Howard Coleman, JD

Howard joined Coldstream through the company’s acquisition of Genesee Investments in 2011. With a varied background, Howard brings a wealth of legal and investment expertise to Coldstream. Beginning his career at the Seattle firm of Riddell, Williams, Bullitt and Walkinshaw, Howard focused on securities related litigation and regulatory issues and became a partner in 1991. In 1997, he went to work for Genesee Investments as its Managing Director and General Counsel assisting in the analysis and negotiation of its hedge funds’ private investments in public companies. By the early 2000s, Howard transitioned away from his legal role and began evaluating hedge funds for Genesee’s three fund of funds. Having evaluated well over 2,000 hedge funds during his career, Howard found that his legal background dovetailed nicely into hedge fund analysis and strategies that involved real estate, debt instruments, or bankruptcy. In 2014, Howard became Coldstream’s Chief Investment Officer, working with the Investment Strategy Group to develop strategic and tactical asset allocations and fund due diligence.

Currently on the board for the Congregations for the Homeless, Howard is dedicated to civic engagement. Howard and his wife Linda also founded a non-profit organization, Education Access Network, which prepares high school students who cannot afford college preparation classes for the SAT and ACT exams, and helps them through the application process.

The common theme that has governed my career is that the clients’ interests come first – before my personal interests or the interests of the firm. This is the essence of our fiduciary duty and is the core of Coldstream’s value system.