Our Team
Adriana Piltz
Research Operations and Compliance Advisor
Adriana’s experience in the finance industry spans senior roles in Compliance, Research, Operations and Capital Markets. She was previously the President of Merriman Capital, overseeing the firm`s broker dealer operations and...
Barbara Reguero
Senior Advisor - Conferences and Content Distribution
Barbara has 30+ years senior management experience in the Equity and Fixed Income Research field, with senior roles at Sidoti & Company, S&P Capital-IQ, Nomura Securities, JP Morgan and Bear Stearns. Her wide-ranging experience...
Bill Marcus
Senior Managing Director
Bill has 30+ years experience in institutional sales management, global business development and alternative investments at Newedge, Bear Stearns, and DLJ. His focus was on early stage venture companies, family offices, foundations,...
Bruce Forrest, MD
Managing Director, Head of Healthcare/Life Sciences Group
Dr. Forrest brings 30+ years experience in the pharmaceutical industry in senior executive, scientific and R&D roles at Wyeth (US & Japan) and Chiron. Dr. Forrest received a MB/BS and an MD from the University of Adelaide School of...
Bruce Kaufman
Managing Director, Co-Head of Healthcare/Life Sciences Group
Bruce has 30+ years experience in investment banking, restructurings, capital raising, and public accounting. Prior firms include Rothschild Venture Capital, Lehman Brothers, Compass Advisers and Coopers & Lybrand. Bruce received a BS...
Carrie Steele
Vice President, Investment Banking: Cannabis, Hemp and CBD Practice
Carrie’s focus at Young America Capital is on merger and acquisition opportunities in the cannabis, hemp and CBD spaces. Prior to joining the firm, Carrie spent 15+ years as a senior advisor and fundraising consultant to several...
Dylan James
Vice President
Dylan James has 20+ years of international business development experience, working extensively throughout the US, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Prior to joining Young America Capital, Dylan held senior roles at Microsoft, Forbes,...
Edward Mahoney
Principal
Ed is a member of the Young America Funds Marketing Group. He has 30+ years experience in institutional sales, at Merrill Lynch and Fuji Securities. Ed is a graduate of Adelphi University, with a BA in political science and economics....
Errol Antzis
Senior Managing Director, Media and Entertainment
Errol has 30+ years of experience in both corporate finance and direct company operations, primarily in the Technology, Media and Entertainment (TMT) sectors. He has served in senior roles at institutions including BNP Paribas, The...
Fernando Russo
Vice President - Investment Banking
Fernando has 15+ years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor in diverse industries such as International Trade, Real Estate Development and industrial manufacturing. Fernando has an MBA from Loyola University in Chicago and a...
Gabriel Melamed
Managing Director
Gabriel is an accomplished Senior Executive and Advisor with 30+ years of experience in Financial Services, Commodities and Real Estate industries. His broad areas of expertise include investment banking, financial products,...
Igor Gourari, CPA
Director of Fund Sales
Igor has 13+ years of advisory experience with focus on hedge funds, private equity and broker dealers. His experience includes advisory, audit and financial officer positions at Stonehaven, New Energy Fund, Hearst,...
Jakob Bergendorff
Vice President, Investment Banking
Jakob has 20 years of experience in corporate, M&A and business development roles at the Maersk Group, Svitzer, Nielsen Norager law firm, and the venture capital fund Vaekstfonden. Jakob has most recently assisted one of the...
Dr. James P. Kelleher
Vice President, Investment Banking
James P. Kelleher has 20+ years of clinical, research, administrative, and business experience in healthcare and life sciences including service as CEO of Cerebrum Therapeutics, CMO of Four Winds Hospital Saratoga and of Howard & Hecht...
Jeffrey Gold
Managing Director, Investment Banking
Jeffrey has 30+ years investment banking experience in diverse industry sectors including publishing, media, food, beverage and health care. He founded and manages Goldmark Advisers, a team of veteran M&A and management consulting...
Jim Sundstrom
Managing Director Investment Banking
Jim Sundstrom has 20+ years of investment banking expertise as a Technology and Media Banker working with software and services, fintech, alternative energy, and cleantech companies at Guggenheim Securities, Prudential Securities,...
Jon Lunsford
Managing Director
Jon has 30+ years of experience executing capital raises and M&A deals in sizes ranging from a few million dollars to over $2 billion. He had founded the media and technology group for what is now SunTrust Bank. He served as senior...
Julio Marquez
Managing Director, Latin America Group
Julio has 20+ years of experience in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, Citibank and, most recently, Global Emerging Markets Group and Gottbetter Capital Markets. In addition to a BSc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
Kenton B. Kilmer
Vice President
Kenton has over 10 years experience in the asset management and financial consulting industry, specializing in real assets and value investing. As a member of the fund marketing team, he provides fundraising and capital market...
Kevin Rickman
Director
Kevin started his financial services career as a cross border financial analyst at New York Bay Capital, a boutique investment bank. Kevin has worked on a wide range of industries including Financial Technology, TMT, AI/Machine...
Kristina Walsh
Co-Head of Consumer Investment Banking
Kristina has 18+ years of experience in senior management roles in the hedge fund and financial services industry. Prior to Young America, Kristina was a Managing Director at IPC, Partner; Head of Onboarding and Business Consulting for...
