NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Star Mountain Capital, LLC ("Star Mountain"), a rapidly growing specialized investment company with approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management focused exclusively on investing in established, private small and medium-sized North American businesses (the “lower middle-market”), is pleased to announce that George Mattson has joined as President. Mr. Mattson has been a long-time investor and Senior Advisor to the firm, and in this newly created role, will work closely on all aspects of the firm’s activities including strategy, investment analysis, portfolio management, talent development, investment origination, and investor relations.
“I have known George since the early ‘90s when we worked together at Credit Suisse,” said Brian Finn, Star Mountain Capital’s Chairman, former President of Credit Suisse First Boston and head of their $100 billion alternative investment business. “George’s track record of success with multiple category leading institutions speaks for itself and I think he will bring tremendous value to all of Star Mountain’s stakeholders.”
“We are delighted to announce that George has joined as President of Star Mountain,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “I have known and worked with George for nearly a decade including as a valued senior advisor to and investor in Star Mountain over the past 6 years. Star Mountain has continued to rapidly grow its asset base among institutional and high-net-worth investors. As the rate of investment deployment accelerated we are continuing to build our world class team and industry leading investment processes and infrastructure. With this, we felt the time was right and that George was uniquely suited for this critical role as we build our executive leadership capabilities. Over the course of his career George has worked with and helped build businesses and develop management teams of both large global companies and smaller private companies – as an executive, investor, and corporate director. George brings a unique set of strategic, financial, operational, governance, business building and investing skills which, along with his broad network of institutional and personal relationships, will greatly benefit our investors and stakeholders in the years to come.”
“I am proud to have been associated with Star Mountain as a Senior Advisor as the firm has achieved remarkable growth and success in the last several years. Brett and the Star Mountain team have built a world class investment firm, with a compelling focus on the growth engine of America, private small and medium-sized businesses. The businesses we invest in are the job creators of our economy, and Star Mountain has grown alongside the companies in which it has invested through a sharp focus on building a firm suited to meeting the needs of this large, attractive and underserved market. I believe the firm is poised for continued success in the years to come and I am excited to leverage my experience in working with the Star Mountain team to realize that success.”
Mr. Mattson brings a wealth of experience and relationships built over his 35-year career. After spending six years at IBM (NYSE: IBM), he spent 19 years in investment banking including 10 years as a Partner at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) where he formed and Co-Headed the Global Industrials Group within investment banking. Mr. Mattson also worked closely with Goldman Sachs’ merchant bank and other principal investment businesses on equity investment and debt lending opportunities within the broad range of businesses and sectors he covered. In addition, Mr. Mattson served on Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division Operating Committee, the Investment Banking Division Client and Business Standards Committee, and the Global Recruiting Council.
Mr. Mattson retired as a partner from Goldman Sachs in 2012 to pursue his passion for private investing and building companies, as an investor and a corporate director. Mr. Mattson has made several equity investments in lower middle-market private industrial companies with a focus on partnering with founders and management teams to provide growth capital and help realize their strategic vision. In addition, in 2020 and 2021, he successfully raised two special purpose acquisition companies, completing merger transactions for both companies, and subsequently working closely with the management teams of these newly public companies.
Mr. Mattson also brings over 30 years of cumulative experience as a director of large public companies as well as small and medium-sized private companies. Mr. Mattson has served in multiple roles on public boards including as lead independent director and chairing audit, finance, compensation, and governance committees. He is currently serving on or has served on the boards of Delta Air Lines, Air France KLM Group, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit and Xos.
Mr. Mattson has also been active supporting communities and organizations philanthropically, having served or currently serving on non-profit boards including as Chairman of Volunteers of America - Greater New York, member of the Board of Trustees of the Boys’ Club of New York, Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Duke University School of Engineering, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Saint Andrew’s School.
Mr. Mattson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
About Star Mountain
With approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management (as of January 31, 2023), 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 high-net-worth investors to established small and medium-sized 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 employees as part of its focus on maximizing value for its stakeholders and investors through alignment of interests.
Since 2010 through 2022, Star Mountain has approximately 200 direct investments in U.S. small and medium-sized businesses and 30 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 and yield for investors that is materially above the typical yields found in the public markets through its distinctive origination, underwriting and value-added lending capabilities.
For the fourth straight year, Star Mountain was again named one of the 2022 Best Places to Work by Crain’s New York Business as well as once again one of the 2022 Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments.
Star Mountain believes its focus and dedication has been productive for job creation and economic development. 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 has a dedicated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee led by Anne Yang, Strategic Portfolio Manager & ESG Committee Chair, who was formerly a Managing Director & Member of Executive Office at Goldman Sachs. Star Mountain believes that ESG is aligned with financial stability and long-term shareholder value creation.
As part of its ESG program, 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/
