Our Team

Albert Hawk

Chairman

Albert “Bud” Hawk is the Chairman of Corstone. Mr. Hawk has created, grown, managed, and successfully exited companies for over 25 years.

In 1991, Mr. Hawk joined a London based team to roll up and consolidate companies in the real estate, financial services and natural resource industries. After a successful exit, he joined Corstone with two partners in 1994.  Corstone initially began investing  in and managing IT, wireless, software and internet companies.

In 1996, Mr. Hawk began advising companies in Australia, South Korea and China, starting with infrastructure and human resource outsourcing.  Mr. Hawk led the initial team at Corstone China, which has invested in nonperforming loans, real estate, automotive suppliers, and financial services.  Mr. Hawk is also chairman of Corstone Asia, headquartered in Seoul.  Mr. Hawk has also been active in the Singapore and India investments, including fractional jet ownership and business process outsourcing.

He was the Chairman of a human resource outsourcing company. Mr. Hawk has served as the CEO of a publicly traded company that pioneered wireless, reliable mobile computing products and services to public safety and other wireless markets. Previously, Mr. Hawk was part of the executive team that grew a publicly traded natural resource and financial services holding company assets to over $1.5 billion in assets.

Mr. Hawk was a member of the Washington D.C. office of a national law firm, where he practiced corporate and securities law. Mr. Hawk also served as an attorney for the U.S government in commodity and securities areas.

Mr. Hawk is a speaker before business groups and is active in the community, including Tsinghua University in Beijing. He also serves on the Board of Special Love, a not-for-profit devoted to children with cancer, and Neediest Kids, a not-for-profit devoted to under privileged children with special needs.

John Herring

Co-Founder Emeritus

John is a founding Corstone partner and has served alternatively as managing director or as CEO of Corstone portfolio companies. His career spans military service to public company executive positions. He is experienced with venture, private equity and public market financings and successfully led businesses to M&A transactions and publicly listed entities. John returns to Corstone as a managing director in 2014.

Most recently, John led iMove Inc. to advance a new generation of ground-based imaging solutions to combat terrorism. He attracted In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and fast tracked deployment of new technologies solutions that have since been recognized by the Directors of DNI and CIA for saving the lives of intelligence officers and warfighters. iMove was acquired by Immersive Media in December 2013.

Previously, Corstone teamed with former McCaw Cellular executives to develop a new generation mobile satellite data service. John served as CEO of Norcom Networks during which time ground station operations were established; mobile terminals developed for in-vehicle communications; and major customers were signed including Sears, Union Pacific and a host of major utilities. While private, John attracted Telenor AS, the Norwegian telecom as a strategic partner who invested $50 million in the venture. Norcom was acquired by Wireless Matrix Corporation, a publicly listed company.

John led Corstone’s acquisition of and served as CEO of LaserAccess Corporation, a company involved in imaging solutions and text-retrieval algorithms for banking applications. During his tenure, the product was brought to market, gained rapid market share and was subsequently acquired by Network Imaging Corporation, a publicly listed company.

Prior to Corstone, John worked for DBA Systems, an image and mapping contractor for the national intelligence community, and served as an officer in the Navy nuclear submarine program. He received his MBA in Finance and Investments from George Washington University and his BS in Business from The Citadel.

John Duffy

Senior Advisor, Real Estate

John E. Duffy is the Executive Managing Director at Jones Lang LaSalle in Washington, D.C. Mr. Duffy has over twenty-five years of experience in the key disciplines associated with the commercial real estate industry.

Mr. Duffy’s background includes extensive experience as a land use planner (comprehensive planning, zoning, architectural compliance), real estate developer (entitlement, architectural and engineering oversight, project financing, leasing, and disposition), real estate investor for his own account (joint venture office, retail and residential projects) and as a capital markets intermediary.

Prior to forming Sage Cap, Mr. Duffy co-managed HFF’s DC office as Senior Managing Director for 15 years where he was instrumental in building a capital markets team that successfully completed over $20 billion in total capitalization.

