Peter B. Frazier: Making Wise Decisions in Changing Times

Peter Frazier at the San Vicente Redwoods property.
Peter Frazier at the San Vicente Redwoods property.

Peter B. Frazier, Save the Redwoods League Board of Directors Treasurer, comes from entrepreneurial pioneer stock.

When his great grandfather was only 19 years old, he headed from Boston Harbor around Cape Horn to then-tiny town of San Francisco. Like thousands of people from around the world, he made the long journey to look for gold. “But fortunately he decided that was not a way to make money,” Frazier said, “and he started a general store in Oroville.”

The family eventually moved to Oakland, where Frazier grew up — and enjoyed redwoods for the first time. He earned a BA at the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA at Columbia Business School and has worked as an investment counselor for 52 years. Now he’s helping Save the Redwoods League make wise decisions about time and money.

“We used to be an organization that would raise money, buy land and turn it over to the state parks,” Frazier said. But with tight state budgets, “the state said it can’t take on any new land for 2-5 years. So Save the Redwoods League is in the real estate management business. That’s a big, capital-intensive shift.

As treasurer, Frazier is working to modernize the League’s investment policies and expand its endowment. “This is an organization with a wonderful reputation,” he said. “We work with people to try to find common ground. People come to us because they know we’re broad-minded and flexible. That’s a great tribute to Save the Redwoods League.”

Four decades ago, Frazier planted 50 redwood saplings on his property in Lafayette, California. “I’m glad I did,” said the savvy investor. “Today they’re 150 feet high.”

Learn more about the members of our Board of Directors.

About the author

Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League has protected and restored redwood forests and connected people with their peace and beauty so these wonders of the natural world flourish.

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