHEAD CAPITAL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Director Within Spearhead 's Investment
- Associate Director, Investment Research
Mr. Blum's primary responsibilities are investment research, third-party manager due diligence, custom portfolio analysis and portfolio reporting.
Mr. Blum earned his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from The University of Central Florida.
Mr. Blum holds Series 7, 63 and 65 registrations and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).
Alyson Kest - Chief Compliance Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Compliance Officer
- Deputy General Counsel
Alyson Kest is the Chief Compliance Officer and Deputy General Counsel at Spearhead.
Ms. Kest has 15+ years of legal and compliance experience within the financial services industry. Most recently, she was the Chief Compliance Officer and Counsel for WBI Investments, Inc. and its affiliates Millington Securities, Inc. and Hartshorne Group, Inc. In this role, Ms. Kest was responsible for the investment advisory and broker dealer compliance programs across the entities.
Prior to WBI, Ms. Kest acted as compliance counsel for the investment team at Catlin, Inc. where she focused on investment rules and regulations for the global specialty insurance/reinsurance company. Before joining Catlin, Ms. Kest was designated compliance coverage for the credit sales and trading group at Macquarie after initially joining the firm's central compliance group to help oversee the compliance program of the US broker dealer.
Prior to Macquarie, Ms. Kest held a variety of compliance and risk roles within Morgan Stanley's institutional sales and trading division, within both core compliance teams and in the fixed income, prime brokerage and securities lending divisions.
Ms. Kest began her legal and compliance career as Associate General Counsel at Royal Alliance, where she focused on litigation.
Ms. Kest holds a JD from Seton Hall Law School and a BA in Communications from Marist College. Ms. Kest holds Series 7, 24, 66 and 99 registrations and is licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey.
Brandon Avergon is an Associate Director within Spearhead's Wealth Management division.
Christopher Fineburg is the Managing Director within Spearhead's Strategic Relationships division.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Fineburg was employed by Greycourt & Co. for twelve years, serving as an advisor on $1.4 billion of discretionary and non-discretionary assets in both US and non-US domiciles. Mr. Fineburg specialized in working with structurally complex ultra-high net worth families.
Mr. Fineburg served as a member of the investment committee as well as on Greycourt's short-medium term tactical investment team, identifying absolute and relative value opportunities across the investment spectrum.
Prior to joining Greycourt in 2007, Mr. Fineburg was a Principal of Calibrated Asset Management, focused on developing and researching tax efficient, quantitative equity market neutral strategies. Mr. Fineburg also worked for Delaware Investments as an Assistant Vice President with responsibility for institutional relationships in the Northeast and Midwest as well as managing their retirement plan desk.
Mr. Fineburg began his career in Florida working for a family office with expertise in distressed company and portfolio acquisitions in the mortgage space. He holds a BS in Finance from The Florida State University, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Christopher Shepherd is the Managing Director of Spearhead's Wealth Management division.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director, Wealth Management
Mr. Shepherd brings over 23 years of experience in high-net worth client relationship management, marketing and product development.
Mr. Shepherd consults to family offices, ultra-high-net worth families, trustees and private foundations. His family office consulting work centers on the coordination of the in-house and outsourced investment management and infrastructure needs.
Mr. Shepherd has a long history of successfully building private client practices, having most recently spent 15 years at Shepherd Kaplan LLC, a registered investment advisory firm where he lead the growth and development of the private client practice in which he provided consulting, educational and investment management services to private investors.
Corey McLaren is the Director of Alternative Strategies within Spearhead's Life Settlements division.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. McLaren served as Director for Hilliard Management, LLC and the Fayerweather Street Life Settlement fund series. Hilliard Management is a boutique investment manager that applies quantitative analysis to life settlements and other longevity-focused assets. During his tenure at Hilliard, Mr. McLaren was primarily responsible for sourcing assets for the firm's three life settlement funds, while managing the day-to-day operations at the firm.
Including his prior industry experience at Coventry First, Mr. McLaren is responsible for sourcing in excess of $1B of total life insurance benefits.
