Former Partner and Senior Member of Credit Funds at Fortress Investment Group, Jared Cohen, Joins Star Mountain Capital as Managing Director

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Star Mountain Capital, LLC (“Star Mountain”), a rapidly growing, employee-owned investment firm with over $4 billion in assets under management (AUM), is pleased to announce that Jared Cohen has joined the firm as a Managing Director on the Investment Team. Mr. Cohen will primarily focus on sourcing, analyzing and managing private market investments on the West Coast of the U.S. where he has comprehensive industry expertise.

Mr. Cohen has over 25 years of experience in private credit, special situations, private equity and secondaries investing. He has also held operating roles in lower middle-market businesses and served as a Director on both public and private company boards.

“Jared is a proven and dynamic investment professional, who has invested across market cycles over many industries and has hands on operating experience as well, which we believe helps optimize returns,” said Brett Hickey, Founder & CEO of Star Mountain. “His experience from leading global investment firms paired with his values and work ethic are highly aligned with ours and we believe Jared will be a great addition to our team as we deepen our capabilities and local market advantages across the U.S.”

“During my nearly ten years at Fortress on the Investment Committee within the Credit Group, I was fortunate to have worked with Jared and am confident in his ability to work well alongside our team and stakeholders to add value to the companies we invest with and our investors alike,” said Curtis Glovier, Managing Director and Strategic Portfolio Officer of Star Mountain.

Serving as a Partner and Managing Director in the Credit Funds at Fortress Investment Group, Mr. Cohen has invested across multiple industries and throughout various credit cycles over the course of a decade. In addition to originating, underwriting and managing investments, he played leadership and steering committee roles in multiple restructurings and has extensive expertise in workouts, restructurings and insolvency proceedings.

Mr. Cohen’s private equity and operational experience includes leading a successful industry consolidation in the express car wash sector, where his team acquired over 20 locations before successfully selling the business to a Goldman Sachs entity. During this investment, he played an active operating role as Head of Finance & Operations, overseeing key financial and operational strategies.

Before joining Fortress, Mr. Cohen was a Vice President at Merrill Lynch, where he focused on principal investing, including direct credit originations and special situations investing. He began his career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, specializing in leverage finance capital markets in New York City.

“Having invested across large and small enterprises over my career, I believe Star Mountain’s focus on the fragmented lower middle-market with an acute focus on generating alpha and low market correlated returns for investors is very compelling,” said Jared Cohen. “Star Mountain’s long-term focus with an emphasis on team, technology and infrastructure has, I believe, allowed it to become a highly differentiated and valuable investment firm that I am proud to now be a part of.”

Mr. Cohen serves on the Board of Big Heart Ranch, a non-profit wellness center and animal sanctuary. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a major in economics and completed the General Course program at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he focused on economics, global financial markets, and statistics. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a member of both the CFA Institute and CFA Society Los Angeles.

Read the full press release here.

About Star Mountain Capital

With over $4 billion in AUM (committed capital including debt facilities as of 1/31/2025), Star Mountain specializes in providing scalable and data-driven investment solutions across two core strategies:

1. Direct Investments: Providing debt and equity capital to established lower middle-market businesses.
2. Secondary Investments: Acquiring LP interests, direct assets, and making primary LP commitments.

Star Mountain’s investors include public and private pensions, insurance companies, commercial banks, endowments, foundations, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Employee-owned and sharing profits with 100% of its U.S. full-time employees, the firm prioritizes alignment of interests to maximize value for stakeholders.

Since 2010, Star Mountain has completed over 300 direct investments and 50 secondary/fund investments in the North American lower middle-market. The firm has been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies and a Best Place to Work by Crain’s New York Business and Pensions & Investments.

For more information, visit www.starmountaincapital.com.

Legal Disclaimer:

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase interests in any investment product. Awards and recognitions by third-party rating agencies, companies, or publications should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results or performance. They should not be considered as an endorsement, recommendation, or referral of Star Mountain Capital or its representatives by any client or third party. Rankings published by media and industry organizations are based on information provided by the recognized advisor. Additionally, readers should understand that past performance is not indicative of future results. Award descriptions and selection methodologies may vary.

Awards and Recognition Disclosure:

Star Mountain Capital’s awards and recognitions are based on third-party evaluations and criteria, which may be subjective. These honors do not imply a guarantee of future performance or an endorsement by current or past clients.

Ranking Methodologies:

• Crain’s Best Places to Work: Evaluations were conducted through a two-part process, assessing workplace policies, practices, and employee satisfaction via surveys. Participation required a fee solely for survey processing purposes. More details are available at Crain’s eligibility criteria.
• Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work: Companies were evaluated based on surveys measuring employee engagement (75%) and employer policies (25%). Participation required a minimum of 20 U.S. employees and $100 million in discretionary assets under management. Further details can be found at P&I eligibility criteria.
• Inc. 5000 Rankings: Companies were ranked based on revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, firms had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent, with revenue thresholds of at least $100,000 in 2019 and $2 million in 2022. More details are available at Inc. 5000 criteria.