Clearbrook Partners
Newsroom Contact Us Client Log In Clearbrook Financial Home
The Company Our Difference Wealth Management Family Office Services Our Team
Our Team
Christopher "Goose" Henderson
Christopher "Goose" Henderson
President
A 25-year veteran of privately-owned financial services businesses, Goose brings to Clearbrook Partners experience in creating a mission of total client focus and building a team of world-class financial professionals. Prior to co-founding Clearbrook Partners, Goose founded and led Robbins & Henderson LLC, a highly successful financial services firm on the New York Stock Exchange.

While on Wall Street, Goose established a reputation as an innovative business person. Under his leadership, his firm not only grew revenues nearly 40 fold, but also became well known for its focus on client service. Goose's tremendous business success flowed from his unbending integrity and passion to exceed the needs and expectations of his clients.

A graduate of The Lawrenceville School, Goose completed a bachelor's degree from Hobart College, where he played on the National Championship lacrosse team. He is an honorary member of the Princeton University Class of 1955.

Goose is a board member of Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Princeton, NJ. He has been involved in many community projects in Harlem, the South Bronx and Trenton. He also remains very active in athletics.

Frits Besselaar
Frits Besselaar
Managing Director
A Senior Relationship Manager and member of the Product Committee, Frits has over 16 of years experience in both managing Princeton Investment Advisors, Inc. a family office he founded in 1992, and investing his family's assets. During his tenure at Princeton Investment Advisors, Frits invested in many highly successful investment partnerships, with mandates that focused on distressed debt, convertible arbitrage, event driven transactions, long/short equity, private equity and buy-outs. Frits also served as a general partner of River Capital Partners, Ltd., a multi-manager fund geared towards high-net worth offshore investors from 1998 to 2001.

Frits assisted in the representation of a large family holding in PharmaNet, Inc., an international contract research organization, by serving as an active member of that company's Board of Directors until its sale to a strategic buyer. Presently, Frits serves on the Board of Directors of Quinnova Pharmaceuticals Inc, a Newtown, PA-based dermatological company.

Frits holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Richmond and a master's degree in real estate development and finance from Columbia University.

Linda Bourn
Linda Bourn
Managing Director,
Senior Relationship Manager

Linda Bourn has 15 years experience in advising high net worth individuals and families.  Prior to joining Clearbrook Partners, she was founder and Managing Director of Marsh Private Client Services Family Office Practice, whose clients included members of the Forbes 400. The practice focused on families with substantial assets who were members of a family business, single family office, private trust company or multi-client family office. 

She holds a bachelor of arts degree from California State University, Long Beach along with completion of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Private Wealth Management Program.

She has been a frequent speaker at conferences and client workshop sessions on managing risks. These include The Institute for Private Investors, Family Firm Institute, Family Office Exchange, The Loedstar London Family Business Forum, Institute for International Research, Financial Research Associates and Campden Families in Business Conference. 

Linda was also a founding committee member and a presenter for the Family Firm Institute's Family Wealth Advising Certificate Program. She served on the Leaders Council for the Institute for Private Investors and was a member of the Family Office Exchange Advisory Board.

Carl A. Reiss
Carl A. Reiss, Esq.
Managing Director
A Senior Relationship Manager, Carl's experience with Wall Street firms and running his own family office helps Clearbrook Partners' clients meet their multi-generational investment goals. Carl has extensive Legal, Wealth and Asset Management experience. He has served as President of Reiss Corporation, a fourth-generation family investment office and manufacturing firm from 2000 to the present. In addition to running two production plants, Carl managed all aspects of investing, structuring and estate planning for the corporation and family members.

Previously, Carl worked in the Private Client Division at J.P. Morgan. A member of the Private Equity and Restricted Stock groups, Carl structured and marketed private-equity investments and sales and hedging strategies to high-net-worth clients.

Prior to J.P. Morgan, Carl worked as an attorney for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. An honors graduate of Groton School, Carl received a bachelor of arts degree with honors and JD from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

A member of the New York State Bar, Carl remains an active alumnus and participates in charities.

Tom Sowanick
Tom Sowanick
Chief Investment Officer
Tom is an industry veteran with 29 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining Clearbrook, Tom held several senior executive positions at Merrill Lynch, including Chief Investment Officer for the Private Client Group. Tom has been recognized by Institutional Investor and Harvard Business School, and is featured periodically on Bloomberg TV.

Tom received a bachelor's degree in economics and literature from American University, and pursued graduate studies in economics from the same school. He holds Series 7, 63, 24, 86, and 87 securities licenses, and was recognized as an Institutional Investor All American. Tom is widely published in the global economic arena and is a frequent guest on Bloomberg TV.

Charles W. Morten
Charles W. Morten
Director of Operations
Charlie has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in a variety of operational, administrative and compliance related areas. He worked for Merrill Lynch for 28 years, starting as a Margin Bookkeeper and working his way through roles such as Branch Operations Manager and Department Manager in both the institutional and retail support organizations. For the last 10 years of his Merrill tenure, Charlie was the First Vice President and Group Manager of the International Private Banking Operations with accountability for operations in Merrill Lynch Japan, Merrill Lynch Canada and Merrill Lynch Bank operations in Singapore, Geneva, London and the Isle of Man among other sites.

