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About Us

The Cook Pine Story


In 1774, British Explorer James Cook transplanted a species of tree, which is now known as the Cook Pine, to the islands of Hawaii. In bringing saplings from New Caledonia, Captain Cook wished to have a ready supply of trees available for use as masts on his sailing ships. These conifers, which grow to heights of up to 160 feet, are known for their predictable, straight growth, as well as for their sturdiness and ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions.

We have chosen the Cook Pine as a symbol of what we represent to our client base. We strive for consistent, solid growth coupled with mindful risk mitigation. Our customized investment portfolios are constructed to not only appreciate during favorable market conditions, but also to withstand violent winds from adverse economic forces. Additionally, we realize that to meet the needs of tomorrow, one must plant the seeds of growth today.

About Us

Company Profile


Cook Pine Capital (“CPC”) manages generational capital for a select few ultra-high net worth families. Through extensive due diligence and broad global relationships, we provide investors access to premier investment products and expertise.

Cook Pine Capital’s investment philosophy promotes an unbiased and thoroughly researched selection of “best of breed” portfolio managers and ideas. Cook Pine Capital takes great care to customize each family’s portfolio based on their return objectives, risk profile and existing asset exposures. We believe that this customization, coupled with a high level of personal service, sets us apart from traditional service providers and allows us to be more opportunistic, flexible, and objective in our investment decisions.

Cook Pine Capital strongly believes that sophisticated families need an independent and conflict free firm that will focus on customized investment programs. Also, as compliance is of paramount importance to Cook Pine Capital, our firm is fully registered with the US and Japanese regulatory authorities.

Overview

Our Mission

Cook Pine Capital’s mission is to be the pre-eminent advisor of investment portfolios for a select group of ultra-high net worth families and their charitable foundations. Our goal is to achieve superior, long-term, risk-adjusted returns in a tax efficient manner across generations.

Overview

Principles

Investment Method & Philosophy

Cook Pine Capital thoughtfully constructs customized portfolios based upon a client’s return objectives, risk concerns and existing asset exposures. These portfolios encompass multiple strategies in both public and private markets. Our customized portfolios are carefully designed, constructed, monitored and adjusted for each of our families with their individual needs in mind. We manage and structure investments mindful of tax implications across generations. The selection process for potential investment managers used by Cook Pine Capital is extremely stringent and diligent. We demand impeccable personal integrity and superior investing credentials. We seek the “best of breed” in specialty or sector and require a track record of consistent performance. We prefer bottoms-up, fundamental style investing with minimal leverage, and we avoid short term, highly active, over-exposed trading strategies.

Trust

We work with people whom we trust and who trust us. We have deep relationships with our clients, some of whom are among the world’s wealthiest families. We seek out and invest in portfolio managers who demonstrate impeccable integrity and who have gained our trust.

Performance

Our success is contingent upon achieving the proper balance between risk and reward for each family who entrusts their assets with us. Mindful of our role as generational stewards of capital, superior risk-adjusted performance after tax is the goal for Cook Pine Capital. We strive to lower our overhead costs to pass along high net performance for families.

Family-Centric Approach

We aim to provide the highest quality services to a limited number of distinct families and have a record of strong client retention. An integral part of our service is open communication and transparency in serving our families.

Independent & Objective Advice

Given Cook Pine Capital’s structural independence from any broader financial institution, we provide our clients with advice that is unbiased and objective. Our clients can be assured that investment managers are chosen solely for their investment acumen and risk control. Our fees are transparent, and we have only one constituent, our families, who pay for our services.

Experience

Strong experience in the financial industry is critical because current knowledge and future judgments are based on this experience. Cook Pine Capital has managed family portfolios since August 2005, and its key personnel also have previous senior production and management experience at premier global financial institutions. As such, we bring relevant experience to bear on client problems and are confident in making recommendations that are consistent with our client’s needs.

