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Work experience

Merrill Lynch - AVP

pre-1989 Employment

Developed significant client base invested in fixed income, real estate, and private equity partnerships. 

Led office in sales of real estate related products such as hotel condominium interests, and Section 8 housing tax sheltered investments. 

Investments involved significant analysis and due diligence on behalf of client base.  Projects averaged approximately $100 million in scope.

Key accomplishments included:

  • Led office as marketing coordinator for strategy and fixed income analysis.
  • Consistently produced top quartile results, became youngest AVP in branch.
  • Recognized as excellent investment strategist and customer focused consultant.
  • Mentored new employees in successful marketing strategies.
2010Present

Partner and Co-founder

The Preservation Group

The Preservation Group mission is “Preserving What Matters Most”. For the world at large, we preserve Nature, the habitat for all living things. For Communities, we preserve historical structures and the natural environment which we believe enhances social interaction and communication, and ultimately reflects the connections among all life under God. At the individual level, we preserve financial resources by minimizing tax erosion utilizing government incentives for conservation and historic preservation.

20092010

Chief Operations Officer

National Monuments Foundation

Reorganized this 501(c)(3) around the motto "we aspire to inspire".  The NMF is the leading outsourced provider of all essential services in the development of historically significant public spaces.  Activities as the COO included building management and cost control, technology and network management, museum programming, finance and debt negotiations, marketing management, event management, strategic partnership design and implementation, creation of donor strategy, and implementation of all advisory services.

20062009

Principal

Bessemer Trust

Bessemer Trust is a leading private family wealth management company with more than 2,000 high-wealth families entrusting assets in excess of $50 billion.  Services include Legacy Planning, Tax Strategies, Family Wealth Stewardship, Concentrated Holding Strategies, Family Company Advisory, Insurance Advisory, Philanthropic Advisory, Real Estate Advisory, Financial Services, and Specialized Services.

  • Ambassador for the "most outstanding multi-family office" to the Southeastern United States.
  • Responsible for client initiation and transition.
  • Assisted business owners interested in selling their businesses or dealing with large liquidity events.
  • Largest market is newly liquid family with between $25 - 75 million.
20012006

Partner

Capital Growth Services - CGS
  • CGS began as a buy-side consulting operation to ultra high net worth individuals - grew to a transaction management business.
  • Organized several significant transactions in timber, investment management, wireless infrastructure, real estate, and a venture capital fund of funds.
19992001

Managing Director

Great American Ventures
  • Charged with the development of office and management of public and private investment operations.
  • Integrated tax and accounting services for private placement investments.
19891999

Investment Manager

Rollins Family Office
  • Hired by legendary O. Wayne Rollins to manage family's personal investments (significant 9 digits).
  • Collaborated with family leadership and staff to successfully develop and execute plans to provide comprehensive family office services - from investment manager selection and direct deal management to organizing and delivering successful family meetings.

Education

19871989

MBA

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
19741978

Bachelor of Arts

Covenant College

Portfolio

My Facebook Page

About Chris Allen

"In terms of capabilities, Chris Allen is a Top 5% person. He is a man of superior work ethic and absolute integrity, with consistently valuable insight into the market.

He does his homework and is fantastic to deal with. I have known and trusted Chris Allen since 1991, and he is my idea of what a high-level wealth investor should be."

Roger McNamee

Managing Director and Co-Founder of Elevation Partners

http://www.elevation.com

"I have known Chris G. Allen since 1980 when we worked together at Merrill Lynch, and in my experience, Chris is an excellent combination of intellectual curiosity, insight and integrity. In my view, as an advisor and fiduciary, Chris is someone that a customer organization can trust implicitly.

Michael C. Aronstein

President, Marketfield Asset Management

Entrepreneurial

Complement formal employment as Founder/Co-Founder of:

~ Balliro Ice - low fat dessert~ Snowman Natural Learning - patented handwriting template~ Highpoint Sites/CGS Partners - secured 1.35 billion in financing for the acquisition of Sprint Sites~ Preservation Timber - international timber management company~ Kingfisher Partners - Private Equity Fund of Funds~ Parkline Partners - Atlanta Real Estate fund

Executive Summary

Wharton MBA Finance degreed, highly creative and innovative Senior Leadership Executive with a consistent history of creating successful business strategies in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.  Key areas of expertise in core strategies, resource allocation, stakeholder relationships, entrepreneurial management.

  • Operating and Resource Strategy
  • Negotiation
  • Org Change Management
  • Education
  • Financial Structuring
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Human Capital Management

Career Highlights & Entrepreneurial Leadership

Turn-around Management

  • Created new vision and revenue sources for two not-for-profit organizations.
  • Identified and implemented strategies to "survive and thrive".
  • Identified roadblocks to success and recommended structural changes to improve financial and organization flexibility.

Private Equity Management

  • Developed investment policies and models for two private investment offices
  • Developed sourcing, conducted due diligence on direct and indirect private equity investments, and directed internal fund of funds
  • Developed innovative structures for wealth transfer between generations, an in-house money market mutual fund, and paid for all office and personnel expense through better management of cash and fixed income allocations

Alternative Investments Highlights

  • Backed the original cross-over fund, Integrated Capital Partners, led by Roger McNamee and John Powell
  • Developed the original securitization model for financing cellular communication towers which revolutionized the industry, creating billions of dollars of financing.  Personally secured over $1B in financing from Bear Stearns, Clarity Partners and others
  • Backed BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, original bio-tech firm responsible for computer modeling of therapeutic molecules
  • Funded the first pan-european communications fund - Barings Communications Equity , the first European secondaries fund - ECUI, the first smart card company - GemPlus, and the first ultra-thin CRT company - Pixtech.

Investment Strategist

  • Identified the decline in interest rates from 14% to 4% in the 1980's. Investment was government bonds at 12 - 14%
  • One of first to predict long term value of large cap stocks and their benefit to mutual fund companies in the 90's. Investment was Amvescap which rose five-fold in 5 years
  • Calculated the peak of AOL at $650 per share - sold short
  • Foresaw the peak of the market in March of 2000. All US indexes for all time periods had gone parabolic. S&P flat for subsequent ten years
  • Identified the opportunity in cell towers in 2002 - towers were then junk rated and are now rated investment grade - 7 years at 45%
  • Clearly in front of technology stocks in 1992. Investment with Integral Capital - 15 years at 30%
  • Correctly identified the value in Atlanta Peachtree St. real estate - prices rose over 10 fold in 6 years

Operations Strategy

  • Created multiple operations manuals to provide training and accountability for various operations
  • Enabled more rapid deployment of work for new employees and created better earnings visibility for management
  • Found outsourced providers for various operating requirements, enabling lower cost operations and higher value add from management teams

Financial Operations

  • Streamlined financial reporting, investment operations, data collection and publishing for decision makers. Managed internal investments for yield and tax efficiency

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