Co-Managing Partners

Mr. Peter S. Stamos is a Co-Managing Partner and the Chairman and CEO of Sterling Stamos Capital Management, L.P.

Prior to founding Sterling Stamos, Mr. Stamos was the CEO of SAI (a Perot Systems company), a Management Consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton and McKinsey & Company, and Chief of Staff and Chief Economist for US Senator Bill Bradley. Mr. Stamos also taught Economics at Harvard University, where he received the Allyn Young Award for Teaching Excellence.

Mr. Stamos currently serves as the Chair of the Investment Advisory Board for Major League Baseball and Chairman of the Investment Committee for the Board of Stanford University Hospital and Clinics.

Mr. Stamos earned a BA in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, where he was a Truman Scholar, received the J.E. Wallace Sterling Award, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors and Distinction. Mr. Stamos holds a JD from Harvard Law School with Honors and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Mr. Michael Chisek is the Chief Investment Office and Co-Managing Partner at Sterling Stamos. Mr. Chisek leads our investment team, overseeing fixed income, absolute return, public equity, private equity, and real assets. In particular, he oversees the day-to-day operations of our absolute return and public equity funds. Mr. Chisek joined Sterling Stamos with over 25 years of experience as an investor and strategist. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Chisek was a Co-Managing Partner/Managing Director of D.C. Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that invests in a wide range of public equities, principally in domestic industries. Previously, Mr. Chisek was a partner at McKinsey & Co., where he gained extensive experience in a variety of industries, including automobiles, chemicals, and telecommunications, developing operating plans and programs that addressed changes in company and market conditions. Mr. Chisek also spent six years as a US Foreign Service Officer, both overseas and in Washington. He currently serves on the board of the Washington National Opera, and has served on the board of the Washington International School.

Mr. Chisek received a BA (with High Honors) from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar and Henry Ford Medalist as the top graduate for 1981.

Senior Partners and Partners

Mr. Jeff Soukup is a Senior Partner and serves as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer overseeing the managed account, client management, corporate development, communications, and human resource functions. Mr. Soukup has over two decades of experience as a business operator, investor, and strategist. Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Mr. Soukup was President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of a public media and entertainment company where he led the company’s successful financial turnaround and initial public offering. Mr. Soukup also served as a California Co-Chair and an economic advisor for a major presidential campaign, co-founder of SAI, venture capitalist with GE Equity and H&Q Technology Partners, strategy consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton, attorney with Kirkland & Ellis, and Legislative Counsel and Chief Economic Advisor for Senator Bill Bradley.

Mr. Soukup received a BA (with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa) and an MA from Stanford University as well as an MBA (with a concentration in finance) and JD (with Honors) from the University of Chicago, where he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review.

Mr. Kevin Barcelona is a Senior Partner and has been the firm’s Chief Financial Officer and a Partner since he joined the firm in 2004. Mr. Barcelona is responsible for finance and fund operations, including accounting, financial reporting, and tax compliance. Mr. Barcelona also manages the information technology department. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, he was a Partner with Rothstein Kass, where he provided accounting, tax, and consulting services to investment partnerships including hedge funds, fund of funds, and private equity funds.

Mr. Barcelona received a BBA in Accounting from Hofstra University and a Masters in Taxation from Seton Hall University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

Mr. Jared Kanover has been elected a Senior Partner and serves as the firm’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. Mr. Kanover joined Sterling Stamos in 2005 after having worked as an Associate with Schulte, Roth & Zabel LLP (the firm’s outside counsel) in their Investment Management Group. Before joining Schulte, Mr. Kanover was an Associate with Dewey Ballantine LLP in their Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Investment Management Group.

Mr. Kanover received a BS from Cornell University and a JD from the New York University School of Law, where he was awarded a full-tuition academic Dean’s Scholarship. He is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the NYU School of Law’s Journal of Law and Business and a member of the New York State Bar Association.

