Mariko O. Gordon, CFA, CFP®
Founder, Uzume, LLC
In the before times, Mariko was an old-school, bottom-up stock picker, managing $2.5 billion for public and corporate pension funds, endowments, and foundations. She ran a concentrated U.S. small-cap portfolio—no more than 35 holdings—with a low-turnover, buy-and-hold philosophy.
She founded Daruma in 1995 and built it up from scratch. After retiring in 2019, she left the chaos of New York for the quiet of North Carolina.
Two things happened: she got bored, and friends came to her with the same question—How do I tame my financial circus?
And so, in 2023, she founded Uzume (oo-zoo-may), a registered investment advisory firm. She earned her CFP® certification the following year.
Today, Mariko helps clients develop financial intimacy—not just literacy—with their money. The goal is to support clients in building both confidence and competence as they take charge of their financial ecosystems.
She specializes in serving the complex needs of business owners, using a holistic approach to manage taxes, investments, and cash flow.
Mariko also coaches and teaches at the YWCA of O‘ahu, guiding business owners to better understand their financials so they can grow sustainably.
She lives and works in Durham/Chapel Hill, NC. She volunteers as Treasurer of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and chairs the NC chapter of the Princeton Women’s Network. Beyond her professional life, she is a poet, hypnotist, and hula dancer.