Our People
Meet Our Team
Star Mountain is one of the largest teams focused on the U.S. lower middle-market with a highly aligned full-time team of ~150 professionals, many of which have held leadership roles at some of the world's leading financial institutions. ¹
Executive backgrounds include former:
- President of Credit Suisse First Boston and Head of Credit Suisse Alternative Investments ($100B AUM)
- Co-Head of BAML Capital Partners and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity
- Head of U.S. Leveraged Loan Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch
- Goldman Sachs Partner and Co-Head of Global Industrials Group in Investment Banking
- Partner and Investment Committee Member of Fortress Private Credit
- Co-Head of Private Equity Performance Improvement Group at Alvarez & Marsal
Senior Team
Brett A. Hickey
Chief Executive Officer
- 25 years of U.S. LMM private equity, private credit and secondary fund investment experience
- Salomon Smith Barney / Citigroup FIG Investment Banker, analyzing & advising on buying & selling $18B of assets / finance companies
- Global Advisor Council of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, YPO and CEO member
Brian D. Finn
Non-Executive Chairman
- Head, Credit Suisse Alternatives ($100B AUM)
- President of Credit Suisse First Boston and Co-Head Global M&A
- Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Peter K. Scaturro, Sr.
Vice Chairman
- Partner, Goldman Sachs Global Private Client ($220 billion AUM)
- Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Trust ($265 billion AUM)
- Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup Global Private Bank ($750 billion AUM)
Scott E. Couto, CFA
President
- EVP & Head of North America, Columbia Threadneedle Investments ($650B+ AUM)
- President of Fidelity Institutional Asset Management (a division of Fidelity Investments ~$580B AUM)
- Chief Operating Officer, Evergreen Investments (~$250B AUM, now part of Wells Fargo)
Stephen B. Paras, CFA
Managing Director & Chief Credit Officer
- 35+ years of leadership experience in Private Credit, Leveraged Finance, and Investment Banking
- MD & Head of US & European Leveraged Loan Capital Markets, Merrill Lynch and BAML, respectively
- Merrill Lynch and BAML Leveraged Finance Commitment Committees, Merrill Lynch Mezzanine Investment and MD Nomination Committees
Chris Calabrese
Strategic Portfolio Partner
- 30+ years of private credit investment and direct lending experience
- Co-Founding Partner of LBC Credit Partners (now part of $40 billion CIFC)
- Managing Director at Wachovia (now part of ~$2 trillion Wells Fargo)
Christopher J. Gimbert
Chief Financial Officer
- Founder, U.S. LMM Interim CFO Advisory Business
- KPMG M&A Advisory assisting with acquisition integration and performance improvements
- Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments, including Manager Due Diligence
John W. Polis
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer
- COO & CTO, Visionary LMM Advisory Business
- COO & CTO, Guidepoint Global & Coleman Investor Research (grew from 5 to 140 employees globally)
- Chief Information Officer, Parent Co. of GT Interactive Software & helped lead IPO (NASDAQ: GTIS)
Austin Ericson
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
- Assistant General Counsel, H.I.G. Capital ($50B+ AUM private credit and private equity alternative investment manager)
- Associate Attorney, Corporate and Transactional, McDermott Will & Emery (1,400+ attorney global law firm)
- Adjunct Professor, University of Miami School of Law
Stephen Faughnan
Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director of Finance & Operations
- Managing Director of Operations, Siguler Guff & Co. ($15B+ AUM alternative investment firm with ~150 employees in 8 countries)
- Vice President, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, various Finance, Risk, Operations & Compliance roles
- Tax Consultant, Deloitte & Touche
Stephan T. Connelly, CFA
Managing Director
- Senior Associate, Newbury Partners Secondaries Investment Firm ($5B AUM)
- Associate, Structured Products, PwC
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
David J. DiPaolo
Managing Director
- 20+ years of U.S. LMM private equity and private credit investment experience
- Partner, BHC LMM Credit Fund (founded by head of Barclay’s North America Credit; $400M AUM)
- LMM Investment Banker, Janney Montgomery Scott
Bruce Eatroff
Managing Director
- Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Halyard Capital, lower middle-market PE firm (~$600M AUM)
- Head of U.S. Media/Communications, Merchant, Investment & Corporate Banking + Investment Committee for fund, mezz & private equity, BMO
- Investment Banking Managing Director at CIBC and UBS & Vice President at Goldman Sachs