These transactions included joint ventures on new construction, recapitalizations, investment sales, structured finance, construction loans, and permanent financings. He has a B.S. in Urban Planning from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Virginia. He is a full member of ULI.

As Sage Capital Advisors Managing Principal, Mr. Duffy has been instrumental in guiding the firm to completing over $1.7 billion in total capitalizations since January of 2013. The firm is currently marketing America’s Square, which is a 461,484 square foot trophy asset estimated to trade for approximately $500,000,000.

Sage is also in the process of finalizing a $250,000,000 programmatic joint venture between a global investment fund and the largest developer/investor in the Washington, DC region.

Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford

Senior Advisor

Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, (USAF–Ret.), NASA Astronaut (Former) serves as a Senior Advisor to Corstone. Lt. Gen. Stafford is a Co-Founder of Stafford, Burke and Hecker, Inc. He serves as Chairman of Viatronix Inc. and COREwafer Industries, Inc. (formerly Action Products International, Inc.). He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Omega Watch Corporation of America. Lt. Gen. Stafford served as Chairman of Gibraltar Exploration Limited. Lt. Gen. Stafford has been a Director of Titanium Metals Corp., Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., AlliedSignal Corporation, CMI Terex Corporation (formerly CMI Corporation), Fisher Scientific International Inc., Pacific Scientific Company, NL Industries Inc., and BAE SYSTEMS Integrated Defense Solutions, Inc. (formerly Tracor Inc.).

He also served as a Director of Honeywell International Inc.,Tremont Corporation, Timet Inc.,Titanium Metals Corp., NL Industries Inc., G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Inc., Veritas Software Technology Corporation (Formerly Seagate Technology Inc.) , and Cycomm International Inc.

He was selected as an Astronaut in 1962, piloted Gemini VI in 1965 and commanded Gemini IX in 1966. In 1969, he was the Apollo X commander for the first flight of the lunar module to the moon, descending to 10 miles above the moon and selecting the first lunar landing site. He was then named Chief of the Astronaut Office.

He commanded the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission with the Soviet Cosmonauts in 1975. After serving as an Astronaut and piloting Gemini VI and commanding Gemini IX and Apollo X, the first lunar module flight to the moon, he retired in 1979 from the U.S. Air Force as Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition.

In this position, Lt. Gen. was personally involved in initiating the F-117A Stealth Fighter and wrote the initial specifications for and started the B-2 Stealth Bomber program.

He also served as an Advisor to a number of governmental agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Air Force Material Command.

He serves as Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on the International Space Station Program, and also served as Co-Chairman of the Stafford-Covey NASA Space Shuttle Return to Flight Task Group. Lt. Gen. Stafford has flown over 125 different types of aircraft and helicopters and four different types of spacecraft. Lt. Gen. Stafford left NASA in 1975 to command the Air Force Flight Test Center. Lt. Gen. Stafford has received many honors and decorations including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy and the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, which he received twice. He has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.

Peter Kirsch

Senior Advisor

Peter Kirsch is a Senior Advisor of Corstone. In addition, Pete is a Managing Partner of Blue Marlin Partners, an affiliate of Corstone. Pete sources, structures, and manages alternative assets and investments on behalf of a select group of family offices. Pete is also the Chairman of the Board of Palace Investment Company, a real estate investment company focused on a diversified base of real estate assets, such as multi-family, student housing, manufactured housing communities, and performing mortgage pools.

Pete was previously the Chief of Staff for over ten years to Jim Kimsey’s Family Office. Jim Kimsey was a Founder and Chairman of America Online. Pete was responsible for direct investments, managed financial advisors, participated on a number of boards, managed estate planning and wealth transfer, and managed charitable giving.

Pete was the CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects where he served in a number of positions. Pete later joined the executive team of the Brickman Group and exited when the company was sold to KKR for over $1.3 billion.

