Christopher “Chris” Babcock, Former ~25 Year Director from BNY Mellon Asset Management, 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 approximately $4.5 billion in assets under management ("AUM"), is pleased to announce that Christopher Babcock has joined as Managing Director. Mr. Babcock will leverage approximately 30 years of asset management experience to advance the firm's investor relations efforts and deepen relationships across institutional and wealth channels.

Mr. Babcock has built a distinguished career partnering with pensions, endowments, foundations, consultants, family offices and wealth platforms to help them achieve their investment objectives. He has extensive experience advising on private credit, private equity and secondaries investment strategies.

"Chris has extensive experience working with institutional and family office investors to help them optimize their investment objectives, analyzing a broad range of private market investment opportunities," said Brett Hickey, Founder & CEO of Star Mountain Capital. "Chris will further help Star Mountain deliver exceptional client service including assisting investors and accessing products and strategies that best achieve their objectives."

Mr. Babcock spent approximately 25 years at BNY Mellon Asset Management, most recently as Director of North American Institutional Distribution. During his tenure, he raised assets in alternative and long-only public and fixed income strategies and stewarded relationships with major institutional clients, including the largest Taft-Hartley 401(k) plan. He also oversaw communications for key accounts, designed bespoke institutional investment solutions and mentored colleagues who advanced into senior roles. Mr. Babcock originally joined BNY Mellon as a Senior Vice President and Institutional Wholesaler at Dreyfus Investment Management, where he led firm wide sales efforts.

Mr. Babcock also served on the Capital Formation team for North American Institutional and Wealth at LSV Advisors. He began his career at Fidelity Investments as an Internal Wholesaler supporting the financial intermediary market, developing foundational expertise in advisor engagement, product positioning and distribution strategy across asset classes.

"Star Mountain has built something truly distinctive: a firm that combines sophisticated investment strategies with a genuine commitment to partnership and employee ownership," said Mr. Babcock. "I'm excited to educate investors on the opportunity to diversify their portfolios and generate alpha from the large and underserved lower middle-market where Star Mountain specializes."

Mr. Babcock’s board and nonprofit involvement include serving as a Corporation Member of the Perkins School for the Blind, Secretary of the Children’s Glaucoma Foundation, Board Member of Adaptive Sports New England and Board Member and volunteer with Guide Dogs of America. He holds a BS from Northeastern University and is FINRA Series 7, 63 and 3 licensed.

About Star Mountain Capital

With ~$4.5 billion in AUM (committed capital including debt facilities as of 2/28/2026), Star Mountain specializes in providing scalable and data-driven investment solutions across two core strategies:

• Direct Investments: Providing debt and equity capital to established lower middle-market businesses.
• 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 100 direct platform 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.