Mr. McLaren earned a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of Business.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Portfolio Manager
- Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Spearhead 's Liquid
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Tiller served as a global equity analyst and institutional portfolio manager for Northern Trust. The multibillion dollar fund family operated in both the high net worth individual and institutional investor spaces on platforms across the market. During his tenure at Northern, Mr. Tiller contributed to a diverse range of products and investment styles, including U.S. Large Cap Value, U.S. Large Cap Growth, International Core and Balanced products.
Mr. Tiller earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Finance from Liberty University, a Master's in Business Administration from University of Florida, and a Master's of Science in Accounting from Liberty University as well.
He is both a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- Associate Director, Investment Services
- Manager of Operations at Scanabilities Ventures
Mr. Kantoci is focused on streamlining Spearhead's business operations and manages the firm's financial and reporting systems.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Kantoci was based in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur at IBU Labs where he directed the development of predictive data analytics for the cryptocurrency and foreign exchange markets.
Previously, as the Sr. Manager of Operations at Scanabilities Ventures, Mr. Kantoci managed the daily operations and technological development for an electronics medical records provider.
Having transitioned to the information technology industry, Mr. Kantoci served as COO of KanDar Enterprises, where he held several roles overseeing all business operations and maintaining Fortune 50 client relationships across the US.
Job Titles:
- Director of Business Development
David Reynolds is the Director of Business Development across Spearhead's financial services platform.
He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificant. In addition to supporting the firm's more broad business development initiatives, Mr. Reynolds also oversees Spearhead's Private Placement Insurance business, as well as its Insurance Dedicated Funds platform.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Reynolds spent several years as an Institutional Sales professional at HedgeCo Securities, a broker-dealer and hedge funds service provider. Mr. Reynolds generates new business for the firm's fund administration, prime brokerage, third party marketing, and website development divisions. In doing so, he established a network of family offices and institutional investors for whom he sourced emerging and early-stage hedge fund managers.
Mr. Reynolds has also completed independent projects on behalf of Archery Capital, a former Manhattan-based fund of funds, as well as the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County.
Mr. Reynolds earned his Bachelor of Science in Personal Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a 2013 graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County and currently serves as President of the Palm Beach Badgers UW-Madison Alumni Club.
Mr. Reynolds holds Series 3, 7, 34 and 63 registrations.
Job Titles:
- Director of Wealth Management With Spearhead 's Wealth
- Director, Wealth Management
Deborah Dyer is the Director of Wealth Management with Spearhead's Wealth Management division.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Ms. Dyer was the Executive Vice President at Enhance Advisors, LLC of Palm Beach, Florida, a private wealth management firm, where she was responsible for business development.
Ms. Dyer began her career in financial advisory as Vice President of Marketing with Connecticut Investment Management, LLC in Essex, CT, where she marketed a successful large capitalization growth portfolio to high net worth individuals and institutions.
Ms. Dyer earned her Bachelors of Science in Education from New England College, and holds a Series 65 registration.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor & ESG Specialist
Dr. Christian Kling is a Senior Advisor and ESG Specialist within Spearhead's Wealth Management division.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Dr. Kling co-founded Enhance Advisors, LLC. Dr. Kling acted as Senior Investment Analyst for their Life Enhancement Investments strategy.
Prior to joining Enhance Advisors, Dr. Kling had a long and storied career in financial services. He founded Kling, Manning & Napier Inc., co-founded Rand Capital Corporation, served as Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Connecticut Investment Management and served as Sr. Vice President of Investments for Dean Witter and Paine Webber, where he was a member of the Chairman's Council.
Dr. Kling holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, a M.B.A in Finance and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Columbia University, a Ph.D. in Economics from The University of Michigan, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow, and a Master of Divinity from Yale University.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Glovin worked at Hilliard Management, where he focused on pricing policies, portfolio analytics, and financial reporting within the Life Settlement Industry.
James Hickey serves as the Managing Director of Alternative Strategies for Spearhead.
Prior to this role, Mr. Hickey served as Chief Investment Strategist for HD Vest (now Avantax), an independent broker-dealer & registered investment advisor with over $45B in assets. In this role, Mr. Hickey oversaw investment strategy, home office portfolios, and market research.
