Star Mountain Capital, a private, independent, 100% employee-owned investment manager announced that it has become a signatory to the Institutional Limited Partners Association’s (ILPA) Diversity in Action Initiative.

NEW YORK – September 15, 2021 – Star Mountain Capital, LLC (“Star Mountain”), a specialized investment manager, with ~$2 billion in assets under management, focused exclusively on investing in established, private small and medium-sized U.S. businesses (lower middle-market), is pleased to announce that it has become a signatory to the Institutional Limited Partners Association’s (ILPA) Diversity in Action Initiative.

The Diversity in Action Initiative seeks to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the private equity industry. By joining the group of limited partners and general partners as a signatory, Star Mountain reinforces its commitment to advancing DEI within its own organization, its portfolio companies and in the private equity / private credit industry more broadly.

“We are delighted to support the Diversity in Action initiative given the importance of DEI to our firm’s culture where nearly 50% of our team is classified as diverse and 100% of our team share in the profits of our employee-owned firm,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “As part of Star Mountain’s commitment to transparency and alignment with investors, we are adding our support to this initiative to our continued endorsement of ILPA’s Private Equity Principles.”

“It is an honor to be an aligned Senior Advisor at Star Mountain which continues to support ILPA’s important work seeking to improve the global private equity industry,” said current Star Mountain Senior Advisor, former CEO of ILPA and former Member of the Executive Committee at the Word Economic Forum (WEF), Peter Freire. “Part of why I joined the Star Mountain team is due to its forward-thinking initiatives around ESG and DEI and that 100% of the firm is employee owned, 100% of the team share in the profits generated for investors and 100% of the senior team has personal capital invested alongside investors. I believe this community-centric ethos at Star Mountain is partly due to Brett’s small town rural background raised by his father, a high school teacher, as his mother passed away at a young age.”

ILPA’s Diversity in Action Initiative asks participants to take concrete DEI actions spanning talent management, investment management and industry engagement. At Star Mountain, inclusion and diversity can be evidenced in its diverse team where nearly 50% of employees are women or minorities and 100% of employees share, in an aligned manner with its limited partner investors, in the carried interest profits of its funds.

Star Mountain also seeks to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) adoption within its organization and at its portfolio companies. In addition to its dedicated ESG Committee, Star Mountain is licensed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) which is an ESG reporting framework that identifies the subset of ESG issues most relevant to financial performance in 77 industries.

Star Mountain was again named Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments and one of the 2020 Best Places to Work by Crain’s New York Business highlighting the firms focus on culture and community.

ABOUT STAR MOUNTAIN

With approximately $2 billion in assets under management (as of August 31, 2021), Star Mountain takes a data-driven approach to investing into the U.S. lower middle-market through two complementary investment strategies: (i) direct debt and equity investing and (ii) secondaries (acquiring LP interests and direct assets). Star Mountain believes these complementary strategies provide scalable and diversified access for its institutional and high-net-worth investors to established small and medium-sized businesses that generally have at least $15 million in annual revenues. Star Mountain’s 75+ person, 100% employee-owned team and Collaborative Ecosystem ® provides distinctive value to lower middle-market businesses as a flexible capital solution partner.

Since 2010, Star Mountain has made over 100 direct investments in U.S. small and medium-sized businesses and over 20 secondaries / fund investments within its Collaborative Ecosystem ®, exclusively focused on the U.S. lower middle-market. With over 75 team members (including advisors/operating partners) across 20+ locations nationwide, Star Mountain believes its focus and dedication has been productive for job creation and economic development. 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 ®.

As part of its ESG program (Environmental, Social and Governance), 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. Detailed eligibility criteria can be found here: https://www.bestplacestoworknyc.com/eligibility-criteria

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 August 31, 2021, 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://www.bestplacestoworkmm.com/eligibility-criteria.