Curtis Spears

Curtis Spears is President and COO of Gardner Rich, LLC. Curtis brings with him twenty years of experience in the field of asset management. His ability to cultivate strong client relationships and his strong leadership skills were honed in his prior position at Fifth Third Asset Management where Curtis held the position of VP/Managing Director of Public Fund Sales. Curtis also served as Vice President at The Northern Trust Company where he was responsible for client service and marketing investment products and services to the institutional marketplace. Before taking on client responsibilities, Curtis managed domestic and international equity index portfolios for Northern Trust.

In addition to his current role at Gardner Rich, Curtis is also a managing partner of the Kiwanja Redevelopment Fund. Kiwanja specializes in remediating environmentally contaminated properties in urban areas, and converting them into real estate suitable for development.

Throughout his career, Curtis's level of excellence has enabled him to build strong relationships with top-tier financial firms and institutional investors. A native of Chicago, Curtis also sees it as his duty to give back to the community. He has served on auxiliary boards for the Steppenwolf Theater, the Field Museum, and the Primo Center for Women and Children, where he has raised funds crucial to operations, and helped to increase awareness.

Curtis received his B.S. in computer science from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from DePaul University.