De Luna Partners names new partner

De Luna Partners has hired Curtis L. Spears as a partner. Prior to joining De Luna Partners, Spears worked at Gray & Company where he served as senior managing director of business development. Based in Orinda, Calif., De Luna Partners is a placement agent that raises capital for private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and global equity investment managers.

PRESS RELEASE

De Luna Partners, a placement agent and third party marketing firm specializing in raising capital for private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, and global equity investment managers, announced today that Curtis L. Spears has joined the firm as Partner. Mr. Spears will be involved in all facets of De Luna Partners origination and fundraising.
Mr. Spears brings 23 years of institutional investment management and sales experience to the De Luna Partners. He joins from Gray & Company in Chicago where he was Senior Managing Director of Business Development responsible for spearheading and maintaining institutional relationships. Previously, he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Gardner Rich, LLC, a broker/dealer, and led the business development and fundraising efforts to public funds at Fifth Third Asset Management and Northern Trust Global Investments. Prior to this he was an Equity Index Portfolio Manager at Northern Trust Quantitative Advisors and ANB Investment Management. He began his career at Baxter International.
John de Luna founder of De Luna Partners noted, “Curtis has extensive experience in successfully marketing private and public equity strategies that fits very well with our marketing to public and private pensions, endowments, foundations, fund of funds and insurance companies. His experience as an equity portfolio manager and his deep institutional relationships truly enhances our team.”
Mr. Spears has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Northwestern University, where he also played football. He received his Masters of Business Administration from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University. He holds FINRA Series 24, 7, 63 and 79 licenses.
He is on the Governing Board of UCAN Chicago, and a member of the National Association of Securities Professionals.
In addition to Messrs. Spears and de Luna, De Luna Partners’ senior team includes Sara Mongerson and Michael Barrett. Collectively the partners average well over 25 years of experience in institutional fundraising and client service. De Luna Partners’ current representations include Samsung Asset Management and Fairbanks Investment Fund Europe.
Past clients include Clearlake Capital, Vicente Capital, Shaw Kwei & Partners (Asia) and Denali Advisors. De Luna Partners, founded in 2002 in Orinda, California is a Registered Investment Advisor with FINRA and MSRB as a Municipal Advisor. Securities are offered through Penserra Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC/MSRB. www.delunapartners.com.