B Riley Financial, a provider of business advisory and financial services, has appointed Martin Bernstein as Head of Private Investments.
In this newly created role, Bernstein is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and managing investments with private companies in addition to leading distribution to the firm’s syndication partners.
“We are pleased to welcome Marty to B Riley,” says Dan Shribman, Chief Investment Officer of B Riley Financial. “As a firm, B Riley employs an active investment strategy of providing debt and equity financing to client-partners. Our investment portfolio has primarily focused on public companies over the last several years and expanding our mandate to private companies is an exciting opportunity to enhance value for our partners and shareholders.”
As Head of Private Investments, Bernstein will work alongside Shribman as part of the B Riley Principal Investments team which leverages the firm’s capital base to create proprietary opportunities that benefit its partners and shareholders. Current investments span public and private debt and equities with a focus on traditional merchant banking and active sponsorship of public companies. The firm has since expanded its exposure to private company investments through its venture capital business which was formed in late 2020. B Riley Financial’s cash and investments totalled approximately USD1.3 billion at 31 December, 2020.
Bernstein joins B Riley from Anchorage Capital Group and brings deep experience in originating, underwriting, and investing in public and private equities, performing credit, bank debt, distressed debt, and restructuring situations across transportation, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, power, infrastructure, and other sectors. Bernstein has worked in close collaboration with management teams and corporate boards to maximise shareholder value through capital allocation strategies, governance, financing, and operational turnarounds. He previously worked as an analyst at San Francisco-based investment firm, Bocage Capital, and was on the investment team for the endowment at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received an AB in History from Dartmouth College. Bernstein is based in Greenwich, CT.
“I am excited to join this growing platform and believe B Riley’s unique combination of capital markets and operational expertise makes the firm a compelling partner for investors and companies alike. We believe we are well-positioned to capitalise on the proprietary opportunities that B Riley’s diverse platform generates, and I look forward to working closely with Dan and the entire B Riley team in contributing to the firm’s well-established track record of delivering value for partners and shareholders,” says Bernstein.
Since its founding in 1997, B Riley has built upon its heritage in small caps through continued growth and an expanding breadth of end-to-end services provided by its network of affiliated companies. Its largest affiliate, B Riley Securities, is a leading investment bank that specialises in providing tailored capital market solutions that leverage its broad syndication of retail and family office relationships, as well as a network of over 1,000 small- and mid-cap focused institutional investors.