Ms. Cathy Tse has been elected a Senior Partner and serves as the Head of Public Equity. Ms. Tse, who joined the firm in 2004, has over 10 years of investment management experience. Since joining Sterling Stamos, Ms. Tse has helped build the firm’s absolute return and public equity teams, and has managed long/short equity and long-biased equity strategies. In addition to portfolio management responsibilities, she is also responsible for the day-to-day management of the public equity team. Prior to working at Sterling Stamos, Ms. Tse spent over four years as an institutional trader in the International Equities Division of Merrill Lynch. Her previous experience includes positions with the Equity Derivatives Controllers Group at Goldman Sachs and the Financial Institutions Group at Arthur Andersen.

Ms. Tse earned an undergraduate degree from New York University. She received an MBA from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Edmund Hannon is a Partner and serves as Head of Absolute Return. Mr. Hannon is responsible for the firm’s absolute return platform and day-to-day management of the team. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Hannon was Head of Alternative Assets Risk Management at RBC Capital Markets, where he managed qualitative and operational due diligence reviews of hedge funds, and evaluated and managed hedge fund portfolio risk. Previously, Mr. Hannon was the Head of Hedge Fund Investment Due Diligence at Merrill Lynch. He held a number of investment management and trading roles in the US and Japan. Mr. Hannon began his career as a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Hannon earned a BS from Pennsylvania State University and is a CFA charter holder.

Mr. Dave Hood has been elected a Partner and serves as Head of Real Assets with responsibility for fundraising and investment activities for these funds. Mr. Hood also coordinates the firm’s client management initiatives. Mr. Hood, who joined the firm in 2005, has over 25 years of professional real estate management and investment experience. Previously, Mr. Hood was an investment partner with Seagate Properties, a Bay Area real estate investor, a Principal with Carmel Partners, where he helped launch and raise a $215 million institutional real estate fund, a Co-Founder of Rosenberg Hood Ventures, a San Francisco-based commercial real estate investment entity, and a partner at Lone Star Opportunity Fund, where he helped with fundraising, acquisition, financing and asset management of over $1 billion in real estate assets. Mr. Hood was an original member of Lone Star Opportunity Fund’s predecessor company, Brazos Fund, a Robert M. Bass sponsored investment vehicle that, together with its related entities, acquired over $3 billion in real estate assets. Mr. Hood has also worked as a Partner at several real estate development companies including Trammell Crow, Hillman Properties and Barker Interests. In addition to being a Trustee of Sunny Hills Children’s Garden and Marin Primary & Middle School, Dave also serves on the Advisory Committee of the City of Hope and Omega Boys Club.

Mr. Hood holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Josh Shapiro is a Partner and the Head of Risk Management, responsible for portfolio risk management for all Sterling Stamos funds. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Shapiro was a Principal in the Global Principal Investments Division of Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for managing the investment strategy, due diligence, and risk management efforts of a multi-billion dollar portfolio of hedge fund investments. During his tenure at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Shapiro also served as the Head of Strategy and Business Development in the Hedge Fund Group, where he focused on strategic transactions in the hedge fund space, and as a Director of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, where he developed strategy and launched new alternative investment products. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Shapiro was an Engagement Manager in the Financial Institutions Group at McKinsey & Company, a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy at Yale University.

Mr. Shapiro earned a BA from Wesleyan University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and a PhD from Yale University, where he received an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship and graduated with Honors.

Ms. Joanna Strober has been elected a Partner and serves as Head of Private Equity with responsibility for fundraising and investment activities for these funds. Ms. Strober also oversees the directors who manage the firm’s communications and human resources functions. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Ms. Strober spent more than 12 years in the private equity and venture capital industry. Before joining the firm, she was Managing Director at Symphony Technology Group, a technology buyout fund with an emphasis on software and software services, including overseas outsourcing opportunities. Ms. Strober was previously a General Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, where she invested in software and internet companies. Joanna’s investments include BlueNile (Nasdaq: NILE), Flycast (Nasdaq: FCST, sold to CMGI), HotJobs (Nasdaq: HOTJ, sold to Monster), eToys (Nasdaq: ETYS), and Gloss.com (sold to Estee Lauder). She served on the Board of Directors of BlueNile as a member of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees.

