NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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 11/30/2024) focused on generating defensive and premium yield and total returns from the less efficient and resource-intensive market of U.S. private small and medium-sized businesses (the “lower middle-market”), is pleased to announce that C. Shawn Bookin has joined as Senior Advisor. Mr. Bookin has ~35 years of institutional investing experience spanning private credit, distressed debt, leveraged finance, private / public equity, and investment banking, as well as in government service as a Senior Investment Director for the Australian Trade Commission.

“Having known Shawn for nearly a decade, we are honored to have him now join the team as an aligned Senior Advisor who brings complementary experiences, resources and relationships to assist with Star Mountain’s value-added investment strategies,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “With his decades of credit investing experience at leading firms like Guggenheim, Shawn will be a tremendous resource to our team, investors and portfolio companies.”

“Over the many years I have followed Star Mountain’s growth and success, I am now looking forward to supporting the firm’s differentiated investment strategies providing institutional resources and capital to the large and fragmented lower middle-market,” said C. Shawn Bookin. “Star Mountain’s value-added investment strategies provide a unique opportunity for Star Mountain’s investors to get access to this large, fragmented and inefficient asset class that makes up nearly half of the U.S. economy.”

Mr. Bookin retired from Guggenheim Partners ($300 billion AUM) after a decade as a Managing Director in the Corporate Credit Group based in New York City and Los Angeles. In his role, Mr. Bookin focused on the firm’s credit hedge fund and private credit strategies, as well as broadly syndicated loans and bonds.

Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, Mr. Bookin spent two years in the public sector where he served as a Senior Investment Director for the Australian Trade Commission, working for the federal government of Australia.

Mr. Bookin was also formerly a Managing Director & Co-Portfolio Manager at TCW Group ($200 billion AUM) for 12 years based in Los Angeles, where he helped manage the distressed investing group and also invested in private credit and high yield bonds.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Bookin was an Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs and a Vice President at Chanin Capital Partners, where he advised distressed companies and institutional investors on financial restructurings. He began his career in 1987 as an investment banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert in Los Angeles, focusing on M&A, LBOs and high yield financings.

Mr. Bookin received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Honors from Harvard University, where he played on the Varsity Volleyball Team, and a Master of Applied Finance degree from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Read the full press release here.

About Star Mountain

With over $4 billion in assets under management (committed capital including debt facilities as of 11/30/2024), 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 300 direct investments in businesses and over 50 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