JUNIOR
DAY HALL SOUTH

Phillips Society 1,2,3,4; Philo 1,2,3,4; Varsity Soccer 4; Var. Winter Track 2,3,4; Chorus 3; Spanish Club 4; Oliver Wendell Holmes Prize 3; B.A.A.. Relay Team 3; All Club Soccer 3; J.V. Spring Tack 2,3,4.

Coming from New York and a city school, my first impression of Andover was how spacious and lush the grounds were with its many buildings. The second one was of the great athletic facilities. Needless to say it was cultural shock for a city boy. Aside from making long lasting friendships with my classmates, I took full advantage of PA during my four-year stay and enjoyed every moment. There were lessons and experiences that were garnered from the classroom, as well as on the athletic field. Running track under Steve Sorota or playing soccer for “Deke” taught me that I was not best in the field, a humbling experience, especially while playing a brutal schedule that featured intercollegiate competitors. The big bonus was that I saw various colleges and did a “de facto” evaluation, which served me well in deciding what colleges to apply. It was in the classroom where the biggest and most long-lasting lessons and academic disciplines occurred. Whether it was history under Val Wilkie, math taught by “Bugs” Banta, or political science expounded by Leonard James, they all had the common gifts of academic excellence, analytical discipline, and a sense of accomplishment. These three factors influenced my thinking both in law school and my working environment. It is no wonder that I have been involved with Alumni Council, as well as other PA-related activities for over 45 years.

Upon graduation, I kept migrating in a southerly direction while attending Yale (where sixty of our classmates showed up for the fall semester), University of Virginia Law School, and NYU Graduate Business School while practicing law. After a short stint as an attorney specializing in corporate finance and securities law, I entered into my favorite avocation – finance. After working at Pan Am as an international project finance director specializing in Africa and the Middle East, I joined the Wall Street firm of White Weld & Company, where a lot of my college and law school classmates resided. Working in familiar atmosphere, I began to learn the trade of investments. The seventies ushered in many changes in Wall Street due to changes in technology, as well as in the economy. The old ways gave way to more innovative and some riskier practices, which became the precursors for the current changes.

Changes came into my own life as I fulfilled a life-long desire to have my own investment management firm where I could be involved with domestic, as well as international clientele. Thus, Kensington Capital Management, Ltd. was founded in the early eighties. As the firm grew, I began to think that strategic alliances offered the best way of achieving stable growth. In the early nineties, I merged the firm with P. James Roosevelt & Co. and changed our name to the Roosevelt Investment Group. Later, I engineered another merger that resulted in a rapidly expanding entity, which continues to grow. Aside from the normal business, I had been involved with direct and indirect investments in Southeast Asia and China, which has taken me to known places such as Beijing and Jakarta, as well as some obscure places like Taiyuan and Jin An City. It was fun and kept me very busy.

Aside from work, the past few decades have kept Ay-Whang and myself busy with civic activities like the Central Park Conservancy (Ay-Whang’s favorite). My own activities at the East Side House Settlement, the Youth Foundation, and The Holland Lodge are primarily focused on being involved in the investment and finance committees of these organizations. After selling our Bridgehampton house, we have spent a lot of time traveling to Europe and Southeast Asia, especially to France, Italy, Singapore, and Malaysia. I consider myself lucky in having a wonderful wife and a very enriching life.

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