Ms. Strober earned a BA from University of Pennsylvania (Phi Beta Kappa) and a JD from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Managing Directors

Mr. Steven Boyd is a Managing Director of Fixed Income at Sterling Stamos. He has over 14 years of investment experience and is responsible for the management and oversight of the firm’s fixed income platform via direct investments and the fund of fund platform. In addition, Mr. Boyd is responsible for the execution and oversight of the firm’s macroeconomic hedging activities. Prior to Sterling Stamos, Mr. Boyd worked on the Fixed Income desk of the Private Bank at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for the management and trading of tax-exempt high-net-worth individual accounts. He was also a member of the Private Bank’s Fixed Income Strategy Group and jointly responsible for short-term structured credit analysis and long-term municipal research. Before Deutsche Bank, Mr. Boyd held positions in the Public Finance Division at UBS and the Municipal Research Department at ABN Amro Securities.

Mr. Boyd received a BS from State University of New York at New Paltz. He earned an MBA from University of Albany and is a CFA charter holder.

Ms. Kristina Brenner is a Managing Director on the finance team at Sterling Stamos. Ms. Brenner joined the firm in 2004 and has been integral in helping to build and manage the finance team. Ms. Brenner currently oversees the day-to-day operations of the finance team and is primarily focused on the firm’s investment fund accounting and reporting. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Ms. Brenner was a manager with International Fund Services, a hedge fund administrator, where she worked with hedge funds and hedge fund of funds.

Ms. Brenner received a BS from Boston University.

Mr. Bong-Seok Choi is a Managing Director at Sterling Stamos, focused on managed accounts, public equity, and the firm’s endowment funds. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Choi worked at Wellington Management, where he was responsible for fundamental research on publicly listed Asian property companies. Before his role at Wellington, Mr. Choi was an Associate at a family investment office, Capricorn Management, a family investment office, where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing direct and fund investments. Mr. Choi also served as an Associate at Orion Partners, a growth capital and buyout firm. He began his career at The Beacon Group, where he was a mergers and acquisitions analyst.

Mr. Choi holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Ms. Carolyn Choi is a Managing Director of Private Equity at Sterling Stamos. Ms. Choi is responsible for sourcing, analyzing, and monitoring global investments in venture capital, growth equity and private equity. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Ms. Choi was a Vice President at Banc of America Capital Access Funds, a fund of funds focused on underserved markets in the US. Before her work at Banc of America Capital Access Funds, she was a Vice President at DFJ ePlanet Ventures, DFJ's first global information technology/life sciences venture capital fund which included investments such as Baidu (BIDU), Cyanea (acquired by IBM), and Skype (acquired by eBay). Ms. Choi’s previous experience also includes roles at Salomon Smith Barney, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, The Yankee Group, and the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea.

Ms. Choi received a BA and an MA from the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Choi earned an MALD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University where she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.

Mr. Michael Kastner is a Managing Director and serves as the firm's Chief Market Strategist and Head of Fixed Income. Mr. Kastner, who joined the firm in 2005, has over two decades of investment management experience. Previously, Mr. Kastner was Deutsche Bank, New York’s head of Taxable Fixed Income Portfolio Management and a member of the Investment Policy Committee. In those roles, he actively managed approximately $10 billion in assets and chaired the Fixed Income Strategy Group. Mr. Kastner was also Director of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange, Americas Region at NatWest-Coutts & Co. and held positions with Société Générale and Chicago Research and Trading. He has been recognized for his work by leading industry publications and is the author of several articles on fixed income management techniques. Mr. Kastner is frequently quoted in leading financial publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times and has appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg Television and Radio.

