OUR NAME
Established in 1998, North Forty Two & Co. is an Oregon-based, SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in metropolitan Portland – specifically, downtown Lake Oswego – with a vibrant satellite office in Central Oregon, in Bend.
North Forty Two is a reference to the 42nd parallel north, the circle of latitude forty-two degrees north of the Earth’s equatorial plane. That latitude connects Massachusetts (specifically, Cape Cod) and Oregon, two locations of great significance to our principals, and from where many of our clients hail.
OUR CLIENTS
Beyond our multi-generational relationships, our clients tend to be successful, intellectually curious, entrepreneurial, networking-oriented business leaders between the ages of 40 and 55. Our clients are typically lifelong learners interested in being connected to and interacting with other like-minded individuals. Often, our clients are enthusiastically willing to share their expertise in unrelated or ancillary disciplines – philanthropy, real estate, higher education, consulting, private equity, family office services, etc. – for our benefit and for the greater good of our community.
OUR PARTNERS
North Forty Two & Co. is affiliated with two key partners. Back Office Connection, based outside Seattle, provides North Forty Two with a dedicated team of operations specialists who perform innumerable back-office and middle-office functions that allow our principals to focus on what they do best – investment research, financial planning, and client service. Charles Schwab & Co. provides custody, trading, and support services as the largest custodian to registered investment advisers, with over $1 trillion under administration.
OUR PRINCIPALS
WILL ROSS
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
Will Ross comes from a long line of navigators. A native of New England, he learned how to sail as a boy off the coast of Cape Cod. Learning to guide a boat through all kinds of conditions gave him confidence in charting other challenges in life. He also learned the value of wise money management from his father and grandfather, both financial managers themselves.
An appreciation for the natural world and a passion for entrepreneurship have been guiding forces in Will’s life. After graduating from Bates College and working for the mutual fund company Eaton Vance Corp., he moved west and founded William Ross & Associates, since renamed North Forty Two & Co., in 1998. He has served as Chief Investment Officer since founding the firm.
Will has called Oregon home for thirty years and recently opened our satellite office in Bend. When he and his wife Krista aren’t spending time with friends and family, they are out introducing their three children to Oregon’s vibrant natural riches.
WHITNEY DOW
President
Also a native of New England and sharing a strikingly similar background, Whitney Dow joined Will on his adventure seven years ago. He grew up the seventh of seven sons and at the knee of his father, a master storyteller with a love of knowledge, a sharp intellect, a quick wit, and a wry sense of humor.
Whitney has spent twenty-five years working for investment management companies and industry consultants in a variety of client-facing senior executive roles, including firms such as Russell Investments, Bandon Capital Management, and Logan Circle Partners, a subsidiary of Fortress Investments Group, LLC.
Whitney is a graduate of Colgate University. He moved west from the North Shore of Massachusetts twenty years ago. He enjoys spending time with his two children, playing golf, and coaching boys’ and girls’ lacrosse for West Linn High School.