John Duane was born in April of 1973 in Miami Beach, Florida. Scheduled to be put up for adoption before birth, John’s birth mother insisted he be adopted by a family which was Catholic, and would raise him as a Catholic. With that in mind, John was adopted by John and Margaret Duane of Brooklyn, New York, who picked up John from Florida when he was just 5 days old. They returned to the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn where John grew up as an only child.
True to their word, John was brought up Catholic and his religion was a steady presence in his life. His family (Grandmother Rose as well) could be seen every Saturday at St. Agatha’s 5:00pm mass. He attended St. Agatha School when the time came, became an altar boy in the 3rd grade, Head Altar Boy in 8th grade, and continued to oversee the parish altar boys well into his high school years. After graduating from St. Agatha in 1987, John attended Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, itself a leading institute for Catholic education serving young men throughout Brooklyn. By the time John graduated high school in 1991 he had become a lector with St. Agatha, continuing his involvement with the church.
John began attending Pace University in September of 1991. With the recession of 1990-1991 fresh in his mind, John focused on selecting a university which would allow him to have a strong resume with real work experience upon graduation. As a result, John felt Pace University was a perfect fit given their city leading co-op program, which paired students with part-time positions in the fields in which they were studying. As a result, by the time John was a junior in college he already had work experience with Kidder Peabody and Credit Suisse, two leading investment banks. John became a money market trading trainee with Noonan, Astley & Pearce in January of 1994, and by 1996 he was offered a full-time position with the firm. He accepted, and completed his education at night, walking with his fellow graduates in 1995, while receiving his final credits in 1996.
With an eye toward personal finance rather than institutional, John began a career move toward working with families and individuals, first with Axa/Equitable in 1998, then with MassMutual in 1999, before achieving his goal of being a team member with a top-tier private bank, joining JPMorgan in 2000. Soon after, John set a goal of becoming a Private Banker, and rose through several positions at JPMorgan (Financial Advice Specialist, Global Custody/Family Office Specialist, Banking and Deposit Sales Manager, before reaching his goal and becoming a Private Banker in May of 2006.
John was recruited by Citi Private Bank to be a Private Banker with their industry leading Law Firm Group in 2007, a position he held until of April of 2011, when he was recruited by Wells Fargo Private Bank to be a Private Banker with their Ultra-High Net Worth Group on Long Island. Today, John works at U.S. Trust as a wealth management professional with over 15 years experience serving the needs of ultra high net-worth families and individuals.
John resides in East Meadow, NY with his wife Melva and children Samantha and Derek. He still attends 5:00pm mass, only now at St. Raphael’s, and his children, like their parents, attend Catholic school, namely St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. John is an avid Yankee fan, boxing fan and is doing his best to play as much golf as possible.