Pete is active in the community and serves on a number of boards. He received his B.A. from Marquette University in 1984.

Haiching Zhao

Managing Director

Haiching Zhao is a Managing Director of Corstone, and Dr. Zhao holds a Ph. D. in biochemistry and molecular biology.  From 1988 to 1993, he conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University and also held a teaching position at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He has been actively involved in US Democratic politics since the early 1990’s.  Over the years, he has worked with key Congressional, Senate and White House leaders on various China issues.  He is currently a special advisor on China policy   to a distinguished Congressional leader.

Dr. Zhao entered the private sector in the mid-1990’s, focusing on financial investment and international trade.  From 1997 to 1999, he served on the Fannie Mae Advisory Board. 

He has more than 10 years of senior experience in the residential and commercial mortgage banking business including mortgage origination, underwriting and mortgage backed securities in the secondary market.  In addition to his Corstone activities, Dr. Zhao serves as President of  Ocean Capital Group, a real estate investment and financing firm based in Washington, DC.

Cindy Stark

Director of Business Development

Cindy Stark is the Director of Business Development for Corstone. She is involved in the development and evaluation of new business and investment opportunities for Corstone. In addition, she is active in the business development activities of two Corstone subsidiaries, TalentPro and Astra HR and works closely with their management team on strategic growth and development planning.

Ms. Stark has previously worked in the health care, recruitment and financial services industries as VP of sales, project development manager and has considerable experience with start-ups and turnarounds. She has worked closely with CEO/Presidents to identify and create new business ventures. She has proven ability to develop and expand successful companies in these fields and is a dynamic manager.

In addition to her duties with Corstone, Ms. Stark devotes time to several civic and charitable organizations including Neediest Kid and the Lombardi Cancer Center. She has served as a Corstone liaison to many political and charitable organizations.

Laurie Rice

Manager/Assistant to the Chairman

Laurie Rice is the Assistant to the Chairman and was part of the founding team of Corstone in 1993. She is responsible for administrative, financial, corporate compliance as well as office management activities for the company.

Prior to joining Corstone, Ms. Rice served as Assistant to the General Counsel for a publicly traded company, assisting with shareholder/investor relations and corporate secretary duties. She was a legal secretary, with a strong background in bankruptcy, corporate and energy practices.

Ms. Rice received a bachelor’s degree from the American University.

Corey Hawk

Managing Director

Corey Hawk is a Managing Director at Corstone.

Corey oversees investment activities in Asia, North America, Europe, and Latin America. He also provides revenue growth services to Corstone portfolio companies and manages its early stage investments.

He has overseen investments in franchises, consumer electronics, energy, retail, sports betting, IT infrastructure, social technologies, fine dining, gaming, and hardware/software products.

Corey is the Founder of Accipital, an investment partner of Corstone. He is also the Co-Founder of Top Line Flow, a sales acceleration technology platform.

Prior to joining Corstone, Corey worked as an M&A Consultant within the Strategy & Operations practice at Deloitte Consulting, primarily covering the financial services and telecommunications industries. Previously he led the manufacturing outsourcing efforts in China for a composites manufacturer headquartered in the US.

Corey holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. During his time at Booth, Corey worked for two US based private equity firms focusing on deals within consumer goods, information technology, and telecommunications.

James Bergman

Managing Director

James Bergman is a Managing Director at Corstone and is responsible for Corstone’s activities across the FinTech Industry on a global basis. This role includes identifying acquisitions,and overseeing the growth and development of portfolio companies.

Following his education in the United Kingdom, Mr Bergman led and managed global sales and business development activities for several of the World’s leading global telecommunications and technology providers. He worked for an independent wealth management firm servicing a niche in the private banking space.

In 2007 Mr. Bergman joined the Board of Earthport Plc (LSE:EPO), and became Chief Executive Officer in June 2008. He was instrumental in developing and growing the Company’s position in the international payments sector and in expanding and diversifying the Company’s institutional shareholder base. Earthport was acquired by Visa Plc in 2019.

