Gary Klopfenstein | Advisory Board Chairman

Gary Klopfenstein is a highly successful executive with over 30 years of experience in asset management and business development.  His areas of expertise are in the design and implementation of investment strategies, across both traditional and alternative investment classes, investment research, client acquisition, leadership and business development.  Gary has a wealth of global expertise including successful client relationships in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Gary is Chairman of GK Investment Management, a private asset management company established as a family office.  In addition to the investment of capital, the firm partners with sophisticated institutions to create and capitalize on unique investment opportunities, as well engaging in a limited number of consultative relationships focusing on transformative business growth.

Previously, Gary was the Chief Executive Officer of Berenberg Asset Management, the U.S. asset management arm of a 400-year-old German financial institution.  He joined Berenberg in 2014 and served as Chief Executive Officer until 2017.  In this position, he led all North American business development, and worked with institutional clients around the world, as well as served as a strategic advisor for the parent company.

Prior to joining Berenberg, Gary was Senior Managing Director, Head of Direct Alternative Investment Strategies, Head of Research and Chief Investment Officer of Currency Management for Mesirow Financial, a Chicago based diversified financial services firm.  Gary was responsible for growing the business from $1 billion to over $50 billion in less than ten years. 

Prior to his time at Mesirow Financial, Gary managed his own firm, a specialist currency management company providing asset management and advisory services to global institutions, and is considered to be one of the industry founders of specialist management of global currency risk.

Gary has deep leadership experience as a Board member of Berenberg Asset Management, Mesirow Financial, Mesirow Financial UK, and Mesirow Investment Partners, a joint venture with a sovereign wealth fund based in the Middle East.

Over the past 30 years, Gary has established himself as a thought leader in alternative asset and risk management as well as business growth strategies where his understanding of how to scale business processes and teams has led him to be an advisor to sophisticated firms globally.

He has written one book, Trading Currency Cross Rates, and edited two others, FX: Managing Global Currency Risk and Strategic Trading in the Foreign Exchange Markets.  Gary is a frequent speaker at leading conferences and a regular publisher of thought leading papers for global publications.

Gary graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Business Administration.