Mercury Capital Advisors announced today that it has added James Howe and Michael Dunham as Partners to further enhance its origination and distribution capabilities. Howe and Dunham are based out of Mercury’s New York office. Mr. Howe will be leading Mercury’s US Origination efforts, while Mr. Dunham joins as a Partner on the US Distribution Team.
“We are thrilled to welcome James and Michael to the Firm. We continue to see a strong momentum of deal flow in 2022 across all our verticals: fund placements, directs, and secondary advisory transactions. With decades of experience in private markets, we are confident that James and Michael will contribute significantly to the next phase of our growth,” said John Franklin and Enrique Cuan, Managing Partners at Mercury.
Mr. Howe joins Mercury from Stanwich Advisors where he managed Origination, Distribution and Project Management functions. He started his financial industry career at UBS, where he was one of the founding members of the UBS Private Equity Funds group and managed placement teams. After a 14-year tenure at UBS, he joined Strategic Value Partners in a fundraising capacity for its private equity structured vehicles and hedge fund products. Mr. Howe then spent 9 years at NovaFund Advisors, a private equity fund advisory and placement firm that he established and built.
Mr. Dunham also brings a tenured placement expertise to the Firm after spending 16 years as a Partner at Pinnacle Trust Partners, an independent placement and advisory firm for alternative investments. Prior to joining Pinnacle, Mr. Dunham was a Senior Vice President at Trust Company of the West (TCW), a $265 billion asset management firm based in Los Angeles, CA, where he was responsible for marketing all investment products to insurance companies and other financial institutions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Dunham worked in Institutional Sales at JP Morgan Securities and UBS Securities in New York.
These appointments come on the back of a very strong year for Mercury in 2021, having advised on several fund closings including those of American Landmark, Ocean Link, MML, Valor Equity Partners, Gaw Capital Partners, Blue Torch Capital and Investcorp. Mercury continues to expand its global placement capabilities; it has currently local distribution presence in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo and Los Angeles covering institutions and family offices in North America, Europe, Asia and the Gulf.
About Mercury Capital Advisors
Mercury Capital Advisors is a leading global private fund and investment advisory firm. Founded in 2009 as a spinoff from the Merrill Lynch Private Funds Group, the firm assists general partners and limited partners in fundraising and secondary advisory, co-investment and direct deal placement. The firm specializes in alternative assets including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit, venture capital, secondaries and special situations investments. Mercury has advised on over 100 fundraisings and closed over $100 billion in fund commitments since its inception in 2009.
With offices in New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo and New Delhi, the firm maintains strong relationships with a broad range of the world’s pre-eminent institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, family offices, foundations, secondary funds, funds of funds and consultants.
Mercury Capital Advisors is a 100% owned subsidiary of Investcorp, a global investment manager specializing in alternative investments across private equity, real estate, credit, absolute return strategies, GP stakes and infrastructure. As of June 30, 2021, Investcorp Group had US $37.6 billion in total AUM, including assets managed by third-party managers, and employed over 430 people from 45 nationalities globally across its offices in 12 countries spanning the US, Europe, GCC and Asia.