A New Class
of Family Office
Built for exceptional families seeking institutional capabilities, independent judgment, and relationships that endure across generations.
The Right-Sized
Family Office
Most families have historically had to choose between the personal attention of a boutique and the institutional capabilities of a mega-firm. Aspen Grove has pioneered a right-sized model that brings together the strengths of both through enduring personal relationships and access to top-tier institutional resources.
What sets us apart.
Our central location and right-sized scale allow us to operate without the overhead of a mega-firm, while still being large enough to merit close relationships with leading financial institutions. The result is an ideal combination of institutional access and a more efficient approach to serving you.
We ask “what could go wrong?” as a habit, because mistakes are worse than delays – slow and right beats fast and wrong. It takes experience to anticipate blind spots, which some small firms may lack, and confidence to say “no” when an opportunity isn’t one. These skills can be difficult to scale in a mega-firm environment.
Complex wealth often requires specialized expertise. We identify, engage, and coordinate the right professionals for each need, wherever they may reside, while remaining the single accountable team responsible for the full picture.
How we manage:
your assets
In addition to traditional asset management, we assist with opportunistic investments. Our comprehensive process:
Traditional Asset Management
- Review and underwrite existing portfolios
- Develop Family Investment Policy Statements and strategic asset-allocation
- Construct customized portfolios
- Engage top investment managers leveraging our scale for lower fees
- Provide institutional due diligence on traditional and alternative asset-investment opportunities
Opportunistic Investments
- Source opportunistic investments from our clients, other family offices, and investment partners
- Manage direct opportunistic investments within your asset-allocation framework and overall asset strategy
- Underwrite proprietary and unique opportunistic investments
How we manage:
your life
You'll work with a Family Office Relationship Director whose goal is to maximize the amount of time you spend living your best life. The Relationship Director does this by building and managing a bespoke team of Aspen Grove subject-manner experts.
A single point of contact who:
- Manages overarching strategy
- Assists with family legacy and culture
- Serves as a fiduciary
- Leads your team of specialists
- Provides detailed reporting
- Oversees documentation and record keeping
The team.
Experienced professionals who know your full picture and have the institutional relationships to execute at scale.
Jeff Kirwood
Chief Executive Officer
Jeff Kirwood is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aspen Grove Capital, where he serves as lead advisor to multiple family office relationships and is a member of the firm's Investment Committee. Prior to founding Aspen Grove Capital in 2011, Jeff was Managing Director of Lakeside Capital Group, a single-family office investing across public and private markets. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Liberty Media Corporation, where he led numerous media and e-commerce acquisitions and served on the boards of several Liberty-controlled businesses. Jeff also founded and operated a restructuring advisory firm, served as Chief Restructuring Officer of DMX Music, and held senior corporate development and operating roles at Exodus Communications, Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), and HBO. Jeff earned a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rick Geisman
President and Chief Financial Officer
Rick Geisman is Co-Founder, President, and Chief Financial Officer of Aspen Grove Capital. With more than 30 years of experience in financial services, Rick serves as lead advisor to several family office relationships and is a member of the Aspen Grove Capital Investment Committee. In addition to his investment and advisory responsibilities, Rick works closely with families on governance, succession planning, and the development of multigenerational wealth education frameworks. Prior to co-founding Aspen Grove Capital, Rick held senior positions in the institutional equities business at CIBC World Markets and Sandler O'Neill. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent nearly a decade in a variety of equities-related roles. Rick earned a B.S.B.A. in Finance from Boston University.
Kelley Donegan
Head of Family Office Services and Operations
Kelley Donegan is the Head of Family Office Services and Operations at Aspen Grove Capital, where she oversees the firm's day-to-day operations including family office services, reporting, and tax, while leading operational and process improvement initiatives. Kelley brings extensive experience across investment management, financial services operations, and technology implementation. Prior to joining Aspen Grove, she served as Lead Program and Project Manager for Corporate Applications at Nuveen Investments and held leadership positions managing middle- and back-office operations, client implementations, and enterprise technology initiatives for investment management firms, proprietary trading firms, and hedge fund service providers. Kelley earned a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Kansas and an M.S. in Financial Markets and Trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Dave Saunders, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Dave Saunders, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer of Aspen Grove Capital, where he oversees the firm's investment strategy, asset allocation, manager due diligence, and research efforts across client portfolios. He chairs the Aspen Grove Capital Investment Committee. Dave has deep expertise in private equity, venture capital, private credit, and real estate investments. Prior to joining Aspen Grove, Dave served as a Senior Portfolio Manager in Alternative Investments at the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (CoPERA) and held investment-related roles at Cambridge Associates and Prologis. Dave earned a B.A. in Economics from Washington and Lee University and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Guiding Wealth
through Generations
We partner with a select number of families, providing thoughtful guidance and institutional capabilities tailored to each generation's goals.