Prior to HD Vest, Mr. Hickey served as Vice President and Portfolio Manager for FDO Partners ("FDO"), a $3B quant investment firm founded by Harvard Business School Professor Ken Froot. In this role, Mr. Hickey launched FDO's life settlement business including raising two dedicated funds.
Prior to FDO, Mr. Hickey served as the Managing Director and CIO of the RiverRock Group and as President of RiverRock Securities, LLC, a licensed broker-dealer. As Managing Director, Mr. Hickey oversaw the development of RiverRock's life settlement business including raising five dedicate life settlement funds.
Previously, Mr. Hickey served as Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for Aveta, the largest privately held Medicare Advantage health insurance company in the United States. Mr. Hickey also co-founded the health insurance company Touchstone Health Partnership, which he grew from concept to $50mil in revenue. In addition, Mr. Hickey served as a management consultant at Computer Sciences Corp. where he focused on insurance and healthcare.
Mr. Hickey received his MBA with honors from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and his bachelor's degree with high honors from Harvard University.
Mr. Hickey holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and the FINRA Series 7, 24, 27, 66 and 79 registrations.
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Partner
- Managing Principal of National Financial Companies
Jarrett Bostwick is a Partner, General Counsel and Co-Founder of Spearhead. Mr. Bostwick is also the Managing Principal of National Financial Companies, a multi-family office venture capital investment firm.
Prior to Spearhead and National Financial Companies, Mr. Bostwick was a Partner in the law firm of Handler Thayer, LLP, which provides professional services to affluent families, family offices and privately held companies. He remains of counsel to the firm. Prior to joining Handler Thayer, LLP, Mr. Bostwick was a Partner in the Wealth Planning & Philanthropy Group of Gardner, Carton & Douglas, LLP in Chicago, Illinois. His experience includes tax litigation, valuation and accounting analysis, and serving as the Director of Wealth Planning Design for a nationwide financial planning company.
In December 2005, Mr. Bostwick was named by Worth Magazine as "One of the Top 100 Attorneys in the United States" serving affluent families and family offices. He has also been recognized by various independent organizations on their lists of top attorneys. Leading Lawyers Network named Mr. Bostwick as one of the Top Attorneys in Illinois, in the area of Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law. Mr. Bostwick has also been named to the lists of The Best Lawyers in America for Trusts & Estates Law, and to the Super Lawyers Illinois Rising Stars in the areas of Estate Planning & Probate, and Tax. Mr. Bostwick is a member of the American, Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations, and was named the Vice Chair of the Exempt Organization Sections of the American Bar Association Real Property Probate and Trust Law Charitable Planning and Exemption Organizations Group. Mr. Bostwick is a nationally prominent speaker and author who has been named to Marquis Who's Who in America, as well as to The Best Lawyers in America.
Mr. Bostwick earned his Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs Degree at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., his Juris Doctorate Degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington, and his Masters of Law in Taxation from the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, Washington.
Job Titles:
- Analyst Within Spearhead 's Investment
- Analyst, Investment Research
Mr. Heller-Spencer's primary responsibilities at Spearhead include security research, portfolio analysis and investment presentations.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Heller-Spencer interned at Oppenheimer & Co and MassMutual where he assisted on client relations and financial presentations.
Mr. Heller-Spencer earned his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from The University of Florida.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Spearhead 's Wealth Management and Strategic Partners
- Managing Director, Wealth Management and Strategic Partnerships
Kenneth Foley is the Managing Director of Spearhead's Wealth Management and Strategic Partnerships division.
Mr. Foley brings 20+ years of financial services and insurance industry experience. Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Foley served as the Senior Vice President of Agency Distribution at Lombard International. Mr. Foley oversaw all agent distribution in the U.S., and personally managed the Alpha Alliance, which is the exclusive membership program at Lombard reserved for professionals and firms with a proven tradition of service to the high-net-worth client community.
A frequent speaker, Mr. Foley has presented on the topics of Private Placement Insurance (PPLI) and Private Placement Variable Annuities (PPVA) at many industry venues, including the AALU Annual Meeting, The Forum 400, the PPLI/PPVA Forum, the Fall Private Placement Conference presented by SALI Fund Services, as well as many broker-sponsored and private family office events across the country.
