Leadership
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Carrie Davis, CPA, ABV, CFF, Managing Director, Investment Operations Toggler
As Co-Head of the Operations Team, Carrie serves clients in the areas of performance reporting, portfolio administration, and audit and tax support. Carrie worked for a large regional accounting firm in investor/performance reporting, accounting, auditing, and taxation for seven years before joining CornerStone in 2013. Her responsibilities included financial recording and analysis for investment funds and providing valuation services for financial entities. She maintains Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) certifications. She has served on the board of the Bethany Early Childhood Education Center and as President of the PTO at Hugh K. Cassell Elementary. Carrie earned BS and MS degrees in Commerce and Accounting from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
Ishraga Eltahir, IACCP, Chief Compliance Officer Toggler
Ishraga leads CornerStone’s regulatory compliance program with respect to its status as an SEC-registered investment adviser and leads information security and cybersecurity initiatives. Prior to joining CornerStone, she was the Director of Business Execution in the Office of the COO, and Director on the Compliance and Legal team at FORT Investment Management. She previously worked at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC and was the Deputy Director of an anti-corruption civil society organization in the Republic of Sierra Leone. Ishraga currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System Foundation. Ishraga graduated cum laude from the University of Virginia with a BA in Political and Social Thought and African/African American Studies and earned a Master of International Commerce and Policy with a concentration in Global Finance, Investment, and Trade from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
Shane Galie, CFA, Managing Director Toggler
Shane serves as Co-Head of the Public Investments Team and is a member of the Investment Committee and the firm's Management Committee. He has over 17 years of experience in sourcing, conducting due diligence on, and allocating to traditional and alternative investment managers. Shane joined CornerStone Partners after serving the Dartmouth College Investment Office as a senior investment analyst. He also worked at the University of Virginia Investment Management Company for several years, analyzing hedge fund and long-only public equity manager exposures and performance attributes and conducting due diligence on prospective managers. He is co-chair of the Next Wave Sohn Hong Kong conference and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Virginia. Shane was University Valedictorian and graduated summa cum laude from James Madison University.
Annie Gerstenmaier, Director Toggler
Annie is a Director on the Private Investment Team and is a member of the Investment Committee. Annie joined CornerStone in 2017 after working as an investment associate at KPS Capital Partners. Her main responsibility was to diligence platform and add-on acquisitions in addition to working directly with existing portfolio companies. The majority of her experience at KPS was focused on manufacturing assets across a diverse range of industries. Prior to KPS, Annie worked for BB&T Capital Markets as an investment banking analyst where she worked on sell-side M&A transactions across the industrial and transportation sectors. Annie began her career at Altius Associates, a global private equity advisory and fund of funds firm. Annie graduated magna cum laude from William & Mary with a concentration in Finance and Accounting.
Peter Harbilas, CFA, Managing Director Toggler
Peter serves as Co-Head of the Portfolio Management Team and is a member of the Investment Committee. He joined CornerStone upon graduation from Washington and Lee University, where he received a BA in mathematics and economics, magna cum laude. Peter serves on the Financial Resources Committee of St. Anneʼs-Belfield School and as Treasurer of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Charlottesville. Peter is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Virginia.
Kristin Henningsen, CPA, ABV, CFF, CIPM, Managing Director, Investment Operations Toggler
As Co-Head of the Operations Team, Kristin serves clients in the areas of performance reporting, portfolio administration, and audit and tax support. Prior to joining the firm in 2011, Kristin was in public accounting for over a decade and was responsible for financial statement audits and accounting, tax compliance, and consulting for clients including investment companies and not-for-profit entities. Before public accounting, she was a senior accountant in the real estate division of PaineWebber, working in fund accounting, tax compliance, and SEC reporting. Currently a Governing Board Member and on the Executive and Investment Committees of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, and she is also a Board Member of the UVA School of Education and Human Development Foundation. Kristin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) through the AICPA. She holds the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement™ (CIPM) designation through the CFA Institute® and is a member of the CFA Society of Virginia. Kristin earned a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
Pete Knerr, Managing Director Toggler
Pete serves as Co-Head of the Public Investments Team and is a member of the Investment Committee. Before joining CornerStone in 2014, Pete worked in Equity Research for RBC Capital Markets, where he primarily covered oilfield service companies, along with master-limited partnerships and royalty trusts. Pete also previously worked for Ernst & Young, LLP, where he was responsible for planning and producing financial audits for asset management clients, such as hedge funds and private equity groups. Pete earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Accounting from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Jae Kwon, CFA, Director Toggler
Jae is a Director on the Public Investment Team and is a member of the Investment Committee. Jae joined CornerStone Partners in 2016, after seven years as an analyst focused on equities and structured credit. At Harbor Bridge Capital and Boodell & Co., both long/short equity hedge funds, he performed equity research focused primarily on China Internet, India, and consumer sectors across Asia. He also worked at Och-Ziff Capital, a multi-strategy hedge fund, where he performed investment analysis focusing on Non-Agency RMBS, Trust Preferred CDOs and ABS CDOs within the structured credit markets. Before Jae moved to the investment management side, he was an Associate on the CDO structuring team at JPMorgan, where he was involved in closing/issuing 11 transactions totaling over $7.2bn in notional amount. He began his career as an Analyst on the Mortgage Advisory team at BlackRock that consulted and managed mortgage servicing rights for institutional mortgage lenders. Jae is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Virginia and graduated from Cooper Union with a Bachelor of Engineering degree.
