Brett A. Hickey
Brett A. Hickey has 25 years of U.S. lower middle-market private investing and investment banking experience where he has completed over 400 private equity, private credit and secondary fund investments.
Mr. Hickey is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Star Mountain Capital, a specialized investment firm focused on systematically generating alpha and low public market correlated returns from the large and complex U.S. lower middle-market across three complementary investment strategies, private credit, private equity and liquidity solutions for existing investors (“secondaries”). Star Mountain, founded in 2010 and headquartered in New York City with additional offices nationwide, manages approximately $5 billion in assets (committed capital including debt facilities, as of March 15, 2026).
From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Hickey, founded and ran an economic development small business investment platform in partnership with three states, providing strategic debt and equity capital to underserved areas of the U.S. as well as women and minority-owned businesses.
Prior to 2004, Mr. Hickey worked for the then largest financial institution in the world, Citigroup (formerly Salomon Smith Barney), within their Financial Institutions Coverage investment banking division in New York City, advising and representing asset managers, insurance companies and to a lesser extent banks. He worked on over $20 billion of completed mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity capital-raising and restructuring transactions.
Mr. Hickey graduated with Distinction from McGill University in Canada with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and Accounting. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management executive training and management program.
Mr. Hickey serves on a number of non-profit and thought leadership boards including being the Founder & Chairman of the Star Mountain Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) focused on job creation (including for veterans, women and athletes), economic development and health & wellness. Philanthropic awards include the Pathfinders to Peace Award alongside Morgan Freeman, the Guiding Star Award from AYUDA for the Arts and in 2025 he received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Foreign Policy Association.
He has been the keynote speaker for various private market leadership organizations including events for Institutional Investor, Private Debt Investor, Carmo Companies, Private Markets Insider and With Intelligence.
In his younger years, he competed in speed skating, where he won a Canadian national gold medal, and set a Canadian national record. While attending college, he was on the Canadian National Training team. More recently, he completed the Lake Placid IRONMAN triathlon, finishing in the top 20% of all male competitors.
Boards & Associations
- Global Advisor Council, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs (HAE)
- Board Member, Greenwich, CT YMCA
- Board Member, Private Markets Insider (PMI) a thought-leadership organization in the private markets industry
- Board Member, Foreign Policy Association, a non‑partisan organization dedicated to inspiring public interest and informed opinion about U.S. foreign policy and global issues
- Advisory Board Member, Carmo Conferences, leading alternative investments conference
- Member, Chief Executives Organization (CEO) since 2023 & YPO (New York City & Greenwich chapters) since 2008
- Member & Contributing Expert Panelist, Forbes Business Council
- Former Member, Board of Governors, Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA)
- Former Board Member, McGill Alumni Association of NY and recipient of the President of the Year Award
Media Highlights
- InvestmentNews — “IN the Nasdaq” interview (2023)
- ION Analytics — Interview on building a specialized firm focused on private credit (2024)
- BNN Bloomberg — Discussion on alternative lending/private debt (2018)