Star Mountain Capital, a rapidly growing employee-owned
specialized investment firm with over $4.0 billion AUM, focused on
delivering systematic alpha and low market correlated returns from
making private loans, private equity investments and purchasing
secondary LP interests and assets in the large, fragmented and
resource-intensive lower middle-market, announced James Camarda has
joined as a Managing Director to work with investors as a
solutions-oriented partner on portfolio optimization investments
and potential liquidity needs through Star Mountain’s secondaries
business.
Star Mountain Capital, LLC ("Star Mountain"), a specialized
investment manager with over $4.0 billion in assets under
management (committed capital including debt facilities as of
6/30/2024) focused on generating defensive and premium yield and
total returns from the less efficient and resources-intensive
market of U.S. private small and medium-sized businesses (the
“lower middle-market”), is pleased to announce that James Camarda
has joined as a Managing Director in Star Mountain’s Tampa, Florida
office.
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James Camarda, Star Mountain Capital
Managing Director (Photo: Business Wire)
James Camarda brings two decades of expertise in the alternative
investment sector, having collaborated with some of the world’s
leading alternative investment firms. Mr. Camarda has advised
financial advisors, family offices, foundations, endowments, and
individuals on leveraging alternative investments to optimize their
investment objectives, including portfolio construction.
“James has had an impressive 20 year career in alternative
investments at Merrill Lynch, one of the world’s largest investment
management firms,” said Brett Hickey,
Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “James will play a pivotal
and multifaceted role, including forming and managing strategic
partnerships with wealth management platforms and other
investors.”
“Having gotten to know Star Mountain’s leadership team and
impressive client base, I was intrigued by how large and fragmented
the lower middle-market is, making up nearly 50% of the U.S.
economy. With M&A activity expected to increase among small and
medium-sized businesses due to aging demographics, I see a unique
opportunity for investors," said James Camarda. "Star Mountain's
distinctive origination, underwriting and portfolio value-add
platform positions us well to capitalize on these opportunities,
providing exposure to a market segment many portfolios lack.”
During his extensive career at Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank
of America (NYSE: BAC), Mr. Camarda established himself as a
thought leader in the alternative investment space. As a Director
and Divisional Alternative Investments Specialist, he led a team of
four specialists, managed a seven-state territory and engaged with
over a thousand financial advisors. His tenure included working
with a comprehensive platform featuring over 75 evergreen funds and
approximately 30 new private market drawdown funds annually.
Mr. Camarda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business
Administration from SUNY Buffalo State College and is Series 66 and
Series 7 licensed. Outside of his professional endeavors, Mr.
Camarda is dedicated to philanthropy, through his support of the
Boys and Girls Club, the Latin American Association and the Foster
Care Support Foundation.
About Star Mountain
With over $4 billion in assets under management (committed
capital including debt facilities as of 6/30/2024), Star Mountain
takes a data-driven approach to investing into the North American
lower middle-market through two complementary investment
strategies: (i) direct debt and equity investing and (ii)
secondaries (acquiring LP interests and direct assets and making
primary LP commitments). Star Mountain believes these complementary
strategies provide data-enhanced, scalable, diversified, and
customizable access for its institutional and qualifying
high-net-worth investors to established businesses that generally
have at least $15 million in annual revenues and under $50 million
in EBITDA. Its investors include public pensions, private pensions,
insurance companies, commercial banks, endowments, foundations,
family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Star Mountain is
employee-owned and shares its profits with 100% of its U.S.
full-time employees as part of its focus on maximizing value for
its stakeholders and investors through alignment of interests.
Since 2010, Star Mountain has made over 250 direct investments
in businesses and over 45 secondary / fund investments within its
Collaborative Ecosystem®, focused on the North American lower
middle-market. One of Star Mountain’s specialties is seeking
current cash income for investors that is materially above the
typical yields found in the public markets, often accompanied with
potential long-term capital gains equity returns and low
correlation to public markets through its distinctive origination,
underwriting and value-added investment capabilities.
Star Mountain was recently named one of the Inc. 5000
fastest-growing private companies in America.
For the fifth straight year, Star Mountain was again named one
of the Best Places to Work by Crain’s New York Business as well as
once again one of the Best Places to Work by Pensions &
Investments.
Star Mountain believes its focus and dedication has been
productive for job creation and economic development including in
underserved areas and communities. Star Mountain is dedicated to
this large market of underserved businesses purpose-built to
address the challenges and opportunities of these companies. As
part of its commitment, Star Mountain has trademarked Investing in
the Growth Engine of America ®.
Star Mountain’s Charitable Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 focuses on improving
lives through economic development, including job creation, health
& wellness and cancer research. Notable missions include
helping match veterans and women with high quality small and
medium-sized business career opportunities across the country,
including within Star Mountain’s portfolio.
Note: This does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to purchase interests in any investment
product. Awards and recognitions by unaffiliated rating services,
companies and/or publications should not be construed by a client
or prospective client as a guarantee that he / she / it will
experience a certain level of results if Star Mountain is engaged,
or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory
services; nor should they be construed as a current or past
endorsement, testimonial endorsement, recommendation or referral of
Star Mountain or its representatives by any of its clients or any
other third party. Rankings published by magazines and others are
generally based exclusively on information prepared and / or
submitted by the recognized advisor. Moreover, with regard to all
performance information contained herein, directly or indirectly,
if any, readers should note that past results are not indicative of
future results. The description and the selection methodologies of
each award and recognition are subjective and will vary.
Awards and recognitions by unaffiliated rating services,
companies, and/or publications should not be construed by a client
or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she/it will experience
a certain level of results if SMFM is engaged, or continues to be
engaged, to provide investment advisory services; nor should they
be construed as a current or past endorsement, testimonial
endorsement, recommendation or referral of SMFM or its
representatives by any of its clients or any other third party.
Rankings published by magazines and others are generally based
exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the
recognized advisor.
Crain’s two-part survey process consisted of evaluating each
nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, philosophy,
systems and demographics. The second part involved an employee
survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores
determined the top companies and the final ranking. Star Mountain
must pay a fee to Crain’s only for survey collection purposes.
Detailed eligibility criteria can be found here:
https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/best-companies-to-work-for-in-new-york/eligibility/
To be named to P&I‘s Best Places list, all firms met Best
Companies’ high threshold for inclusion and were evaluated against
others of similar size. Individual firm profiles, which were
compiled based on survey results, reflect U.S. employment numbers
and were confirmed by Best Companies in the summer. Company and
employee comments were edited for space, style and clarity. Assets
under management or advisement are as of June 30, unless otherwise
noted. To participate, companies had to have at least 20 employees
in the U.S., at least $100 million of discretionary assets under
management or advisement and be in business for at least one year.
An anonymous employee survey, which aimed to evaluate employee
engagement and satisfaction, accounted for 75% of a firm’s score;
an employer survey, which evaluated workplace policies, practices,
benefits and demographics, made up 25%.
https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/best-places-to-work-in-money-management/eligibility/
Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to
percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, companies
must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2019.
They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and
independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as
of December 31, 2022. (Since then, some on the list may have gone
public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2019 is
$100,000; the minimum for 2022 is $2 million. As always, Inc.
reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.
Growth rates used to determine rankings were calculated to four
decimal places. https://www.inc.com/inc5000
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John Polis – Media@StarMountainCapital.com