Private Capital

Investing in private credit, special situations and private equity funds with the goal of capturing the illiquidity premium from a wide range of strategies

About

We leverage SMC’s deep network and experience across multiple investment verticals to construct balanced portfolios of private credit, special situations and private equity investments.

PRIVATE CREDIT

Private credit investments, typically in a fund structure, geared toward providing investors with high current yields through direct lending to, and/or mezzanine investments in, growth-oriented small and mid-sized companies.

PRIVATE EQUITY

Pooled investment vehicles in the buyout, growth equity and venture capital sectors that generate a diversified portfolio of direct investments in private companies. SMC favors smaller managers with expertise in niche areas and prioritizes the high-growth technology and healthcare sectors.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS

Uniquely attractive direct and/or fund investments in opportunities that are often overlooked by other investors because of their complexity, illiquidity and/or limited capacity. May include structured equity investments, direct and co-investments, mezzanine loans and other subordinated debt.

Team

John L. (Launny)

Steffens

Founder and Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Private Capital

John L. (Launny)

Founder and Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Private Capital

Mr. John L. Steffens is the Founder and Senior Managing Director of SMC, co-head of SMC’s Private Capital Funds Group and is a member of each SMC Fund’s Investment Committee. Prior to founding SMC in 2001, Mr. Steffens spent 38 years at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., where he held numerous senior management positions, including President of Merrill Lynch Consumer Markets, Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Chairman of its U.S. Private Client Group. Under his leadership, the Private Client Group experienced tremendous growth, increasing assets under management from $200 billion to $1.6 trillion. Mr. Steffens also served on the board of directors of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. from April 1986 until July 2001.

Mr. Steffens currently serves on the board of directors of AtlasXomics Inc., and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMS Alternatives Inc. He also serves on the advisory board of StarVest Partners. In addition, he is currently National Chairman Emeritus of the Alliance for Aging Research. Previously, Mr. Steffens served as Chairman of the Securities Industry Association (now the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA), as a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, and as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. In 2010, Mr. Steffens was the recipient of the Billie Jean King Contribution Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Mr. Steffens received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College and also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Petra

Hansen

Co-Head of SMC Private Capital

Petra

Co-Head of SMC Private Capital

Ms. Petra Hansen co-heads the Private Capital Funds Group, heads product development for Private Capital and is a member of its Investment Committees. She is responsible for managing the Private Capital portfolios, sourcing investments, due diligence and fundraising.

Petra joined SMC in 2015 from HealthpointCapital, LLC, a New York-based private equity firm focused on the Musculoskeletal Healthcare sector. Prior to Healthpoint, Petra was an analyst at White Mountains Reinsurance Group, where she helped execute M&A transactions.

Currently, Ms. Hansen is a director of SMC Digital Inc. and serves on the board of Rinvest Digital AG, a European private investment firm. She is an advisor to Armstrong Robotics, a Silicon Valley-based robotics start-up. Previously, she was an advisor to Newsle, Inc., a social media company, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014 and is now part of Microsoft, Inc.

Ms. Hansen began her career at the Dartmouth College Endowment office where she was an Assistant Investment Officer responsible for the management of the College’s private equity portfolio. Ms. Hansen received an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth and a B.A. in Economics from UCLA.

Jason L.

Orchard, CFA

Managing Director, Head of Total Return

Jason L.

Managing Director, Head of Total Return

Mr. Orchard is a Managing Director and heads the Total Return Group. Jason has been with SMC since 2004 and has served as a Managing Director since 2008.  During his time at SMC, he has served as Investment Analyst, Chief Financial Officer, and Portfolio Manager.  In 2007, he led the firm’s initial efforts into special situation and thematic investments that have become the foundation of the SMC Total Return Fund.  Today, he manages the investment efforts of the SMC Total Return Fund and serves on the Investment Committees for the SMC Total Return Fund, SMC Private Capital Fund, and West Harlem Innovation Fund.  Prior to joining SMC in 2004, he was a Senior Analyst for Rutherford Asset Management LLC, which actively managed an $800 million hedge fund- of- funds portfolio for a private family office. Jason has also been associated with Stern Stewart & Company as a Senior Analyst in the Financial Institutions Group and Arthur Andersen, L.L.P. as a Senior Consultant in the Strategy, Finance, and Economics Group. Jason graduated with honors from Villanova University with a B.S. in Finance and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst^® designation.

Currently serving on the Board of Directors of the following companies:

ProSomnus, Inc (OSA)
Micropore Incorporated

Gregory P.

President and Head of Social Impact Group

Gregory P.

President and Head of Social Impact Group

Mr. Gregory P. Ho is the President of SMC and one of its founding partners, as well as the head of the Social Impact Group. Prior to joining SMC in 2001, Greg was a Principal and Chief Financial Officer of McKinsey. During his 16 years with McKinsey, he led the financial and tax planning for the firm and led McKinsey’s expansion into over 30 new countries. Greg also was a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and a Trustee of McKinsey’s Profit-Sharing Retirement Plan (PSRP). In these capacities, he oversaw the identification, evaluation, and selection of traditional and alternative asset managers and investments for over $1 billion of partner and employee assets and, with several other McKinsey partners, co-founded the McKinsey Investment Office. After leaving McKinsey in 1998 and prior to joining SMC, Greg was a private investor and consultant to several prominent NYC financial services companies and technology start-ups. Prior to joining McKinsey, he was associated with the law firm of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine.

Greg is currently a member of the Advisory Board of Venture for America and the Advisory Council for Columbia Law School’s Center for Public Research and Leadership. He is a former Trustee of the Museum of Chinese in America and a former Regent of Boston College. Greg received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.S., with honors, in Administrative Science from Yale College. He is a member of the New York Bar and the California Bar.

Current Portfolio Company Board Seats:

Allyx Therapeutics
Athari Recruiting
AtlasXomics
Episteme Prognostics
ReNetX Bio
WHIN NHRE