Long–term Relationships & Network

The ability to identify the best managers and opportunities among the many thousands that currently exist requires an extensive network of relationships within the financial industry, some dating back to the 1970′s. Introductions, recommendations, and on-going evaluations are critical for success in the complex world of investments. Importantly, this deep relationship network has allowed Cook Pine Capital to gain access on behalf of its clients to “best of breed” managers who are otherwise “closed” to new investors.

Strict Compliance

Cook Pine Capital is a registered advisor with the Japanese regulatory authorities and is registered as an investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As such we operate under strict regulatory supervision.

Key Personnel

A Team of Experienced Advisors

Eiichiro Kuwana

President & Founding Principal

Eiichiro Kuwana

President & Founding Principal

Eiichiro Kuwana is President and a Founding Principal of Cook Pine Capital. Mr. Kuwana oversees the asset allocation and manager selection processes and has responsibility for investor relations at Cook Pine Capital. Mr. Kuwana has been in the financial industry since 1986. Prior to starting Cook Pine Capital in 2004, Mr. Kuwana spent 12 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a Managing Director. Throughout his career at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Kuwana worked closely with wealthy families around the globe, assisted them in investing their personal assets in both the public and private markets, and helped ensure prudent asset allocation, risk management, and wealth preservation. Moreover, Mr. Kuwana held various senior level management positions within the Investment Management and Equities divisions at Goldman Sachs in both New York and Asia. In addition, Mr. Kuwana worked at Merrill Lynch in its Money Markets Origination group based in New York. Mr. Kuwana received an AB, magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard University. Mr. Kuwana serves on a number of nonprofit boards including as the Chair of the board of The Nature Conservancy, New York Division, Treasurer and executive committee member of U.S.-Japan Council and is a trustee emeritus of Phillips Exeter Academy and The Nature Conservancy, Hawai’i. He is a member of Brown University President’s Leadership Council.

Yumi Mera Kuwana

Director & Founding Principal

Yumi Mera Kuwana

Director & Founding Principal

Yumi Mera Kuwana is a Managing Director and a Founding Principal of Cook Pine Capital. Ms. Kuwana has responsibility for business development, office management and finances at Cook Pine Capital. Ms. Kuwana was previously at Giftken.com, the Japanese affiliate of Giftcertificates.com, where she oversaw the business expansion efforts in the Japanese market. Prior to Giftken.com, Ms. Kuwana was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley & Co., where she was a senior member in the institutional research area for Japanese equities. Her major clients included top tier hedge funds and global money management firms. Ms. Kuwana received a BS from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard University. Her interests include spending time with family, empowering women, taking a holistic approach to health, wellness and wealth, and philanthropy. Ms. Kuwana is passionate about nurturing our next generation of ethical leaders and launched Global Citizen Initiative Inc., an educational youth empowerment social enterprise in 2012. She is a member of Brown University President’s Leadership Council, co-founder of Greenwich Women’s Roundtable, YWCA Greenwich Brava Award recipient, Forbes Japan Top 55 Women Active with a mission: 2016/2018. Having spent half her life in Japan and half her life in the USA, she can add a unique perspective to issues.

Patrick Neligan

Principal

Patrick Neligan

Principal

Patrick Neligan is a Principal of Cook Pine Capital. Mr. Neligan has responsibility for the overall operations of Cook Pine Capital and serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). Mr. Neligan is also involved in business development, strategic planning, and client/investment manager relationships. Prior to joining Cook Pine Capital, Mr. Neligan spent 7 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a Vice President. During his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Neligan helped manage and oversee the Equities Division and was a key member in formulating and implementing strategic initiatives across the globe. Mr. Neligan was also a point person for the division’s client relationship management team which served many of the firm’s top hedge fund clients. Mr. Neligan also previously served as unit manager in Hong Kong for the division’s Capital Market team, focused on new issuance in Asia. Mr. Neligan received a BA from The University of Connecticut.