Prior to Lombard International, Mr. Foley served as a Senior Associate for the Vanguard Group. Mr. Foley attended Penn State University and holds Series 6, 26, 63 and 65 registrations.
Mark Lesko is a Director within Spearhead's Investment Services.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Lesko served as a Corporate Controller at Greenlane Holdings, Inc. In this role, Mr. Lesko was responsible for the integrity and accuracy of the financial statements in preparation for SEC filings.
Prior to joining Greenlane, Mr. Lesko served as Controller at Audio America, a privately held distribution company. Mr. Lesko was responsible for overseeing the accounting department and preparation of internal financial reporting.
Mr. Lesko earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director Within Spearhead 's Investment
- Associate Director, Investment Research
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Walsh served as the Senior Case Designer for Pinnacle Financial Group, a life insurance broker and consultant servicing ultra-high net worth clients. While at Pinnacle, he was responsible for assembling financial presentations for clients and their advisors, demonstrating the usefulness of life insurance. It was here, where he obtained a unique skillset pertaining to the implementation of Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) within clients' estate planning strategies.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Walsh spent 5 years within the Alternative Investment Solutions division of State Street Global Services. There, he performed back office fund administration services and was responsible for ensuring KYC practices were followed in accordance with Federal Reserve requirements for his hedge fund clients. In addition, Mr. Walsh was part of a leadership group that saw the conversion of a multi-billion dollar investment manager to State Street's platform. He gained experience working on FOF, Private Equity, Global Macro, and high-frequency trading Long/Short investment strategies.
Mr. Walsh earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Providence College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst ® (CFA). He is also a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council (BEPC).
Job Titles:
- Managing Director Within Spearhead 's Advanced
- Managing Director, Advanced Wealth Planning
Mr. Dalal brings over 8 years of experience in advanced wealth planning for families and UHNW individuals. Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Dalal was the Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Momentum Advanced Planning, advising families on planning/structuring to maximize their wealth and generational family transfers.
Mr. Dalal has been a frequent speaker throughout his career on the topic of wealth transfer issues concerning ultra-high net worth families.
Prior to joining Momentum Advanced Planning, he was President of Dalal Capital Advisors, an investment firm based in New York City.
Mr. Dalal earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at the University of Michigan, and his Juris Doctorate Degree from the Brooklyn Law School. He is a member of the NY state bar. He also holds a variable insurance license as well as the Series 7 and 66 registrations.
Mr. Dalal is fluent in Gujarati and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Senior Managing Director
- Bessemer Trust in 2005 As a Senior Vice President
- Member of the East Coast Estate Planning Council
- Partner and Senior Managing Director of Spearhead 's Liquid
Mr. Sandstrom was previously the founding partner of Bankers Row Wealth Management LLC.
Prior to founding Bankers Row Wealth Management LLC, Mr. Sandstrom was the Managing Principal of MLV Wealth LLC, a firm he was hired to build for MLV & Co., an investment bank based in New York City, which was subsequently acquired by FBR Capital Markets (NASDAQ: FBRC). Prior to MLV Wealth, Mr. Sandstrom was a Principal and Senior Wealth Adviser with Bessemer Trust in Palm Beach FL, responsible for advising over $1.6 billion in private client assets.
Mr. Sandstrom joined Bessemer Trust in 2005 as a Senior Vice President. Previously, Mr. Sandstrom was a Regional Vice President at Network Telephone in Atlanta, GA (acquired by Talk America), overseeing the Southeastern United States with P&L responsibility for sales and operations from Kentucky through Florida. Prior, Mr. Sandstrom was the Chief Executive Officer of Sascomnet, Inc., a FCC 214 authorized telecommunications company, providing wholesale telecommunications services, globally, to major telecommunications carriers and government agencies.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Sandstrom was responsible for building the sales and operations offices throughout the Southeastern United States for Nuvox Communications (now Windstream [NASDAQ: WIN]) and previously held management positions with LCI International (acquired by Qwest (now CenturyLink [NYSE: CTL]).
