Executive Leadership

Jonathan B. Spencer, CFA

Managing Principal & Chief Investment Officer

Jonathan founded Twende from a desire to provide a holistic, integrated investment service to families and institutions. Jonathan's experience includes senior business development roles at Umbono Capital (an international investment firm focused on mining and oil and gas), and financial management positions at Standard Bank in South Africa. His expertise spans investment strategy, portfolio management, transaction structuring, and family wealth governance. He is a CFA charter holder and has an M.A. in International Relations from Regent University and B.Com in Investment Management from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. 

David A. Ventura, CFP®, CFA

Managing Principal

With more than a decade of experience advising high net worth clients David understands that successful wealth management requires strategic structures and processes to guide you in your financial decisions. His integrated, multi-disciplinary approach offers solutions across the entire domain of wealth management, helping you achieve your goals. Prior to joining the Twende Investment Group, David worked for thirteen years at Morgan Stanley advising high net worth clients in all facets of financial management. David also worked for nine years at Smurfit-Stone Container where he took on several roles in project engineering and eventually became a Plant Manager where he managed the operations of two multi-million dollar facilities. He is a is a CFA charterholder, and holds the Certified Financial Planning designation. He also has an MBA from Santa Clara University, and a Bachelor of Science and Engineering from Miami University.

Michael J. Liccar, CPA

Principal & Head of Transaction Advisory

Michael is a seasoned CPA, CEO, Entrepreneur and Family Investment Manager/Advisor. He serves as a senior member of Twende’s Investment Committee and heads Twende’s Transaction Advisory business. He has specialized in the investment industry throughout most of his professional career.  From 1979 to 1982, he was a Senior Accountant with KMPG (a “Big-4 CPA firm) in Chicago and Denver where he specialized in financial institutions and broker/dealers.  From 1982 to 1985, he was a Manager in the Commodities/Securities Division of Checkers, Simon & Rosner, CPAs (now RSM US LLP).  From 1986 through 1988, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Richard Dennis & Company, a registered Commodity Trading Advisor and Commodity Pool Operator.  In 1988, Michael founded Liccar CPA which specializes in accounting, financial, performance and regulatory reporting as well as tax preparation/planning for a wide variety of investment advisors and private investment funds throughout the world.  In 1996, Michael founded Genesis Fund Services, Ltd. in Nassau Bahamas, a licensed fund administrator and continued as a Director until 2010.  In 2010, he founded Liccar Securities, LLC, a licensed broker/dealer, which he operated until 2017.  In 2016, Michael co-founded CST Tax Advisors-Chicago, LLC, which specializes in tax preparation and planning for US expatriates. Michael is a licensed CPA and holds B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University (1979). 

John Laughlin

Investment Analyst

John oversees technology and quantitative trading systems at Twende. He is a Level III candidate in the CFA program. He also holds a B.Sc. In Chemistry and has co-authored academic papers published in a leading organic chemistry journal. His background includes success as an entrepreneur, having launched a men’s grooming line.