Michael Karangelen
Managing Director
- 35+ years of private equity, private lending, corporate finance, investment banking and board governance experience
- CEO and Global Investment Committee Member, Investindustrial North America ($15B+ AUM)
- Managing Director, Towerbrook Capital Partners ($25B+ AUM)
Jeff Feinberg
Managing Director and Strategic Portfolio Partner
- 30+ years of private equity due diligence, C-level operating, and portfolio optimization experience
- Partner & Co-Practice Leader for Alvarez & Marsal (“A&M”) Private Equity Services Group
- Chief Transformation Officer, Leadership and Operating Committees of Bridgewater Associates
George Zahringer
Managing Director and Strategic Portfolio Partner
- 20+ years of operational private equity, private credit, operating and portfolio optimization experience across industry sectors and business cycles
- Principal, NexPhase Capital (middle-market private equity spin out of Moelis)
- Private Equity team, Cerberus Capital Management ($65B AUM)
Adam Fitzner
Managing Director & Strategic Portfolio Partner
- 30 years of experience as a private equity investor, board member, turnaround and restructuring advisor, having worked with more than 60 businesses
- Managing Director and Investment Committee member at LMM PE firm, HRCP
- Managing Director, Investment Banking at Evercore; additional experience at Miller Buckfire and Houlihan Lokey
Christopher J. Birosak
Strategic Portfolio Partner
- Co-Head of BAML Capital Partners and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity
- Co-Led the spin out and management of the $6B PE portfolio of Merrill Lynch
- MD & Commitment Committee, Merrill Lynch Leveraged Finance; Led $15B in leveraged financings
Ravi Ugale
Managing Director
- 30+ years of private credit, secondaries, private equity, VC, investment banking and operations experience
- Head of Private Capital Manager Research at Truist Bank ($500B+ in assets)
- Partner & Investment Committee Member of lower middle-market private investment fund; chaired multiple portfolio company boards
Ryan T. McGovern
Managing Director
- ~30 years of private equity and private credit investment experience
- Partner, Nomura Mezzanine ($500M AUM); Investment Manager, AIG-MezzVest ($750M AUM)
- Investment Banker, HSBC and Stephens Inc.
John McCarty
Managing Director
- 25+ years of U.S. LMM investment banking, private equity and private credit investment experience
- Partner, Peachtree LMM Credit Fund (Goldman Sachs-backed spinout from Wachovia; $170M AUM)
- Investment Banker, DLJ / Credit Suisse and Banc of America Securities
Jonathan P. Barnes
Managing Director
- 20+ years of private equity, public equities and investment banking experience
- Partner at Halyard Capital, lower middle-market PE firm (~$600M AUM)
- Investment Banker, Morgan Stanley
Jared Cohen, CFA
Managing Director
- 25+ years of private credit, private equity, special situation and secondaries investing experience
- Partner & senior member of Credit Funds at Fortress Investment Group
- Private & public company board & operating experience
- Principal investing and investment banking at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley
Harry E. Haskins
Managing Director
- Chairman of Licensing Division & Investment Committee Member at U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) SBIC Program
- Oversaw 80-person team & invested ~$18B via SBIC funds into U.S. LMM companies across 15 years
- Head of Loan Restructuring, U.S. Maritime Administration
Leanne Schmitt
Managing Director & Head of Consultant Relations
- 20+ years of portfolio management, investor relations & financial systems experience
- Managing Director, Investment Specialist, Intech ($22B AUM)
- Associate, Global Prime Brokerage Technology, Salomon Smith Barney
MaryAnn Stauffer
Managing Director - Client Services
- 20+ years of Investment Advisory and Investor Relations Experience
- 17 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management
- 5 years at JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch Asset Management
John Ide, CFA
Managing Director - Client Services
- 35+ years of corporate banking, lending, private credit, private equity and investment experience
- Managing Director and member of Strategic Client Group advising some of the largest and most sophisticated clients at JPMorgan Asset Management ($2+ trillion AUM)
- Credit Analyst, Bank One (now JPMorgan Chase)
Warren DeKinder, CFA
Managing Director - Client Services
- 30+ years of investment consulting and investor relations experience
- Senior Managing Director at Intech Quantitative Investment Management (~$70B AUM at peak)
- Investment consultant at DeMarche and LCG Associates
