Ron was lucky enough to get a taste of the investment industry at an early age. He’d ride his bike downtown to watch the ticker tape and the old guys smoking their cigars. The energy around it drew him in and he was struck how the environment provided endless opportunities to fail or succeed spectacularly. He witnessed the effects of misplaced hubris and loved that the industry is agnostic to matters of family tree and educational pedigree. While those factors can get you into a position, they don’t determine what happens once you’re there.
These formative experiences shaped Ron in such a way that it was inevitable he’d end up in the investment world. He first worked for Dane Bosworth–now RBC. He started off in the margin department and learned about risk, risk management, and risk control. He also ran a cash management product and handled investments of all their overnight funds.
Ron’s fortunate collection of roles positioned him to co-found the Corundum Group in 1992. While the firm was formed to address one specific family’s needs, he soon found out that the model addressed a shared need among many wealthy families. Everything has expanded from that seed.
Corundum Group has a lot of people’s fingerprints on it, but Ron is proud that it has his culture and personality. It’s incredibly rewarding to have created a second home for people where employees care about each other, and everyone has the opportunity to be successful. It’s very important to Ron that Corundum Group is a special place to work and has a reputation as a place clients can trust with their financial legacy. As a leader, he has a unique ability to see where a person is, what they’re capable of, and what they’re excited about. He uses that to tap into people’s potential and develop them in their careers.
Ron loves every facet of the business—its challenges, complexities, and opportunities. The lively nature of the investment industry serves Ron well and his personal interests are equally dynamic. He travels often and likes to scuba dive, fly, and drive everything from pickup trucks to boats. As a curious student of broad interests, he can have conversations about almost anything with anyone.
In addition to building a business, Ron and his wife Susan have built a family with three kids: Lindsay, Charlie, and Caroline. Ron and Susan know how the right education can change lives and empower people to make well-informed decisions. With this in mind, they invest in people through tuition grants, scholarships, and endowments. They also contribute to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and various alma maters.
