NEW YORK– Star Mountain Capital, LLC (“Star Mountain”), a specialized investment manager with over $3 billion in assets under management focused on investing in established, private small and medium-sized North American businesses (lower middle-market), is pleased to announce that Austin Ericson has joined as Legal Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer. A differentiating factor of Star Mountain’s investor-aligned business is that 100% of its team including Senior Advisors / Operating Partners share in the investment profits.
“Austin brings highly relevant experience towards where Star Mountain is growing having overseen a broad range of legal and compliance matters relating to multiple alternative investment funds and portfolio company investments,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “We are excited to continue growing our services and capabilities for all stakeholders.”
“Having participated in approximately $30 billion of AUM growth including private credit and private equity during my time with H.I.G., I am thrilled to join Star Mountain as they continue to target compelling risk adjusted returns for investors,” said Austin Ericson, “Star Mountain has heavily invested in firm infrastructure demonstrating its commitment to its team members, portfolio investments and investors and I look forward to playing my part in its continued success.”
Mr. Ericson is an experienced legal counsel and compliance expert further strengthening Star Mountain’s finance and operations infrastructure. Prior to joining Star Mountain, Mr. Ericson was most recently Assistant General Counsel at H.I.G. Capital, LLC a $50+ billion AUM global alternative investment firm, where he served as the primary internal counsel focused on fund formation, regulatory management, compliance across a variety of private capital investment strategies including private credit and private equity. During his tenure with H.I.G., they grew assets under management approximately 150% from approximately $20 billion to over $50 billion. Products he helped structure and administer included private credit funds, private equity funds, rated note investment structures for insurance companies, a publicly traded business development company (BDC) and collateralized loan obligation (CLO) vehicles. His responsibilities included implementing and monitoring compliance processes throughout all functions of the firm including fundraising, general corporate matters, marketing review, regulatory filings, and administering H.I.G.’s compliance program. His legal and compliance responsibilities also included negotiating investor side letters and reviewing all marketing materials.
At H.I.G. he also assisted with U.S. regulatory and public company filings and advised investment professionals and portfolio companies on a variety of corporate, intellectual property, data privacy, employment, litigation, finance, contractual, and ESG matters. He also worked actively with the private investment team on various legal matters including negotiating and managing investments.
Prior to H.I.G., Mr. Ericson was an Associate Attorney in the Corporate and Transactional Department of McDermott Will & Emery LLP a 1,400+ lawyer global corporate law firm working with leading alternative investment and corporate clients, including H.I.G. which led to Austin later joining the firm. He drafted and negotiated all ancillary merger & acquisition documents including employment agreements, seller notes, stock option plans, escrow agreements, restricted activities agreements, and reviewed and revised all core transaction documentation, working with specialists, attorneys and paralegals. Mr. Ericson led legal diligence processes on over 25 closed mergers and acquisitions (including new platform investments, tuck-ins and add-ons).
Mr. Ericson is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law where he graduated Cum Laude and in the top 5% of his graduating class. At the University of Florida Levin College of Law, Mr. Ericson served as the Managing Editor of the Florida Law Review and the Chief of Communications for the Association of Law and Business. He was also elected to the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society encouraging excellence in legal education recognizing law students who attained a high grade of scholarship.