Christopher Babcock
Managing Director
- ~30 years of investment advisory and client relationship experience
- Director of North American Institutional Distribution, BNY Mellon Asset Management ($2T+ AUM)
- Managing Director, LSV Advisors ($4B+ AUM)
Crandall Deery
Managing Director
- 25 years of finance experience with the last 15 spent as a private credit & equity investor completing over 50 transactions for $6B+
- Former Investment Committee member for an SBIC fund and a BDC led by former Head of Global Credit of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
James Camarda
Managing Director - Private Wealth Strategy & Strategic Relationships
- ~20 Years of Alternative Investments Experience
- Director, Divisional Alternative Investments Specialist at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
- Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch
Dr. Sudharshan Sathiyamoorthy
Senior Quantitative Specialist
- ~20 years of applying quantitative analysis to investment processes
- Head of Manager Diligence & Chair of the Investment Committee, Richter Family Office
- Associate Portfolio Manager, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (~C$600B AUM)
Renald Durand, CPA, CA, CFA, CAIA
Managing Director of Finance
- Vice President, JPMorgan Chase
- Senior Fund Accountant, Credit Suisse
- Senior Auditor, Ernst & Young
Jaspal Bajaj, CPA, CA
Controller
- SVP, Finance / Operations, CAIS ($3B alternative investment platform)
- CFO, MTB ($1B revenue operating company)
- Associate Director, UBS Global Asset Management; Fund Services, PwC Financial Services
Steven Bold
Director
- 15+ years of alternative investment management experience evaluating, structuring, negotiating and managing U.S. private debt investments and private equity investments
- Senior Vice President, Cerberus Capital Management ($65B AUM)
- Leveraged Finance Investment Banker, UBS
Sean McGuire
Director
- 10+ years of private credit and fund investment and portfolio monitoring experience
- Vice President at Star Mountain Capital
- Senior Associate at Star Mountain Capital
- Associate at Star Mountain Capital
- Analyst at Star Mountain Capital
Elizabeth Davis
HR and Talent Development Manager
- Talent Acquisition Recruiter, BayCare Health System
- BS, Human Resource Management, University of South Florida
- MS, Human Resource Management, University of South Florida
Bridgit Chiappetta
Client Services & Business Development
- Office, Portfolio Company & Investor Communications Administrator, Halyard Capital
- Events and Executive Assistant - Investment and Corporate Banking, BMO and CIBC
- Events and Executive Assistant - Investment and Corporate Banking, UBS
Christina Chiaino
Client Services & Business Development
- Over 15 years of C-suite / senior level management experience in overseeing complex organizational matters in a broad range of industries
- Office Manager & Executive Assistant, Siemens Healthineers
- Premier Services Division, HSBC
Curtis Glovier
Chief Investment Officer
- Chairman, CEO & President, $16B AUC PENSCO Trust Company
- Department Head and Investment Committee Member, Fortress Investment Group
- Started career in the Leveraged Buyout Department at Goldman Sachs
Anne Yang
Strategic Portfolio Partner & ESG Committee Chair
- Managing Director & Member of the Executive Office, Goldman Sachs
- Managing Director, Bank of America and Citigroup
- Merchant Banking Group, including leveraged buyouts, First Boston
Todd Benson
Non-Executive Investment Committee Member
- CEO, Herington LLC; Investor, advisor and/or board member in multiple LMM & growth-stage companies
- Global Co-Head, Citigroup Private Equity ($11B AUM) including mezzanine & secondary investing
- MD, Salomon Smith Barney / Citigroup, Media & Communications Investment Banking
Mary D’Souza
Strategic Portfolio Partner
- 25 years of capital markets, private and public capital investing with $15B+ in completed transactions
- CFO of a pharmaceutical company and CIO of a family office
- Managing Director at GE Capital
Chris Goodwin
Managing Director
- Completed over $6.5B of private equity and credit investments as Co-Head of U.S. Merchant Banking, BNP Paribas (~$2T in AUM)
- President and CFO of two U.S. LMM companies
- Director of Financial Services and Corporate Platforms, Hudson Advisors (division of Lone Star Funds, $25B AUM)
Senior Advisors & Operating Partners
40+ senior advisors and operating partners extend the team with deep industry and operational expertise across the country.
Join Our Team
We are always looking for exceptional people who want to build careers in private capital.
¹ Team count is as of 9/30/26. It is inclusive of a 27-person team in India for database management, research and administrative tasks.