Mr. Kastner earned a BA from Towson University and an MBA from George Washington University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, member of the Socially Responsible Investing committee of the New York Society of Security Analysts, and a former member of the Educational Advisory Board of the International Securities Market Association, London.

Mr. Jonathan Mandle is a Managing Director of Absolute Return at Sterling Stamos. He is responsible for the management of the Global Credit Opportunities Fund. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Mandle was a Director at University of California, Office of the Treasurer of the Regents, where he managed a multi-billion dollar absolute return portfolio. In this role, his responsibilities included sourcing new managers, determining tactical and strategic allocations and investment strategy, and performing investment due diligence. Previously, Mr. Mandle built and managed customized investment portfolios for pension and endowment clients at New England Pension Consultants. He has also served as a Research Associate focused on equity and fixed income strategies at Fidelity Investments. He currently serves on the board of Peace First, a national nonprofit organization.

Mr. Mandle received a BS and an MBA from Boston College and is a CFA charter holder.

Ms. Deanna Ho Montgomery is a Managing Director of Real Assets at Sterling Stamos, where she is responsible for managing the firm’s investments in natural resources and infrastructure, as well as fundraising and operating activities. Her previous positions include Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP, as part of the Restructuring Advisory Group where she advised companies in Chapter 11 as well as out-of-court restructurings, and Vice President at J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. At J.P. Morgan, she invested in early stage financial technology companies and served as head of the committee responsible for sourcing and screening deal flow. Also at J.P. Morgan, Ms. Montgomery raised capital for venture and growth stage companies, as well as private equity funds. Prior to that role, she was based in Hong Kong in the Equity Capital Markets Group, where she raised public equity and equity-linked securities for Asia-based companies from a global investor base. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Ms. Montgomery worked in the Telecom, Media & Technology Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch & Co. where she focused primarily on executing equity underwritings and mergers and acquisitions transactions. She began her career with Chemical Bank, where she worked in the Metals and Mining Group and completed the credit training program.

Ms. Montgomery holds a BS degree from Cornell University.

Mr. Bruce S. Pflaum is a Managing Director of Real Assets at Sterling Stamos. Prior to joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Pflaum worked at BerchWood Partners in San Francisco where he directed fund origination, evaluation, due diligence, and distribution for the West Coast, Australia, and Asia. In this capacity he surveyed and evaluated over 90 private equity, real estate, energy, infrastructure and timber funds. Prior to his work at BerchWood, Mr. Pflaum served as a Principal at Capital Advisors where he analyzed and underwrote over 70 real estate properties totaling $1 billion. He also co-founded Hero Capital and began his career at the buyout firm Lodestar Group. Mr. Pflaum has authored several journal articles on real estate and infrastructure investing and has been a speaker at alternative investment conferences.

Mr. Pflaum graduated from Amherst College (cum laude).

Ms. Michelle Ruvolo is a Managing Director of Absolute Return at Sterling Stamos. Prior to her role on the absolute return team, Ms. Ruvolo served as a Managing Director of Risk Management at the firm, focused on the risk parameters of the firm's investments and designing, executing, and tracking hedge overlay strategies. She was previously in the Assistant Trader Program working in equity options at Susquehanna International Group.

Ms. Ruvolo earned a BA from Stanford University (with Honors). She earned an MA from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Rick Stockton is a Managing Director at Sterling Stamos, focused on client management. Mr. Stockton is responsible for developing and managing the firm’s relationships with its investment partners on the East Coast. Before joining Sterling Stamos, Mr. Stockton was a relationship manager in the Private Wealth Management Division at Deutsche Bank for approximately eight years, working with high net worth investors and select institutions to provide customized wealth management services. Previously, he worked for the Private Banking Division of Union Bank of Switzerland. He began his career with the Abernathy MacGregor Group, an investor relations firm in Manhattan.

Mr. Stockton holds a BA from Trinity College.