Executive Director, Strategy and Corporate Development
GCM Grosvenor
Chicago, IL.
At just 13 years old, Renae Griffin followed in her parents’ footsteps and became a business owner. She began with custom jewelry and clothing, moved on to women’s designer fashions and accessories, and in 2001 founded RG + Associates, a consultancy she ran for 17 years. “Entrepreneurship was embedded in our family,” she says.
At RG+A, she developed one of the first educational and networking conferences to facilitate business relationships between institutional investors and minority and women asset managers. She sold the conference series to GCM Grosvenor last year, but stayed on to expand their emerging, diverse manager platform. “A dream realized,” she confesses. “My goal was always to build and sell my business to further leverage my network and work in the diverse manager space.”
Griffin’s work connecting investors with women- and minority-owned investment firms earned her the Pacesetter Award from the National Association of Investment Companies, and the Entrepreneur Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Oakland/Bay Area. A graduate of the University of San Francisco (B.Sc., economics), she holds Series 63 and Series 7 Securities licenses, and memberships in the National Association of Securities Professionals and the Real Estate Executive Council. As an executive director of corporate and strategic development teams at GCM, she is charged with leveraging the brand and maintaining a strong pipeline of minority management talent. Although Griffin does not own the company, she has a lead role in the consortium piece she founded years ago. She truly appreciates the “entrepreneurial environment” that GCM offers. “Currently, I’m helping to create an educational program that will better serve small and institutional investors,” she says.
When asked for success advice, the longtime business strategist suggests, “Build internal relationships rather than just focusing on external ones. It’s the best way to get the most from your teams.”
