Neil Duncan was born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England. He grew up in Hemel Hempstead, a suburb of London, and went to Berkhamsted School. In 1980, he went to Nottingham University to study economics. In 1983, he joined Price Waterhouse. In 1987, he qualified as a chartered accountant and moved with Price Waterhouse to New York City.
NeilI joined J.P. Morgan (1989-1999) in the Controller’s Department and in 1993 moved to real estate investment banking. In 2000, he joined MetroNexus (a Morgan Stanley real estate fund company). In 2003, he partnered with Alex Twining to start Twining Properties, which develops high-rise urban apartments from Boston to New York City. He recently retired from Twining Properties but remains an equity owner.
In 1985, his parents bought a house in Darien and since then have split their time between the United States and England. His two brothers live in Westport and Stamford. Neil met his wife Kara (from Chicago) in Barbados in 1985, and after a year she moved to live with him in England. In 1987, Neil and Kara moved to New York City, married in Chicago in 1989 and moved to Darien in 1992. They have four grown children.
Neil loves to travel — he has been to 45 states and 44 countries and aims for 50 of each. His other interests are sports, mainly at The Country Club of Darien (golf, paddle, padel, tennis, biking and skiing), history (including art history) and reading.
