PINE is a dynamic outsource solution for funds and investment managers. PINE delivers institutional quality tailored services to private funds, mutual funds, and investment advisors. Our founders have managed the critical non-investment functions in the alternative and registered fund space. PINE’s founders have served as Chief Financial Officers, Chief Compliance Officers and Chief Operating Officers for both large and boutique investment firms.
J.B. Blue • Founder
J.B. Blue has over 18 years of experience in the asset management industry. He was previously the SVP, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Operations for 361 Capital. J.B. was responsible for overseeing 361’s operations and compliance department. Prior to joining 361 Capital in 2010, J.B. spent eight years at Janus Capital Group and was an instrumental player in their mutual fund and separate account operations. In 2009, he was named the “Janus Employee of the Year”. J.B. started his career at ALPS.
J.B. earned the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Denver.
Family time, cycling and skiing are some of J.B.’s favorite past-times. J.B. and his wife are Colorado natives. They live in Denver with their three young kids and two guinea pigs (regrettably).
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Derek Mullins • Founder
Derek Mullins has over 20 years of experience in the asset management industry. Previously, he was the Director of Operations for ArrowMark Partners, a $17 billion diversified asset management firm. Derek also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Meridian Fund, Inc., a 1940 Act registered mutual fund family. Derek was responsible for the management of the financial and tax operations for ArrowMark’s investment products. He had oversight over all of the firm’s service providers, including fund administrators, custodians and prime brokers, transfer agents, legal counsel, independent auditors and tax professionals.
Prior to joining ArrowMark Partners, he served in senior level management positions with Dividend Capital Investments and ALPS Fund Services. Derek graduated from the University of Colorado with both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Finance. He currently serves on the Board of Concierge Technologies.
Derek is a Colorado native and tries to play golf and tennis with his wife and two daughters as much as possible. They live in Denver with their golden Oxford.
Stephanie Pokuta • Director of Compliance
Stephanie Pokuta has over 10 years of experience in the asset management and broker-dealer industry, the majority of which has been focused on financial compliance. As a Compliance Manager, she most recently monitored the program at Legal & General Investment Management America; a $219B solutions-focused U.S. affiliate of a global asset manager specializing in fixed income, liability driven investment and index capabilities for the institutional market.
Previously, she provided daily oversight to a registered mutual fund family and the pairing investment advisory services at Henderson Global Investors (North America), and took part in the organization’s 2017 merger of two equals with Janus Capital Group.
Stephanie is a Chicago native and is currently earning a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership at the University of Denver. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. High-intensity yoga, hiking, sharing laughter through memes, and traveling whenever possible are a handful of Stephanie’s favorite past-times.
Chris Jones • Director of CFO Services
Chris Jones has over 13 years of experience in the asset management industry. Previously, he was the Vice President of Business Development for SS&C ALPS, the largest global Alternative Investment Fund Administrator, where he was responsible for new business growth. Prior to his work in Business Development he also served as the Vice President of Fund Administration for ALPS Alternative Investment Services where he was responsible for accounting, financial reporting and client relations.
Chris received his B.A. from The University of Colorado Boulder in Economics. He currently serves on the Help For Children Denver Board.
Chris is a native of New Jersey but has spent his adult life in Colorado. Chris enjoys biking, golfing, traveling and spending time with his family. He lives in Denver with his wife Katie and sons Cooper and Miles.
Marcie McVeigh • Associate Director of CFO Services
Marcie McVeigh has over 18 years of experience in the asset management industry. Most recently she was Assistant Vice President and Performance Measurement Manager at Brown Brothers Harriman. Previously, she spent seven years at American Century Investments, where she focused on investment company financial and regulatory reporting and was responsible for providing oversight to the firm’s service providers. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Director/Officer of Fund Administration at State Street Bank, where she oversaw financial and regulatory reporting, expense budgeting/processing, and compliance testing for various registered mutual fund clients.
Marcie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Kansas.
In her free time, Marcie enjoys concerts, traveling and spending time with friends and family, particularly her husband, daughter and son.
Tom Merrill • Associate Director of CFO Services
Tom has over 7 years of experience in the asset management industry. Most recently he was a Senior Associate at TPG Global where he managed the accounting and finance functions for 356 private equity entities totaling $22 bn in commitments. Previously, he worked at ALPS fund services as a supervisor in the alternative investments group, overseeing the administration of 40 funds.
Tom earned his Master of Science in Finance from the University of Colorado and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Denver. He has passed the CFA Level I exam.
He enjoys bicycling to Boulder when he is not studying for the CFA.
Xavier Chavez • Associate Director of Operations
Xavier Chavez has recently graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder accompanied by a diversified finance background. Most recently, he was an investment banking analyst at Capstone Headwaters in which he was responsible for a multitude of tasks ranging from financial models to marketing materials to working directly on investment banking deals. Prior to his investment banking experience, he was involved in the early U.S. outreach stages of Avoka, an Australian software developer, who was recently acquired by the European software giant Tenemos. There, he was responsible for creating data targeting certain financial establishments as clients and delivering corresponding reports. He began his finance career at MarkWest Energy Partners as a Credit/Risk Management intern reviewing derivative opportunities and making sure affiliated parties didn’t overstep their lines of credit.
Xavier received his B.A. from The University of Colorado Boulder in Finance.
Xavier was born and raised a Colorado native. He enjoys traveling the world, golfing, snowboarding, and going on walks with his Husky.