Following his acquisition of a boutique, International Payment Services Provider in 2010, Mr. Bergman successfully led his Company to an exit with Credorax (a licensed acquirer and payment institution) within 18months. Post-transaction, he served as Credorax’s Vice President of Sales until 2014.

Mr. Bergman established a new payments practice which he successfully sold in 2016 to LaSalle Capital, a Chicago based Private Equity Fund.  As part of this acquisition, and the new consolidated group, he became the Chief Revenue Officer of Processing.com, where he led the Group’s sales, marketing and acquiring strategy on a global basis.

In 2015 Mr. Bergman, together with a group of  international co-investors, established Transact Europe Holdings. This Group acquired TBI Credit, a European based, licensed payment and e-money institute, which has held principal member of Visa and MasterCard for over 20 years. This business was successfully rebranded as Transact Europe and has enjoyed exponential growth, and continues to do so through its issuing, acquiring and payment product offerings.

Mr. Bergman resides in Miami, FL with his wife and three children. He continues to follow his passion for investing in FinTech and also sits on the Boards of a number of charities and several corporations, and is also a Trustee of Miami CountryDay School.

Sunho Choi

Co-CEO/General Partner

Sunho Choi is a Co-CEO/General Partner of investments for Corstone Asia. Mr. Choi is responsible for Corstone investment activities in Asia, including China and Korea.

Prior to joining Corstone, Mr. Choi was a Senior Associate in the Investment Banking Division of Macquarie Securities in Korea where he led the execution process for a number of merger and acquisition and equity capital markets transactions.

Mr. Choi led Korean cross-border equity, debt securities issues and mergers and acquisitions.  His experience includes a number of sizable transactions including the dual listing in London and Korea of the USD 1.054 billion Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund, a USD 583 million convertible bond offering for Hynix Semiconductor Inc., and a USD 40 million pre-IPO securities issuance for Millinet Solar.  Total transaction size for Mr. Choi’s banking activities exceeded USD 3 billion.

Prior to Macquarie, he was an Associate on the International Finance Team in the Investment Banking Division of Samsung Securities. Mr. Choi was engaged in a number of transactions including a NYSE ADR listing for Woori Finance Holdings, a USD 250 million global bond offering for Korea East-West Power Corp., a USD 281 million offshore block trade for Woori Finance Holdings, a USD 25 million convertible bond offering for Pantech, a USD 15 million convertible bond offering for Wooyoung, and a USD 10 million convertible bond offering for STS Semiconductor. Total transaction size exceeded USD 1 billion.

Mr. Choi received his bachelor’s degree in economics and anthropology from Seoul National University and he had worked for a strategic consulting firm and a venture capital before he started his career.

Thomas Cho

Co-CEO/General Partner

Thomas Cho is a Co-CEO/General Partner of investments for Corstone Asia. Mr. Cho is responsible for Corstone investment activities in Asia, including China and Korea.

Prior to joining Corstone, Mr. Cho was a Senior Manager for the Investment Banking Division of Mirae Asset Securities in Korea.  During his tenure, Mr. Cho was responsible for establishing and managing private equity investment funds with USD 100 million under management and advising on mergers and acquisition transactions, including acquisition financing.  He also led and was a team member on several principal investments with high performance.

Prior to joining Mirae Asset, Mr. Cho was a Senior Accountant with Deloitte, where he provided financial advisory services to Korean and Japanese companies investing in Korea. 

His considerable client engagement experience included advisory services for Mitsubishi Corporation, Nikon, LS Group, Heungkuk Life Insurance and Taekwang Group.

Mr. Cho holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Korea University and he had worked for Hana Finance in Hong Kong before he started his career.

Duke Chung

Managing Director

Duke Chung is a Managing Director of Corstone Asia. Mr. Chung is responsible for investment activities in the Asia region.