Charlie joined JP Morgan Chase in 2002 as Operations Director and ran the Middle Office Operations for Chase Investment Services Corp (CISC), Trust Operations and the Call Center for the Chase Retirement Account Services. Charlie was also the President of CISC - the broker dealer arm of Chase Personal Financial Services - through the Bank One merger.

Charlie graduated from the University of Illinois and currently holds a variety of industry licenses including Series 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 53 and 63. He is registered as an arbitrator with FINRA and has extensive experience as a compliance consultant.

Alex Andron
Alex Andron, CAIA, CIMA
Director of Investment Strategy
As Clearbrook Partners' Director of Investment Strategy, Alex draws on over 13 years of investment experience to construct client portfolios, manage the firm's investment transition and implementation processes, monitor portfolio performance, and implement new investment ideas in changing investment environments.

Prior to joining Clearbrook Partners, Alex worked at Merrill Lynch for 10 years, serving as Senior Specialist, International Equity Sales & Trading. He also served as Senior Investment Strategist with the New York International Advisory Group.

Alex graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), a Certified Investment Manager Analyst (CIMA), and received an Investment Strategist Certificate from the Investment Managers Consulting Association (IMCA). In addition, Alex holds Series 7 and 66 securities licenses and speaks German.

Christy Oeth
Director of Compliance
Clearbrook Financial
Christy has over 12 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, she served as Chief Compliance Officer for Church Capital Management, LLC. In this role, she gained broad experience with both FINRA and SEC compliance and served as the CCO for two proprietary open-end mutual funds. Prior to Church, she spent 10 years at Chase Manhattan Bank where she specialized in middle market credit and syndicated finance. Christy graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with a BA in Social Studies.
Audra Tursa
Audra Tursa
Manager, Performance Reporting
Audra has over 18 years of experience in various areas of portfolio management and administration, particularly with alternative investments and onshore and offshore account maintenance. As Manager of Performance Reporting, Audra is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of client portfolios, including accounting and performance reporting initiatives.

Prior to joining Clearbrook Partners, Audra was Senior Portfolio Administrator/Trader at Princeton Investment Advisors, a family investment office, where she served as the firm's head trader and was also responsible for the back office accounting systems.

Audra received her bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in economics with a concentration in finance and holds Series 7 and 63 licenses. She is fluent in Lithuanian.

Ruby Schmidt
Ruby Schmidt
Manager, Family Office Services
As the Manager of Family Office Services, Ruby uses her extensive experience to run the firm's client communications program, manage the firm's investment process for alternative investments, and assist in the implementation of clients' investment plans. Her primary objective is to serve as an advocate for our clients in every aspect of the business.

Ruby has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including six years in financial administration and investment management at a private hedge fund and 14 years in the reinsurance industry, where she created and managed capital markets products.

Ruby holds degrees from the State University of New York and Wesleyan University, as well as an MBA in finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Brett Wayman
Senior Investment Analyst
As Senior Investment Analyst and member of the Product Committee, Brett conducts research on current and potential investment managers, focusing on alternative investments. He has been instrumental in the development of Clearbrook Partners' proprietary due diligence process and participates in its ongoing implementation.

Prior to joining Clearbrook Partners, Brett managed the day-to-day analytical operations of a Swiss asset management company's US mutual fund family, in addition to his role as sales and marketing coordinator for the asset manager's US operations.

Brett graduated from Emory University with a bachelor's degree in economics. He also holds Series 7 and 63 securities licenses. Brett speaks fluent Spanish and German and serves on the board of directors of Amigos de las Américas New York Chapter.

Eleni Athanatos
Eleni Athanatos
Operations Specialist
An eleven-year veteran of financial services with Merrill Lynch in Dubai, New York and Princeton, Eleni is involved in the ongoing implementation of client portfolios. In her position as an Operations Specialist, Eleni is intricately involved in every element of Clearbrook Partners' infrastructure, providing support for trading and operations functions. She brings to the role a special expertise in the concerns of offshore investors, specifically in the Middle East.

Eleni is fluent in Spanish, Greek, and Arabic. She received a bachelor's degree in finance from Rider University, obtained a Cambridge Certificate in Arabic and holds Series 7 and 66 licenses.

Nicki Hegyi
Laura "Nicki" Hegyi
Senior Accountant
Nicki has over 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. As Senior Accountant, she is responsible for a wide range of bookkeeping and financial reporting functions. Prior to joining Clearbrook Partners, Nicki was a Senior Accountant at Princeton Investment Advisors, a family investment office, where she maintained and created the company's financial reports and managed the delivery of family office services for the firm's clients.

Nicki is a graduate of Mercer Community College and holds an associate's degree in computer science.

Gaby Larriva
Gaby Larriva
Client Associate
A member of our aggregated performance reporting and administration team, Gaby helps manage data for client portfolios and client subscriptions and redemptions to and from alternative investment managers. Gaby joined Clearbrook Partners in January 2008 and holds an MBA from Universidad De Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gaby is fluent in Spanish.
Gaby Larriva
Gaddy Fortune
Financial Associate

Gaddy joined Clearbrook Partners in August 2008 as a Financial Associate. In her role, Gaddy oversees the firm's Client Portal, supports the aggregate performance reporting team, and performs various office manager duties. Gaddy holds an undergraduate degree in Sports Management – Selected Studies from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, Gaddy was a member of the university's national-ranked women's lacrosse team.

Copyright 2009 Clearbrook Partners LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Legal Information Sitemap
Securities offered through Managed Account Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Clearbrook Financial and a Member FINRA and SIPC.