Star Mountain Capital, an employee-owned, specialized private credit and secondaries investment manager with ~$4 billion in assets under management targeting systematic alpha and low market correlated returns for its clients announced that Robert Kaplan has joined as Senior Advisor.

NEW YORK – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Star Mountain Capital, LLC (“Star Mountain”), a rapidly growing specialized private credit and secondaries investment firm targeting systematic alpha and low market correlated returns for its global institutional and high-net-worth investors is pleased to announce that Robert Kaplan has joined as Senior Advisor. Star Mountain has one of the largest teams focused on investing in established, profitable, small and medium-sized private U.S. businesses (the “lower middle-market”) which represents approximately 50% of U.S. GDP.

Robert Kaplan has over 40 years of investment management, business management, monetary policy, investment banking, and leadership experience. His previous positions include CEO and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Investment Management Divisions of Goldman Sachs, and Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School. Robert Kaplan was also Interim CEO and board member of the Harvard Management Company, Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee of Google, member of the Investment Committee and Trustee of the Ford Foundation, and board member of State Street Corporation.

“We are honored to have Rob join Star Mountain as an aligned Senior Advisor bringing extensive investment, strategic leadership, business management and governance experience,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “Having met Rob in 2009 as a student of his at Harvard Business School where I attended a CEO leadership program, it is a gratifying reflection and we are excited for the future where Rob can also have an impact in building leadership best practices with our portfolio companies”.

“There are many needs and opportunities to support established, growing private businesses which is something I am excited to support,” said Robert Kaplan. “It is a pleasure to join friends and former colleagues as part of Star Mountain’s team. The firm’s core values including alignment with investors and with each other was an important consideration for me.”

Robert Kaplan currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a global venture philanthropy firm that invests in developing non-profit enterprises dedicated to addressing social issues. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Institute, an Advisory Board Member of the Baker Institute, and a board member of Harvard Medical School and serves as Chairman of Project ALS. He is also the author of three books  on leadership.

Read the full press release here.

About Star Mountain

With ~$4 billion in assets under management (committed capital including debt facilities as of 1/31/2024), 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 100% 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 200 direct investments in businesses and over 40 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