Prior to joining Corstone, Mr. Chung was an investment banker leading execution activities of M&A and capital market transactions in Korea, at The Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, CIMB, and Macquarie. Prior to investment banking, Mr. Chung was a researcher at Samjong KPMG Economic Research Institute.

Mr. Chung received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Administration from Yonsei University.

Jin Park

Managing Director

Jin Park is a Managing Director of  Corstone Asia. Mr. Park is responsible for investment activities in the Asia region.

Prior to joining Corstone, Mr. Park was an Assistant Manager for the Investment Banking Division of Mirae Asset Securities in Korea. During his tenure, Mr. Park was involved in various IPO projects such as Crutial tech, KNN, Robostar, Iljin Materials etc.

In private equity experience he was involved in establishing and managing USD 50million size mezzanine fund and managing many other Mirae Asset PEFs.

Mr. Park holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from University of Hull UK.

Jun Kim

Associate

Jun Kim is an Associate at Corstone Asia and supports investment activities primarily in Asia. He has participated in investments in healthcare, electronics and surface materials.

Prior to joining Corstone, Jun worked as a research assistant at PwC Consulting and GE Capital in Korea. Jun also served as an intelligence officer in the Republic of Korea Navy and worked with the US Navy and Air Force.

Jun holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from Emory University.

Sungyong Chae

Compliance Officer

Sungyong Chae is a compliance officer at Corstone Asia. He is responsible for ensuring Corstone Asia complies with its regulatory requirements and internal policies.

Prior to Corstone Asia, Mr. Chae worked at a couple of leading law firms including Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, Dongin Law Group, etc., representing a variety of corporations and multinational companies in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions as well as handling bankruptcy and corporate restructuring matters, and shareholder disputes.

On the business side, he also has plenty of experiences in finance and investment by leading his own investment team at an asset management company where he formed both domestic and international funds and led a variety of transactions including buy-outs, pre-IPO financing and venture capital deals.

Through his experience as both investor and attorney, Mr. Chae is able to provide practical advice related to the legal and business issues faced by his fund clients.

Mr. Chae holds a LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center and bachelor’s degree in laws from Seoul National University.

Aejin Beak

Team Manager

Aejin Baek is a team manager in Corstone Asia. Ms. Baek is responsible for supporting Corstone’s investment activities.

Prior to joining Corstone, Ms. Baek was the Assistant Manager of the Accounting Team at ABC Mart, Seoul Headquarter. She has over 6 years of in-depth experience in accounting and financing.

Ms. Baek holds a bachelor’s degree in Secretary Administration from Induk University.

Soyeon Moon

Risk Management Officer

Soyeon Moon is a risk management officer at Corstone Asia. Ms. Moon is responsible for risk management and compliance review as well as fund management.

Prior to joining Corstone Asia, Ms. Moon worked as a Manager at Deloitte Korea, where she led managing financial due diligence for a variety of private equity funds and conducting sell/buy-side advisory roles on a number of buy-out and financial transactions. She also worked as a Senior Associate at Samil PwC, where she accumulated  a variety of experiences in relation to audit and regulatory reporting.

Ms. Moon holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Korea University.

Wonwoo Kim

Associate

Wonwoo Kim is an Associate at Corstone Asia and supports investment activities primarily in the Asia region.

Prior to joining Corstone Aisa, Mr. Kim worked as a Strategy Consultant at T-Plus, where he engaged in multiple commercial due diligence and post acquisition strategy projects for diverse private equity firms.

Mr. Kim holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Yonsei University.

Seoyeon Kim

Assistant Manager

Seoyeon Kim is an Assistant Manager at Corstone Asia. She is responsible for supporting investment and administrative activities for the company.

Prior to joining Corstone, Seoyeon worked as an accounting intern in Financial accounting team at HannoverRe Korea. She maintained and supported general activities of FA team.

Seoyeon holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Catholic University of Korea.