Michael Stephenson

Co-Chief Investment Officer

Michael Stephenson

Co-Chief Investment Officer

Michael Stephenson serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer and is a Principal of Cook Pine Capital. Previously, Mr. Stephenson was a Managing Director at Augusta Columbia Capital, a private equity firm that specialized in buyouts of technology companies. Prior to Augusta Columbia Capital, Mr. Stephenson worked at Citigroup Japan, where he was a Managing Director and held various senior executive positions. Prior to his role at Citigroup, Mr. Stephenson was Managing Director, Asia-Pacific at Court Square Capital Partners (formerly Citigroup Venture Capital) where he specialized in technology investments and oversaw the firm’s investment in i-flex solutions limited, which was sold to Oracle. Prior to Court Square Capital Partners, Mr. Stephenson was the founding CFO and Executive Vice President of Administration at GiftCertificates.com. Before that, Mr. Stephenson spent seven years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, London and New York where he worked on many high-profile advisory assignments. Mr. Stephenson received an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB, magna cum laude, from Harvard College.

Loyal Egan

Director of Research

Loyal Egan

Director of Research

Loyal Egan serves as Director of Research at Cook Pine Capital. Previously, Mr. Egan led implementation of portal and knowledge management systems as well as managed a portfolio of existing mobile apps as Customer Support Manager at Modo Labs, a mobile startup that spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to Modo Labs, Mr. Egan was a Team Lead at Motus, a Boston-based mobile workforce management firm, where he worked in account management and corporate development. Mr. Egan received an AB, cum laude, from Harvard College and is a CFA® charterholder.

Amy Paolillo

Associate

Amy Paolillo

Associate

Amy Paolillo is an Associate on Cook Pine Capital’s operations team and manages portfolio accounting and trade processing. Ms. Paolillo is also the onsite IT Manager. Prior to her position at Cook Pine Capital, Ms. Paolillo was a Fund Administrator at Société Générale, where she assisted with trade executions and portfolio reconciliations. Ms. Paolillo received her BSEd from St. John’s University.

Kevin Chew

Analyst

Kevin Chew

Analyst

Kevin Chew is an Analyst of Cook Pine Capital. Mr. Chew received a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Math with a focus in Economics and a Secondary degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University.

Masaki Lew

Analyst

Masaki Lew

Analyst

Masaki Lew is an Analyst at Cook Pine Capital. Mr. Lew received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from Williams College.

Regulatory

Registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Cook Pine Capital is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Registration with the Ministry of Finance Japan

Cook Pine Capital is a registered investment advisor with the Ministry of Finance Japan.

Disclaimer

By accessing this web site, you confirm your agreement with and understanding of the following conditions of use without limitation or qualification. Please read these conditions carefully before using this web site. This web site is offered to you conditioned on your acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein. Your use of this web site constitutes your agreement to all such terms, conditions, and notices. Cook Pine Capital LLC (“Cook Pine”) reserves the right to, and may at any time, change the terms, conditions and notices under which this web site is offered. You are bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the current terms and conditions to which you are bound.

The material on this web site does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, advisory services or any securities or any interests in investment funds managed by Cook Pine. Offerings of securities are made only by prospectus or private offering memoranda by persons who are registered, or not required to be registered as broker-dealers or agents in the particular jurisdiction. Such offerings are made, and such investment advisory services are offered, only to persons who are “accredited investors” as defined in Rule 501(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This web site is not intended for distribution to or use by any person in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation. Cook Pine makes no representations or warranties that the content of this web site is applicable or appropriate for use in locations outside of the United States of America.

Cook Pine also assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing in the web site or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from this web site.

Cook Pine owns and maintains this web site. Nothing contained within this web site shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any image, trademark, logo or service mark contained within the web site. No act of downloading or otherwise copying from this web site will transfer title to any software or material contained within this web site to you. Cook Pine reserves all rights with respect to copyright and trademark ownership of all material contained within this web site and will enforce such rights to the full extent of the law. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products, or services obtained from this site without Cook Pine’s written permission.

Contact Us

Cook Pine Capital LLC
2 Sound View Drive, 2nd Fl.
Greenwich, CT 06830

TEL 203-861-2930
FAX 203-861-2931
EMAIL info@cookpinecapital.com