Star Mountain Capital Names Bob Shettle, Former Co-Head of Barings ($325 bn AUM) North American Private Finance Group, as Managing Director

Bob Shettle, former Co-Head of North American Private Finance & Chairman of the North American Mezzanine and Private Finance Investment Committees at Barings LLC, MassMutual’s $325+ billion AUM investment management subsidiary, has joined Star Mountain Capital as a full-time senior member of the investment team.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Star Mountain Capital, LLC (“Star Mountain”), a specialized investment manager focused exclusively on investing in private small and medium-sized businesses (lower middle-market), is pleased to announce that Bob Shettle has joined as a Managing Director. With thirty years of experience investing senior debt, junior debt, private equity and making lower middle-market fund investments, Mr. Shettle brings a diverse skill set and a vast network to Star Mountain’s focus on value-added debt and equity investing in established U.S. small and medium-size businesses that generally have between $15 million and $250 million in annual revenues as well as Star Mountain’s LP investments in lower middle-market funds.

“Bob brings tremendous experience, insights and relationships to further benefit us as we continue to scale our business adding more value to business owners and investors in an aligned manner,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “Bob is another great cultural fit with a roll up the sleeves, detail-oriented personality from having personally led over 70 private investments, coupled with leadership experience from chairing investments committees for a $325 billion institution and overseeing approximately $10 billion in private credit, mezzanine and private equity investments.”

“Having invested in the private markets for approximately 30 years, I find the lower middle-market to be the most compelling bridge between the risks of start ups and the more commoditized larger markets,” said Bob Shettle. “Star Mountain has built a differentiated business including its origination platform, underwriting and value-added capabilities coupled with deep investments in team, culture and technology that induced me to join a firm I believe will continue delivering compelling results for investors and the businesses we invest in.”

Mr. Shettle spent the bulk of his career, 22 years, at Barings, the $325+ billion AUM investment manager owned by insurance group MassMutual.

At Barings, he was named the Chairman of both the North American Mezzanine and the North American Private Finance Investment Committees. Mr. Shettle was also the Co-Head of North American Private Finance Group co-managing a team of 35 private credit professionals across 3 U.S. offices and overseeing a $10 billion senior loan and junior debt portfolio. He also helped advise on, analyze and manage lower middle-market private equity fund investments. Mr. Shettle was also President of two publicly traded New York Stock Exchange closed-end funds focused on private debt securities (Barings Corporate Investors – NYSE: MCI; Barings Participation Investors – NYSE: MPV).

Prior to Barings, Mr. Shettle was a Vice President in commercial lending at Fleet Bank (now part of Bank of America).

Mr. Shettle started his career in management consulting at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in the late 1980s.

Mr. Shettle is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and has an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Shettle also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Star Mountain was again named Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments and one of the 2020 Best Places to Work by Crain’s New York Business highlighting the firms focus on culture and community.

ABOUT STAR MOUNTAIN

With approximately $2 billion in assets under management (as of June 2021), Star Mountain takes a data-driven approach to investing into the U.S. lower middle-market through two complementary investment strategies: (i) direct debt and equity investing and (ii) secondaries (acquiring LP interests and direct assets). Star Mountain believes these complementary strategies provide scalable and diversified 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.

Since 2010, Star Mountain has made over 100 direct investments in U.S. small and medium-sized businesses and over 20 secondaries / fund investments within its Collaborative Ecosystem ®, exclusively focused on the U.S. lower middle-market. With over 75 team members (including advisors/operating partners) across 20+ locations nationwide, 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 ®.

As part of its ESG program (Environmental, Social and Governance), 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://www.bestplacestoworknyc.com/eligibility-criteria

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.

Contacts

Star Mountain Capital, LLC

John Polis

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