Lianne Merchant
Managing Director
Lianne has 25+ years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in commercial real estate private equity at Park Hill Real Estate (Blackstone) iStar, Merrill Lynch and GE's pension fund. She has an AB from Brown...
Marah Formanek
Research Consultant, TMT, Consumer & Retail
Marah works on special projects for the research team. She is also a Strategic Financial Analyst at Moda Operandi, specializing in driving financial and operating efficiencies. She previously worked at Jefferies Investment Bank as a...
Marcel Melis
Vice President
Marcel is a member of the Young America Fund Marketing Group - Europe. He has 30+ years experience at BP, Statkraft, Reliant, DELTA Energy, Energy Capital Mgmt/MMT Energy Fund. He received his BA and MBA from Rijksuniversiteit...
Marianna Prueger
Vice President
Marianna Prueger, Cannabis & Hemp Investment Banking, 15+ years of experience in lending, asset management, fundraising, advisory and retirement services at JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, and various 401(k) providers. Marianna has...
Michael Kuntz
Managing Director
Michael has 28 years of experience working with emerging companies, raising over $1.0 billion in equity capital for both public and private companies. In addition to investment banking Michael held positions as CFO/COO for three early...
Michael Huttner
Managing Director
Michael Huttner is a corporate and political strategist, attorney and entrepreneur. Prior to heading Powerplant Strategies, he served as CEO of Fenton, the largest social change agency in the U.S.. He previously served as President of...
Omar Brown
Managing Director
Omar has 25+ years of experience in the capital markets advising institutional investors in both the public and the private market. He has been an active advisor and investor (endowment and hedge fund) in the alternative investment...
Peter Formanek, CPA
Founder & Managing Partner
Peter has 30+ years experience advising fund managers, family offices and companies. He has been involved in over 300 transactions over the course of his career and is also involved in the private equity field providing deal...
Raju Panjwani
Managing Director, Investment Banking
Raju has 30+ years’ varied experience in financial services and technology. He has been involved in risk management, operations / technology, business strategy, advising large and mid-sized clients at C-levels, and executing M&A...
Raquel Formanek, CFA
Raquel specializes in quantitative investment analysis. Most recently, she was a quantitative analyst at Voya Investment Management when she helped enhance and grow several domestic and international mutual funds. Previously, she...
Sasson Posner
Managing Director
Sasson has originated, structured and distributed structured credit and structured insurance/reinsurance products throughout his career at Centre Re, Lehman Brothers, Willis Re, and Deutsche Bank, where he was most recently for the...
Scott Baldwin
Vice President
Scott has been associated with the securities and futures industry since 1981. He has been instrumental in the creation, formation and coordination of proprietary and client driven commodity investment solutions, as well as the...
Shajan Ninan
Managing Director - Equity Research, Research Principal
Shajan has 18+ years of progressively diverse experience in investment banking, equity research, M&A, and financial advisory businesses on Wall Street. Besides his Wall Street interests, Mr. Ninan teaches finance courses to...
Stanley Tobin
Senior Director, Consumer & Latin America
Stan has 30+ years experience in fundraising and business development, at Golub Capital, Institutional Credit Partners, Guggenheim Partners & DB/Alex Brown. Stan received a BS in Marketing from Lehigh University, and is proficient in...
Stefanos Michalis
Senior Advisor – Europe & MENA
Stefanos has 20 years of experience in shipping and shipping finance. He has successfully structured numerous shipping deals across the globe, executed rounds of financing, in debt and equity and established JVs. He served as Vice...
Tad Bull
Managing Director, Compliance and Administration
Tad has 30+ years of experience in broker-dealer compliance, financial operations, and senior management. He is the compliance and Fin-Op advisor/professional for several broker-dealers in the US. Prior experience includes equity and...
Terry Ganser
Managing Director
Terry is a seasoned investment banker with 35+ years of experience. He has spent the last 12 years financing and advising emerging growth companies. His portfolio of industry coverage includes Consumer Products, Technology,...
Thomas Kane
Senior Managing Director
Tom has 35+ years’ experience in investment banking, debt and equity capital raising, leasing and complex restructuring assignments. Sectors include Aerospace, Maritime, Technology, Telecommunications and Life Sciences. He has...
Tim Busler
Managing Director
Tim has 25+ years of investment banking experience as an attorney, M&A advisor and leveraged lender covering private equity and financial sponsors across multiple sectors, as well as, fund formation and placement experience with...
Todd Slater
Managing Director, Head of Consumer Group
Todd has 23 years experience in Consumer Investment Banking and Sell-Side Capital Markets having served in senior roles at Threadstone Advisors, Lazard Capital Markets, and UBS Securities. Todd was also a senior executive and women's...
Tom Bronner
Vice President, Real Estate, Financial Services, Energy, Healthcare/Life Sciences
Tom has 25+ years experience in financial services including senior roles at Lloyds Bank, National Bank of Canada, Federal Reserve Bank of NY and TD Bank. Tom received his BA in Economics from Columbia University. FINRA Licenses 63 and 82.
Traci E. Rhone
Vice President of Business Development
Traci E. Rhone is the Vice President of Business Development at Young America Capital. She has more than 20 years of experience in Psychology and Media. Currently licensed by the Department of Health in Florida. Ms. Rhone holds a...