“ Our investment team and advisors bring decades of private markets experience and come from alternative investment,
banking, and operational backgrounds. We believe this makes us uniquely qualified in our investment selection and fund due diligence process. ”
- Keystone National Group, LLC
Our team members and senior advisors possess significant expertise in alternative investments and over 100 years of private markets experience. Our team members have performed due diligence on hundreds of private fund partnerships and have managed over $5 billion in private equity fund commitments.
ROGER WIDMANN - Chairman
rwidmann@keystonenational.net
Mr. Widmann serves as the Chairman of Keystone and is involved
in the evaluation of energy fund investments. He was previously
a principal at the investment banking firm of Tanner & Co., Inc.
and a senior managing director of Chemical Securities, Inc., a
subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corporation (now JPMorgan
Chase).
Prior to joining Chemical Securities, Inc., Mr. Widmann was the CEO and co-founder of First Reserve Corporation, the largest independent energy investing firm in the U.S., and served on the board of First Reserve for over 10 years.
Prior to co-founding First Reserve, he was senior vice president with the investment banking firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, responsible for the firm’s domestic and international investment banking business and also worked as an SEC trial attorney.
He is a senior moderator of the Executive Seminar at The Aspen Institute and is a board member of the March of Dimes of Greater New York.
JOHN EARL - Managing Partner
jearl@keystonenational.net
Mr. Earl is a co-founder of Keystone and Managing Partner of the firm. He is active in fund selection, due diligence, and the general management of the firm. Mr. Earl was previously a senior investment banker with Lehman Brothers, where he worked closely with senior management of numerous private equity and venture capital firms. While at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Earl was active in evaluating and executing a broad variety of direct investment opportunities and monetization strategies including initial public offerings, secondary equity offerings, recapitalizations and company sale transactions. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Earl held previous investment banking and structured finance positions at Dillon, Read & Co., Inc. and Credit Suisse.
BRANDON NIELSON - Managing Partner
bnielson@keystonenational.net
Mr. Nielson is a co-founder of Keystone and Managing Partner of the firm. He is active in fund selection, due diligence, general firm management, and is a member of Keystone’s investment committee. He was previously Managing Director of Regional Investment Partners, a Dallas-based private equity research firm focused on identifying and benchmarking the nation’s top small and lower-middle market buyout funds.
Mr. Nielson previously served as a Vice President at Partners Group, a global private equity fund of funds manager with over $15 billion in private equity and hedge fund programs. Based in the firm’s New York office, Mr. Nielson played a key role in building Partners Group’s U.S. presence and in identifying and performing due diligence on U.S. investment opportunities, including buyout fund investments, secondaries, and direct co-investments. He later worked at Partners Group’s headquarters in Switzerland where he helped launch the firm’s Transaction Services business and was active in private equity structuring and fund formation.
Prior to Partners Group, Mr. Nielson worked for the accounting firm KPMG and earned his C.P.A. license.
FRANK FERNANDEZ - Investment Advisor
ffernandez@keystonenational.net
Mr. Fernandez previously served as Senior Portfolio Manager of Alternative Investments and headed private equity investments at the $100+ billion Florida State Board of Administration, the fourth largest public pension fund in the U.S. In his six years at the Board, he managed a private equity portfolio of over $6 billion of committed capital. He was also a member of over 20 private equity fund advisory committees and served as Vice Chairman of the Institutional Limited Partners Association.
He began his career in investment banking with Kidder Peabody & Co.
RAYMOND CHAN, CFA - Vice President
rchan@keystonenational.net
Mr. Chan is a Vice President of Investments at Keystone and is active in investment due diligence, fund screening, and financial modeling. Mr. Chan leads Keystone’s quantitative analysis work on prospective fund investments and is also involved in portfolio monitoring.
Prior to joining Keystone, he was a Vice President at Citigroup Global Markets’ Principal Investments and Securitized Products Group, where he made private equity investments in specialty finance companies and executed asset portfolio acquisitions. He began his career in investment banking over ten years ago in the Fixed Income and Derivatives Division at Credit Suisse First Boston.
ALAN BUCKWALTER - Senior Advisor
Mr. Buckwalter is a Senior Advisor to Keystone.
Mr. Buckwalter was previously Chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, South Region, and served as head of the Global Energy and Leveraged Finance Unit within the Banking and Corporate Finance Group of Chemical Bank. He also previously served as Chairman and CEO of Chase Bank of Texas and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
He currently serves on the Boards of Plains Exploration & Production Company and Service Corporation International, both NYSE listed energy companies. In addition, he is a Board member of the Houston Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He currently serves on the boards of The Texas Medical Center; BCM Technologies, Inc., and The Greater Houston Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
SCOTT GUNTER - Vice President
sgunter@keystonenational.net
Mr. Gunter is responsible for business development and managing relationships with both investors and financial advisors. He has over 17 years of experience working with both institutional and ultra high-net-worth clients in the public and private securities markets.
Prior to joining Keystone, Mr. Gunter worked in the Private Client Group of Morgan Stanley & Co. where he managed client portfolios consisting of alternative investments, derivatives, private placements and private equity investments, as well as more conventional equity and fixed income portfolios. Mr. Gunter also served as Director of The Private Banking division of UBS where he oversaw the development of new business as well as the management of significant client relationships.
LYNETTE WALBOM - Chief Financial Officer
lwalbom@keystonenational.net
Lynette has several years of experience in public, industry and private entity accounting and served as the Chief Financial Officer for B&J Smith Investments, a family office based in Scottsdale, Arizona. In her position as CFO, she oversaw the financial management and reporting of various investments and operating companies. Prior to B&J Smith Investments, Lynette was a senior accountant in financial reporting at Arizona Public Service Company, a public utility located in Phoenix, Arizona and was an auditor for Deloitte and Touche. Lynette is a Certified Public Accountant.
Click on each team member below for a short bio: