Profile

Lee Equity Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm that partners with entrepreneurs, founders and management teams primarily in the financial and healthcare services sectors. Over nearly two decades the firm has utilized its thematic based investment strategy and deep sector expertise to identify and partner with talented management teams to accelerate growth and build market leading businesses. 

The team’s combination of investing and strategic advisory expertise offers a differentiated approach to control investing in North American lower middle-market private equity: (i) growth investing heritage gained through decades of growth investing experience, (ii) deep sector expertise and operating experience and (iii) strategy consulting capability to support significant in-house strategic due diligence and post-closing value creation.

www.leeequity.com

Awards

2024 Top Private Equity Firms

Key People

The team has extensive experience in the Core Sectors over several economic cycles, growth stages, and investment types. The investment team is comprised of 28 investment professionals led by Mark Gormley, Benjamin Hochberg, Yoo Jin Kim, Mark Mauceri, Daniel Rodriguez, Collins Ward, Christian Chauvet, and Joseph Rotberg (together, the “Partners”). The Partners are supported by 20 experienced investment professionals and finance, compliance, and investor relations professionals. Lee Equity also has relationships with certain senior professionals who provide certain key value-added services in respect of portfolio investments.

Mark Gormley, Partner

Mark Gormley joined Lee Equity in 2006 and is a Partner of the Firm. 

Mr. Gormley serves or has served as a director of numerous public and private companies, including Affiliated Wealth Partners, Atria Wealth Solutions, Axis Insurance, Bradford Health, Captive Resources, Cardiovascular Logistics, Carisk Partners, Independent Bank Group, K2 Insurance Services, McLarens Global Limited, MidCap Financial, PDR Network, PCS Retirement, 

Pure Financial Advisors, Reprise Financial, Sapient Capital, LLC, Simplicity Group Holdings, Solaris Health, Summit Behavioral Health, The Edelman Financial Group, Therapy Partners Solutions and Universal American Corp. Mr. Gormley received a B.S.B.A. cum laude in Finance and Economics from the University of Denver and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Mr. Gormley serves or has served on several non-profit organizations, including the Board of Trustees of St David’s School, the Latin American Advisory Board of Conservation International, together with several other nonprofit organizations. 

Benjamin Hochberg, Partner

Benjamin Hochberg joined Lee Equity in 2006 and is a Partner of the firm. 

Mr. Hochberg serves or has served on the boards of directors of Aimbridge Hospitality, A.L.C, Ltd., APP Group, Cosmetic Solutions, Deb Shops, InterLuxe Holdings, Jason Wu, K-MAC Enterprises, The Living Company, Papa Murphy’s, Paragon Industries, PDR Network, Reprise Financial, The Edelman Financial Group, Unlimited Technology, and Westfall Technik. Mr. Hochberg received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received an A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard College.

Mr. Hochberg is a 20-year rider in the Pan-Mass Challenge to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Center.

Yoo Jin Kim, Partner 

Yoo Jin Kim joined Lee Equity in 2006 and is a Partner of the firm. 

Mr. Kim serves or has served on the board of directors of Aimbridge Hospitality, Alliance Corporation, Cadent Network, Discovery Senior Living, Eating Recovery Center, Inception Fertility, InterLuxe, Papa Murphy’s, Paragon Industries, Summit Behavioral Health, The Living Company and Unlimited Technology. Mr. Kim received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received an A.B. in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College, with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. 

Mr. Kim serves or has served on several non-profit organizations including the Advisory Board to the Dartmouth College Fund Committee, Project Sunshine, and as a Board Trustee of Grace Church School.

Joseph Rotberg, Partner

Joe Rotberg joined Lee Equity in 2006 and is Partner, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of the firm. 

Mr. Rotberg previously served on the board of Captive Resources and Eating Recovery Center.  Mr. Rotberg  received a B.S. in Accounting from the School of Professional Accountancy at the C.W. Post Center of Long Island University, with cum laude honors and is a Certified Public Accountant (NY-Active) and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and NY State Society of CPAs.

Christian Chauvet, Partner

Christian Chauvet joined Lee Equity in 2014 and is a Partner of the firm.

Mr. Chauvet serves or has served on the board of directors of Bradford Health, Carisk Partners, Discovery Senior Living, K-MAC Enterprises, Solaris Health and Therapy Partner Solutions. Mr. Chauvet received a B.A. with magna cum laude honors from Harvard College, where he studied Government.

Mark Mauceri, Partner

Mark Mauceri joined Lee Equity in 2015 and is a Partner of the firm. 

Mr. Mauceri serves or has served on the board of directors of Axis Insurance, Captive Resources, McLarens Global Limited, Reprise Financial and Simplicity Group Holdings. Mr. Mauceri received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, where he studied Economics.

Daniel Rodriguez, Partner

Daniel Rodriguez joined Lee Equity in 2009 and is a Partner of the firm.

Mr. Rodriguez serves or has served on the boards of directors of Affiliated Wealth Partners, Atria Wealth Solutions, K2 Insurance Services, McLarens Global Limited, PCS Retirement, Pure Financial Advisors, Reprise Financial, Sapient Capital, Simplicity Group Holdings and The Edelman Financial Group. He earned a B.A. with summa cum laude honors from Vanderbilt University, where he studied  Economics, Spanish and minored in Managerial Studies.

Collins Ward, Partner 

Collins Ward joined Lee Equity in 2006 and is a Partner of the firm.

Mr. Ward serves or has served on the board of directors of Aimbridge Hospitality, A.L.C., APP Group, Bradford Health, Cardiovascular Logistics, Cosmetic Solutions, Inception Fertility, InterLuxe Holdings, Paragon Industries, Solaris Health, Therapy Partner Solutions, and Westfall Technik. Mr. Ward received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and upon graduating participated in the U.S. Fulbright program as a German Scholar in Engineering. Mr. Ward graduated with high distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Funds Raised

Lee Equity’s latest fundraise for Fund IV was oversubscribed and including the General Partner commitment achieved its hard cap with total capital commitments of approximately $1.3 billion, exceeding the $1.0 billion target. Fund IV added a diverse group of global investors including family offices, private and public pensions, fund of funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies. Fund IV continues the firm’s nearly two-decade history of investing in and partnering with middle market, growth-oriented companies. Fund IV will continue Lee Equity’s strategy of partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams to build market leading companies in the financial and healthcare services sectors.

As of March 31, 2024 Lee Equity Partners, LLC had $4.9 billion in Assets Under Management.

Key Investments

Notable investments include most recent investments from the current fund – Fund IV, and recent exits in our current sectors of focus across the portfolio.

Axis Insurance: Invested June 2024
Sector: Financial Services

A high growth, specialty commercial P&C brokerage firm serving middle market businesses that operate in industries where specialized knowledge and experience provide a differentiated value proposition for customers.

PCS Retirement: Invested March 2024
Sector: Financial Services

An independent and conflict-free retirement services platform automating the sale, design, valuation and management of retirement plans.

Carisk Partners: Invested December 2024
Sector: Healthcare Services / Financial Services

A rapidly growing provider of claims management services to the workers’ compensation industry, serving carriers, third party administrators and employers.

Sapient Capital: Invested: February 2023
Sector: Financial Services

An independent registered investment advisor providing fee-only financial planning, investment advice and family office services to ultra-high net worth families.

K2 Insurance: Invested July 2019, Exited May 2023
Sector: Financial Services

A specialty insurance services platform providing underwriting and distribution to P&C carriers.

Captive Resources: Invested: October 2012, Exited: July 2022
Sector: Financial Services

The leading provider of independent consulting services to member-owned group captives.

Summit Behavioral Health: Invested October 2017, Exited November 2021
Sector: Healthcare Services

Provider of residential and outpatient substance use disorder treatment  services and acute psychiatric care.

Capital Responsibility

Lee Equity recognizes that our investors seek assurance that their capital will be invested responsibly with sensitivity to the environmental and social concerns of its communities. We also wish to invest in businesses that are operated with due attention to these concerns and are governed in a way that helps achieve this result. As such, we have a dedicated ESG policy stipulating our initiatives to promote the responsible allocation of capital and mitigate material ESG risks across the investment portfolio. Such initiatives include incorporating material ESG issues into decision-making processes for all portfolio companies, integrating ESG considerations into ownership practices, and fostering transparency with regards to our ESG management approach. The impetus behind our ESG integration efforts is our strong belief that ESG engagement reflects the core Lee Equity principles, enables us to better serve our stakeholders, and creates value for investors and the entities in which we invest. 

The majority of Lee Equity’s investment team is made up of former strategy consultants, who are positioned to drive value through a combination of operating experience and financial analysis. As part of managing risk and meeting investor expectations, the Firm is committed to managing ESG factors throughout the investment lifecycle. Lee Equity believes that ESG is not just a compliance exercise, but rather is also an effective way to manage risk and create opportunities through ownership. As part of its commitment to responsible ownership, LEP seeks to encourage its investments to continuously improve their ESG management and performance.

CEO Reviews

Doug Ketterer, CEO, Atria Wealth Solutions

“We truly view the Lee Equity team as our partners in every sense of the word. They believed in our initial vision, dedicated the resources to found our company and have helped guide us ever since. They continually provide us with a tremendous level of support, insight, and expertise that we view is unparalleled in the private equity industry and has been paramount to our success.”

George Rusu, CEO, Captive Resources

“Lee Equity has helped Captive Resources achieve strong performance and double-digit growth year after year. They have assisted with the modernization of processes, tools, and systems to enhance management planning and reporting to allow our team to focus on sales and marketing. The relationship is truly collaborative, and their unique operational knowledge has helped to support strategic growth at the company.”

TJ Farnsworth, CEO, Inception Fertility

“Our partnership with Lee Equity has exceeded expectations. Their team has been a tremendous resource to our management team, particularly in areas such as growth strategy, M&A;, and financial analysis. Lee Equity has been willing to trust management, and work with us in a supportive and collaborative manner that is unique among their peers in private equity.”