Mercury Capital Advisors hired James Howe and Michael Dunham as partners to further boost the New York firm’s origination and distribution capabilities.
Howe will be leading Mercury’s U.S. Origination efforts and joins from Stanwich Advisors, where he managed origination, distribution and project management functions. He started his 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 funds.
Dunham joins as a partner on the U.S. Distribution Team. Previously, Dunham spent 16 years as a partner at Pinnacle Trust Partners, an independent placement and advisory firm for alternative investments. Prior to Pinnacle, he was a senior vice president at Trust Company of the West.
“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,” said John Franklin and Enrique Cuan, managing partners at Mercury. “With decades of experience in private markets, we are confident that James and Michael will contribute significantly to the next phase of our growth.”
Mercury’s main business remains fundraising, as managers anchored by the firm have grown to nearly $2 billion in capital commitments.
The new hires come after Mercury advised on several fund closings including American Landmark, Ocean Link, MML, Valor Equity Partners, Gaw Capital Partners, Blue Torch Capital and Investcorp. The firm has 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.
Since 2009, the firm has advised on over 100 fundraisings and closed over $100 billion in fund commitments since its inception in 2009.
Mercury, a subsidiary of Investcorp, has advised on over 100 fundraisings and closed over $100 billion in fund commitments since its inception in 2009.