Mr. Sandstrom is a member of the East Coast Estate Planning Council, the Planned Giving Council of Palm Beach County and an affiliate with the Florida Bar Tax Section. In 2013 Mr. Sandstrom participated as an invited guest panelist for the Kellogg Finance Summit "Finance Industry Eco-System" presenting on the Private Banking and Wealth Management industry, held in Miami, FL.
Mr. Sandstrom earned his B.A. from West Chester University in Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. (concentration in Finance) from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Steve Smith is a Contract Analyst within Spearhead's Life Settlements division.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Smith was a Contract Analyst at Hilliard Management, LLC, a boutique alternative investment firm specializing in life settlements, where he managed all closing aspects of the life settlement transactions and assisted with day-to-day administration of the funds.
Prior to Hilliard Management, Mr. Smith worked for a boutique lien resolution firm specializing in reducing and eliminating various plaintiff-based healthcare liens.
Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University at Buffalo and earned his Juris Doctor from New England Law Boston.
Mr. Smith is a licensed attorney in New York and Massachusetts.
Tanya Polzer is the Executive Office Manager of Spearhead.
Mrs. Polzer brings over 25 years of experience in Fortune 500 business administration, executive support and office management.
Mrs. Polzer has over 18 years experience in the Wealth Management industry, having worked for firms such as Bessemer Trust, MLV Wealth and KL Group in Palm Beach County.
She is a registered Florida state Notary and is fluent in Russian.
Job Titles:
- Certified Investment Management Analyst
- Director Within Spearhead 's Wealth
- Director, Wealth Management
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mrs. Armel was employed by Greycourt & Co, Inc. for 12 years, most recently serving as a Senior Associate Advisor where she worked in an advisory capacity to wealthy families and institutional clients, focusing on investment strategy, strategic portfolio design, and tactical asset allocation. She also served on Greycourt's Investment Committee and Discretionary Management Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Greycourt in 2008, Mrs. Armel worked as a mortgage specialist, responsible for the origination and processing of mortgage loans to residential and commercial borrowers.
Mrs. Armel is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) and holds the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) designation, offered by the CFA Institute.
She received her BS in business administration, majoring in finance, from Robert Morris University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Chief Operating Officer of Spearhead
Mr. Troutman oversees significant aspects of Spearhead's Advanced Wealth Planning service model. This responsibility is coupled with Mr. Troutman having operational oversight of the firm and its turn-key Asset Management Solutions.
Prior to joining Spearhead, Mr. Troutman was COO and CFO for PB Partners and worked with the managing partners to develop and implement the business strategy of four entrepreneurial companies.
Prior to joining PB Partners, Mr. Troutman was a Senior Vice President at Hill International Inc. managing the operational aspects of Hill Housing focusing on the appropriate building technology and economics for each project.
Earlier, he was Senior Vice President at Tiedemann Wealth Management and was responsible for building and managing their Family Office practice in Florida.
Before joining Tiedemann, Mr. Troutman held numerous management positions at JPMorgan including managing the Private Client Center in Boca Raton and managing Client Services in the southeast for the Private Bank.
Mr. Troutman earned a B.A. from The King's College, New York and a Master of Management from Pennsylvania State University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Mr. Walters has over 25 years of experience in the alternative investment management industry working in Asia, Europe and the United States. He has spent much of his career focused on sourcing alternative investments for institutional and sophisticated investors globally as well as providing capital services for investment managers.
In 2008, Mr. Walters founded New Vernon Financial LLC, a predecessor to the acquisition of Spearhead Capital, LLC. Prior to founding New Vernon Financial LLC, Mr. Walters was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch within the Hedge Fund Development and Management Group servicing the alternative investment needs of both private and institutional clients.
Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Walters was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, where he held several roles globally, including as the Head of US and Asia Hedge Fund Coverage for Prime Services based in New York and London.
In 2002, Mr. Walters established and co-managed Arden Asset Management's London office, where his responsibilities were for international (Asia and Europe based) hedge fund manager research, manager selection and firm marketing. Prior to Arden, Mr. Walters was a Vice President with Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage in Hong Kong and London where he focused on Sales & Marketing as well as Capital Introductions. Mr. Walters started his career with Wurfbain Management (1996-2000) in Hong Kong managing Asian Capital Holdings, a fund of hedge fund solely dedicated to Asian trading strategies.