James Camarda, Former Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments Specialist, joins Star Mountain Capital as Managing Director

Business Wire 17-Jul-2024 8:30 AM

Star Mountain Capital, a rapidly growing employee-owned specialized investment firm with over $4.0 billion AUM, focused on delivering systematic alpha and low market correlated returns from making private loans, private equity investments and purchasing secondary LP interests and assets in the large, fragmented and resource-intensive lower middle-market, announced James Camarda has joined as a Managing Director to work with investors as a solutions-oriented partner on portfolio optimization investments and potential liquidity needs through Star Mountain's secondaries business.

Star Mountain Capital, LLC ("Star Mountain"), a specialized investment manager with over $4.0 billion in assets under management (committed capital including debt facilities as of 6/30/2024) focused on generating defensive and premium yield and total returns from the less efficient and resources-intensive market of U.S. private small and medium-sized businesses (the "lower middle-market"), is pleased to announce that James Camarda has joined as a Managing Director in Star Mountain's Tampa, Florida office.

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James Camarda, Star Mountain Capital Managing Director (Photo: Business Wire)

James Camarda brings two decades of expertise in the alternative investment sector, having collaborated with some of the world's leading alternative investment firms. Mr. Camarda has advised financial advisors, family offices, foundations, endowments, and individuals on leveraging alternative investments to optimize their investment objectives, including portfolio construction.

"James has had an impressive 20 year career in alternative investments at Merrill Lynch, one of the world's largest investment management firms," said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. "James will play a pivotal and multifaceted role, including forming and managing strategic partnerships with wealth management platforms and other investors."

"Having gotten to know Star Mountain's leadership team and impressive client base, I was intrigued by how large and fragmented the lower middle-market is, making up nearly 50% of the U.S. economy. With M&A activity expected to increase among small and medium-sized businesses due to aging demographics, I see a unique opportunity for investors," said James Camarda. "Star Mountain's distinctive origination, underwriting and portfolio value-add platform positions us well to capitalize on these opportunities, providing exposure to a market segment many portfolios lack."

During his extensive career at Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Mr. Camarda established himself as a thought leader in the alternative investment space. As a Director and Divisional Alternative Investments Specialist, he led a team of four specialists, managed a seven-state territory and engaged with over a thousand financial advisors. His tenure included working with a comprehensive platform featuring over 75 evergreen funds and approximately 30 new private market drawdown funds annually.

Mr. Camarda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo State College and is Series 66 and Series 7 licensed. Outside of his professional endeavors, Mr. Camarda is dedicated to philanthropy, through his support of the Boys and Girls Club, the Latin American Association and the Foster Care Support Foundation.

About Star Mountain

With over $4 billion in assets under management (committed capital including debt facilities as of 6/30/2024), 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 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 250 direct investments in businesses and over 45 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

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