Larry Cowen

Mr. Cowen serves as the firm’s Director of Legal Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer.
He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s legal and regulatory matters, as well as the development and administration of the firm’s compliance program.
He brings over 20 years’ experience as an investment management attorney advising private fund managers and SEC-registered investment advisers on regulatory and compliance issues.
Mr. Cowen joined Northgate in 2017 after serving as Vice President & Managing Director of Ascendant Compliance Management’s San Francisco office, where he led the firm’s West Coast efforts by providing compliance consulting services to venture capital, private equity and hedge fund managers, as well as traditional asset management firms.
While at Ascendant, Larry was a frequent presenter at various investment management industry conferences, and co-authored several articles on best practices for advisory compliance programs.
Prior to Ascendant, Larry was General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Bellatore Financial, Inc., a financial services firm based in San Jose, CA.
Before Bellatore, Larry was Of Counsel to the law firm of Shartsis Friese LLP and was previously a CCO at a Bay Area hedge fund manager.
Larry also spent several years as a Senior Associate in the San Francisco office of K&L Gates LLP where he focused on private funds and investment adviser regulation.
Prior to that, Larry was an associate and practiced law in New York City.
Larry earned his JD cum laude from New York Law School and his BA from Binghamton University (SUNY) in Philosophy and Law & Society.
He is admitted to the California and New York bars.