Our Team
Tom Sowanick Co-President and Chief Investment Officer Mr. Sowanick is an industry veteran with 30 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining OmniVest, Mr. Sowanick held several senior executive positions at Merrill Lynch, including Chief Investment Officer for the Private Client Group. Mr. Sowanick was also in charge of Global Macro Research, responsible globally for equity strategy, fixed income, foreign exchange, economics and technical analysis. Institutional Investor magazine has recognized Mr. Sowanick twelve consecutive years as an All Star Fixed Income Strategist. Mr. Sowanick is featured periodically on Bloomberg TV, Fox Business, Reuters and CNBC. Mr. Sowanick received a bachelor’s degree in economics and literature from American University, and pursued graduate studies in economics from the same school. He holds Series 7, 63, 24, 86, and 87 securities licenses. Mr. Sowanick is widely published in the global arena for his economic and financial market insights.
Frits Besselaar Co-President Mr. Besselaar has over 20 years’ experience in managing Princeton Investment Advisors, Inc., a family office he founded in 1991 focused on investing his family wealth/assets. In 2007, Mr. Besselaar opened the doors to outside clients with the team now assembled under Omnivest Group LLC. Over the past 20 years Mr. Besselaar has invested in many investment partnerships, with mandates that focused on distressed debt, convertible arbitrage, event driven transactions, long/short equity, private equity and buy-outs. Mr. Besselaar also served as a general partner of River Capital Partners, Ltd., a multi-manager fund geared towards high-net worth offshore investors. Presently, Mr. Besselaar serves on the Board of Directors of JagTag, a Princeton-based mobile marketing company. Mr. Besselaar also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Princeton Center for Leadership Training.
Charles W. MortenChief of Operations and Chief Compliance Officer Mr. Morten has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in a variety of operational, administrative and compliance related areas. He has worked for Merrill Lynch for 28 years and for the last 10 years of his Merrill tenure, Mr. Morten was the First Vice President and Group Manager of the International Private Banking Operations with accountability for operations in Merrill Lynch Japan, Merrill Lynch Canada and Merrill Lynch Bank operations in Singapore, Geneva, London and the Isle of Man among other sites. Mr. Morten joined JP Morgan Chase in 2002 as Operations Director and ran the Middle Office Operations for Chase Investment Services Corp (CISC), Trust Operations and the Call Center for the Chase Retirement Account Services. Mr. Morten was also the President of CISC — the broker dealer arm of Chase Personal Financial Services — through the Bank One merger. Mr. Morten graduated from the University of Illinois and has held the Series 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 53 and 63 securities licenses. He is registered as an arbitrator with FINRA and has extensive experience as a compliance consultant.
Ruby Schmidt Director Ms. Schmidt uses her extensive experience to develop and maintain client relationships, create asset allocations and investment policy statements, research potential investment managers, manage the firm’s investment process for alternative investments, and contribute to the implementation of clients’ investment plans. Ms. Schmidt has over nine years’ experience in the investment advisory and wealth management industry, including six years in investment management and financial administration at a private family investment firm.
Previously, Ms. Schmidt headed the capital markets and financial products division of a major reinsurance company.
Ms. Schmidt is currently a CFA candidate, having passed the Level I exam in June 2010. In addition, she holds degrees from the State University of New York and Wesleyan University, as well as an MBA in finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University. She has held the Series 7, 63, and 24 securities licenses and currently holds the Series 65 license.
Eleni Athanatos Research Strategist An eleven-year veteran of financial services with Merrill Lynch in Dubai, New York and Princeton, Ms. Athanatos is involved in the ongoing implementation of client portfolios. In her position as Research Strategist, she works closely with the firm’s CIO to produce research reports and presentations covering Global Markets. She brings to the role a special expertise in the concerns of offshore investors, specifically in the Middle East.
Ms. Athanatos is fluent in Spanish, Greek, and Arabic. She received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Rider University, obtained a Cambridge Certificate in Arabic and has held Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Laura “Nicki” Hegyi Controller Ms. Hegyi has over 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. As Controller, she is responsible for a wide range of investment accounting and financial reporting functions. Prior to joining OmniVest, Ms. Hegyi was a Senior Accountant at Princeton Investment Advisors, where she maintained and created the company’s financial reports and managed client services.
Gaby Larriva Investment Associate A member of our aggregated performance reporting and administration team, Ms. Larriva helps manage data for client portfolios and client subscriptions and redemptions to and from alternative investment managers. Ms. Larriva joined OmniVest in January 2008 and holds an MBA from Universidad De Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ms. Larriva is fluent in Spanish.