W&F October 2017

www.wealthandfinance-news.com 16 Wealth & Finance International - October 2017 Focusing on exclusively investing in established U.S. lower middle-market companies, Star Mountain maintains a three-channel approach of direct investments in lower middle-market businesses, strategic limited partnership investments in lower middle-market funds and purchasing secondary limited partnership interests in lower middle-market funds. Through this distinctive platform, the company is able to provide investors with diversified, scalable and fee-efficient access to this large and underserved market, where the team believes superior risk-adjusted returns are available due to the market inefficiencies. A key differentiator is the proven large market expertise and resources that it brings to these smaller businesses. Brett outlines the firm’s overall mission, looking to invest in and help build smaller companies. “Our mission is to create superior risk-adjusted financial returns for investors, and to also create substantial positive economic impact and job creation by investing in and helping build smaller businesses. “Approximately 90% of the businesses in the United States have less than $100 million in revenue, are typically owner-operated, and are not controlled by large private equity sponsors. We call these companies the “Growth Engine of America”, since this niche is where most job creation and economic impact is created. Star Mountain is built to specifically address the challenges and opportunities of investing in these companies. Also, we invest into this asset class both as a direct investor, and also as a strategic fund investor where we make both strategic primary and secondary fund investments whereby we purchase assets and fund positions from other investors in lower middle-market funds. Interestingly, Brett tells us how Star Mountain utilizes technology to stay ahead of emerging developments in the industry. “Fundamentally, a common misconception is that you must be a large firm to have a technology strategy. From the beginning, we invested in technology to build our competitive advantage, including adding a full-time Chief Technology Officer as a partner, to invest in the sustainability, scalability and user experience for the benefit of our stakeholders. Star Mountain has invested into technology and systems out of the belief that technology can provide significant competitive advantages in sourcing investment opportunities, underwriting, monitoring investments, adding value to portfolio companies, managing risk and investor reporting.” Working in such a vital industry, Brett acknowledges how important the clients are to Star Mountain and how Star Mountain leverages its collaborative ecosystem in evaluating opportunities. Star Mountain is a specialized lower middle-market investment firm founded in 2010 with approximately $500 million of assets under management. Brett Hickey goes into more details about the services that the firm provides, and discussing being named in 2017 Private Debt Excellence before outlining its overall mission. Alternative Investments: Reaching for the Stars, Climbing Mountains 1709WF01 Company: Star Mountain Capital, LLC Contact: Lauren Cooper Email: [email protected] Address: Tower 57 at 135 E. 57th Street, 25th Floor, New York, 10022, USA Phone: 1-646-787-0275 Website: www.starmountaincapital.com www.starmountaincapital.com www.starmountaincapital.com/team www.starmountaincapital.com/team/brett-hickey https://starmountaincapital.com/media-center/ “Point to a successful company, and more often than not, you will find an abundance of strong cultural capital sustaining it.”