Five Stones Investment Group

Investment decisions are made by the founding principals: Steven N. Stein, John M. Stein, and Eric S. Stein. They previously co-managed FSI Group's equity hedge funds and private equity vehicles for 25 years. Steven brings a legal and governance background from Harvard Law and Taft Stettinius, John is a CFA charterholder and former Bankers Trust executive, and Eric worked in financial institutions M&A at Morgan Stanley before serving at the U.S. Treasury and State Department.

Five Stones is the successor firm to FSI Group, a registered investment advisor the Stein family ran from 1995 to 2020 that specialized in financial services. The same three principals managed FSI's long/short equity hedge fund and six private equity funds, which at their peak oversaw more than $5 billion. Five Stones was formed after FSI's wind-down, carrying forward the team's investment heritage but with a fresh mandate across multiple asset classes.

The firm's deal sourcing rests on relationships built over three decades in the financial services sector by the three Stein principals. Their combined network spans public and private bank boards, U.S. government financial agencies, and institutional family-office circles. The firm has not publicly described its current origination process, but its predecessor firm's pattern of taking board seats suggests an approach anchored in active, relationship-driven private investing.

Five Stones works with a select group of families to invest across the capital structure, occupying a hybrid space between a multi-family office and an independent asset manager. The firm does not publicly disclose the structure of its capital base, but its description emphasizes creating long-term value for partner families rather than marketing funds to institutional LPs.

The firm's mandate spans venture capital, private equity, real estate, public securities, and special situations. This multi-asset approach mirrors the broad toolkit the principals honed at FSI Group, which ran a long/short equity hedge fund alongside a series of private equity vehicles, all within the financial services and real estate sectors.

Based on its predecessor firm's three-decade specialization and the principals' biographies, the firm focuses on financial services — including publicly traded and private banks — and real estate. The current website does not list other sector concentrations explicitly, though the broad venture and private equity mandates leave room for opportunistic investments beyond these core areas.

John M. Stein currently serves as President of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati and sits on several other philanthropic boards, tying the firm to active civic and charitable governance. The family's wealth and professional identity in Cincinnati are deeply intertwined with institutional philanthropy, though no separate foundation is formally linked to Five Stones as a legal entity.