Leadership

Strategic Leadership for Driving Innovation, Managing Risk + Ensuring Long-Term Prosperity

Duke Buchan III

Chairman and CEO

Duke Buchan III is an investor, diplomat, farmer and philanthropist. He founded Hunter Global Investors L.P. in 2001 in New York City, and leads the firm as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from Palm Beach with his wife, Hannah Flournoy Buchan. The Buchans have one teenage girl and two teenage boys. All three are Eagle Scouts.

In 2017, Mr. Buchan was nominated to serve as the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. The Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination, and he served as Ambassador from 2017 to 2021. Ambassador Buchan was highly focused on policy, especially the advancement of the United States’ global interests and the deepening of its bilateral relationship with Spain. He helped secure a number of key accomplishments for America during his tenure, including on trade, foreign investment and job creation. Ambassador Buchan oversaw the update of the bilateral tax agreement between the U.S. and Spain in 2019, which ended the double taxation for companies operating in both countries and ultimately saved billions of dollars that could be reinvested and create jobs in the two countries. From 2017-2019, Spanish investment in the U.S. increased by $9 billion to $86.8 billion.¹ U.S. exports to Spain increased by 15 percent in 2019 to $15.1 billion. That same year, the U.S. trade deficit with Spain decreased by 59 percent, from $4.1 billion to $1.7 billion. U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas exports to Spain increased by 1,300 percent in 2019.² He led a 22-member delegation to the SelectUSA Summit to match Spanish investors with U.S. partners. Five Spanish companies signed the “Pledge to America’s Workers” to provide nearly 13,000 U.S. workers with enhanced career opportunities.

In addition to securing economic wins, Ambassador Buchan worked to ensure America’s allies, including Spain, increased their NATO contributions. Spain’s annual NATO expenditures rose nearly $3.2 billion during his tenure, to $13.16 billion in 2019. He participated in and led meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels other military bases in Europe to encourage Spain and other allies to meet their commitment to contribute at least 2 percent of GDP to defense. Ambassador Buchan traveled across Europe with U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and other U.S. Ambassadors to discuss economic, security and NATO-related matters.³

Ambassador Buchan pushed for freedom, democracy, human rights and equality throughout his tenure, speaking out against authoritarian regimes, especially in Venezuela and Cuba. He traveled to Venezuela’s border with Colombia to address the humanitarian crisis caused by Nicolás Maduro and his Cuban benefactor. Ambassador Buchan also met interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó in Madrid to reiterate America’s support for the duly elected National Assembly, which Maduro’s government had dissolved. Under Ambassador Buchan’s leadership, the U.S. Embassy in Madrid was able to convince Spanish oil company Repsol to wind down its operations in Venezuela.

In 2019, Ambassador Buchan joined thousands of students from across the world to participate in the March of the Living in Poland. The educational event included a march from Auschwitz to Birkenau to educate students about the horrors of the Holocaust and to honor the victims.⁴

During his over three years of service, Ambassador Buchan prioritized strengthening the collaboration between Spanish and U.S. law enforcement, resulting in 422 tons of illegal drugs seized and $50 million in illicit funds and assets confiscated since 2016. He helped direct the U.S.’s response to the terrorist attacks in Barcelona in August 2017, leading to an even stronger counter-terrorism partnership between the two countries.

Hunter and its affiliates manage multiple funds and partnerships, which invest in a range of asset classes globally. Public securities and real estate are a particular focus for Hunter. The office also oversees the Buchan family’s investment, charitable giving, financial planning, tax, estate and cash management services. Prior to founding Hunter, Mr. Buchan worked at several large financial and Wall Street firms, where he specialized in global corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Mr. Buchan is a Republican National Committee (“RNC”) Presidential Trustee and has served as a RNC State Victory Chair for both New York and Florida. He has donated extensively to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican Governors Association.

Mr. Buchan is actively involved in education and other philanthropic causes. He served as Vice Chair on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Arts and Sciences Foundation Board of Directors, and the Chancellor’s Philanthropic Council. He currently serves on the University’s Campaign Planning Cabinet.

Mr. Buchan received a BA in Economics and Romance Languages: Spanish in 1985 from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA in 1991 from the Harvard Business School. He attended study abroad programs at La Universidad de Valencia in Valencia, Spain and La Universidad de Sevilla in Seville, Spain. He also studied French at CERAN language school in Spa, Belgium. Mr. Buchan is fluent in Spanish, conversant in French and has a working knowledge of Catalan and Italian.

Mr. Buchan is a native North Carolinian who grew up on tobacco and cattle farms that his family has owned and managed for generations. His passions include Carolina basketball, fly fishing, and his farms where he grows over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and vegetables, and raises horses.

Hannah F. Buchan

Managing Director

Hannah Flournoy Buchan is an investor with extensive experience in both real estate and asset management. She is currently the Managing Director of Hunter Global Investors L.P., which invests in a range of assets globally.

Prior to Hunter, Mrs. Buchan was the CIO of Flournoy Development Company, a Georgia-based company founded by her father over 50 years ago. The company develops, builds, owns and manages multi-family housing across the Southeast United States. Previously, Mrs. Buchan was the Founder and CIO of 3 Notch Capital Partners L.P., which she started in 2001 in New York City. In addition, she was a Managing Director and shareholder at Chilton Investment Company, Inc., a NYC-based money management firm, from its inception in 1992 until 2001. The firm’s assets under management grew from approximately $3 million to over $6 billion during her tenure.

Mrs. Buchan serves on several not-for-profit boards, including the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Her interests include horses, contemporary art, architecture, skiing, tennis, real estate and gardening.

Mrs. Buchan was born in Columbus, GA and graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1988. She received a BA from the University of Vermont in European Studies in 1992 and an MBA in Finance from the Leonard Stern School of Business at New York University in 1998. She also attended L’Universite´ Paris-Sorbonne in Paris, France. She speaks French and Spanish.