Karen Firestone

Karen Firestone is Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Aureus Asset Management, an investment firm that manages over $1 billion of assets for families, individuals, and non-profit entities. Previously, she spent 22 years at Fidelity Investments, most recently as a diversified fund manager of Destiny 1 Fund, the Large Cap Fund, Advisor Large Cap Fund, and several institutional non-profit and pension funds. Prior to that, Karen managed several sector funds, including the Leisure and Entertainment Fund, the Media Fund, Air Transportation Fund, Transportation Fund, Biotechnology Fund, and Health Care Fund. Karen’s Fidelity career began in 1983 as an assistant fund manager to Peter Lynch on Magellan Fund. Later, she moved to an analyst role in the research department covering numerous industries. She was twice named to the Institutional Investor Best of the Buy Side All Star team. Ms. Firestone received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Commonwealth School. She has served on various committees and Task Forces for Harvard University. Ms Firestone is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Ms. Firestone’s book, “Even the Odds: Sensible Risk Taking in Business, Investing, and Life” was published by Bibliomotion in 2016. In addition, she is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog the Huffington Post, and CNBC, where she appears regularly on Half Time Report and Squawk Box. She gave a TEDx talk on “Becoming a Sensible Risk-Taker.” She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with her husband, David. They have four grown children, three grandchildren, and two Springer Spaniels. Karen is an avid runner, tennis and bridge player.