Chris Laing, CFA, Managing Director Toggler
Chris serves as CIO and Portfolio Manager for a subset of CornerStone's clients and is a member of the Investment Committee, Portfolio Management Team and chairs the firm's Management Committee. He has over 20 years of global investment and portfolio management experience. Prior to joining CornerStone Partners in 2008, he worked with Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong as a senior manager of Asian equity portfolios. Before working for Lloyd George, he was a senior portfolio manager in the Global Asset Management Division of INVESCO, where he served on the investment team that managed global developed and developing equity markets. Chris was one of six portfolio managers who oversaw all investment decisions and trading execution, and established asset allocation and individual security weightings for INVESCO’s global equity portfolios. He was also an equity portfolio manager and analyst in the firm’s US Institutional Group. Chris serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and is a member and former Chairperson of its endowment committee and is a member of the Elon University Parents Council and serves on its Career Committee. Chris graduated from the University of Virginia and is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Virginia.
Jerry Polk, CAIA, Managing Director Toggler
Jerry serves as Co-Head of the Private Investments Team and is a member of the Investment Committee and the firm’s Management Committee. Before joining CornerStone in 2016, Jerry served as a Director in the Office of Investments at The Ohio State University, which is responsible for managing the University's endowment. He was primarily responsible for managing the illiquid investment portfolio including private equity, natural resources, real estate, and private credit, and was also involved in formulating global investment strategy, portfolio construction, and manager selection across all asset classes. Before Ohio State, Jerry was the Director of Private Investments at Southern Methodist University and was an Investment Officer at the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System. He served on the Finance Committee for The 2nd & 7 Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Columbus, OH with a mission to promote reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging young athletes of the community to pay it forward. Jerry holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation and earned a BS and an MBA from Louisiana State University.
Laura Roller, Managing Director Toggler
Laura serves as Co-Head of the Private Investments Team and is a member of the Investment Committee and the firm's Management Committee. Before joining CornerStone in 2018, she spent five years at Investure, an outsourced investment office managing assets on behalf of endowments and foundations. There she was a member of the investment team and focused on the evaluation of both public market and private market investment opportunities. Prior to this, she worked for the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO), which manages the University’s globally diversified endowment portfolio. Laura serves on the Board of ReadyKids, a non-profit that supports kids and families in the Charlottesville area with counseling, family support, and early learning opportunities. Laura earned a BS from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.
Kevin Schuyler, CFA, Managing Director Toggler
Kevin serves as Portfolio Manager for select CornerStone clients. Kevin also serves on CornerStone’s Investment Committee and Management Committee. His prior roles at CornerStone included responsibilities in risk management and investment manager research. Before joining CornerStone Partners in 2006, he was the chief investment officer at The Nature Conservancy, the world's largest not-for-profit conservation organization. Kevin began his professional career working at the Chicago Board of Trade with Louis Dreyfus Corporation and later was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Kevin serves on the board of the Charlottesville Community Investment Collaborative. A member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Virginia, Kevin graduated with honors from Harvard College and earned an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Liza Scott, Managing Director Toggler
Liza serves as Portfolio Manager for select CornerStone clients. She is also Co-Head of the Portfolio Management Team and a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining CornerStone, she was Vice President, Asset Management at Dominion Energy, Inc., serving as Chief Investment Officer for over $20 billion of retirement and nuclear decommissioning trust assets. She was previously the Director of Public Markets at Spider Management Company, the investment office of the University of Richmond and an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer for other endowments and foundations. Prior to Spider, she was an Associate at JP Morgan Investment Management and a teacher at a New York City public high school. Liza earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. She serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Virginia Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the Medical College of Virginia Foundation.
