About  

The Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) is a long-lived tree that grows tall and straight and towers over the mature forests of northern New England and the Upper Midwest. The forest floor below it is covered in a soft reddish-brown carpet of fallen needles. Native Americans boiled the needles to make a tea rich in Vitamin C. In colonial times the white pine’s strong trunk was so prized for ship’s masts that the trees were declared the exclusive property of Britain’s Royal Navy.

After American Independence white pine trunks supplied the masts that allowed New England clipper ships to sail all the way to China at record speeds. Countless acres of white pines were cut down for lumber in the second half of the 19th century as settlers spread across North America. The huge growth in the lumber industry led investors to create some of the early large American corporations but many folded around the beginning of the 20th century when they had run out of trees to cut down.

While in many places the trees are growing back, it can take well over a century for young white pines to reach the towering heights of their ancestors.

Our Investment Philosophy

At White Pine Advisory we want our clients’ savings to grow tall and straight and last for generations, just like the white pine.  In keeping with this we always keep the long term in mind when building client portfolios. By focusing on high quality, well-diversified investments we aim to keep turnover and trading costs low and risk at an appropriate level. We believe that over the long term the financial markets will reward quality and solid business and economic fundamentals. Our goal is for our clients to be able to look on the inevitable ups and downs of the markets with equanimity.

The white pine also reminds us that as investors we are part of the broader worlds of nature and human society and collectively our investment decisions can have a significant impact on this broader context. We believe that investors who incorporate this awareness into their strategy by following sustainable investing practices are likely to outperform over the long term with lower volatility.  Companies that pay close attention to the broader context in which they are operating are likely to have a more holistic, long term business model and generate fewer negative surprises for  investors. They won’t suddenly run out of trees to cut down. At White Pine we are always looking for investment opportunities that we believe will maximize our clients’ positive impact and minimize their negative impact in order to generate better long term returns for both their investment portfolios and the world at large.

Urban Larson, Principal

Urban has nearly three decades of domestic and international financial experience in fund management, commercial and investment banking and real estate development. After a brief time in real estate he moved on to commercial banking, where he did consumer and small business lending. An MBA and an exchange program in Mexico City opened the way for him to build a rewarding career of over two decades as an analyst and portfolio manager investing in  Emerging Markets equities and fixed income. Among the highlights of his career was creating and managing one of the first sustainable funds to invest in Emerging Markets. Urban began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon and has never lost his commitment to incorporating his values into his work, to do well by doing good.

Urban has a BA in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago, an MBA from France’s HEC (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) and a Sustainable Investing Professional Certification from Concordia University (Montreal).

Urban has passed the Series 65 professional licensing exam and is registered as an Investment Advisor Representative with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Urban also teaches Introduction to Sustainable Investing in the Economics Department at Duke University, where he is an Executive in Residence.

He chairs the Board of Investment at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, Mass, where he is a long-time member of the Finance Committee. He is a member of the investment committee of the affordable housing non-profit Urban Edge and a former member of the investment committee of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry, both in the Boston inner city neighborhood of Roxbury. Urban is also President of Capella Clausura, a Boston-area music organization that performs and promotes music by female composers. Urban is a member of the Brookline Community Foundation Professional Advisors’ Committee and a Trustee of his condo association.

Urban has lived, worked and studied in five countries on three continents and is fluent in French, Portuguese and Spanish. On weekends he likes to ski and hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with his son and extended family and friends.

When he was a child in Wisconsin Urban’s family had a massive white pine in the backyard that was the tallest tree on their block. With his brother and his friends, he built a small fort up in the branches, climbing high up in the tree together to look down on the houses below.

Interested in Learning More?

617-505-5212
ularson@whitepineadvisory.com

White Pine Advisory, LLC
32 Kilsyth Road 2nd Floor
Brookline, MA 02445