Mr. Smart is a founding member and Managing Partner at CSW Private Equity, a New York based private equity firm.
With more than 25 years of experience in private equity and investment banking, Mr. Smart was previously a Principal at First Atlantic Capital, a middle-market private equity firm focused on buyouts and recapitalizations in the consumer and general industrial sectors of the economy. Prior to joining First Atlantic Capital, Mr. Smart was a Managing Director in investment banking at Merrill Lynch & Co. working with private equity firms in the United States and Europe, and a Vice President in the High Yield and Corporate Finance Group.
Mr. Smart is on the Board of Directors of the Advent Guggenheim family of Preferred Stock and High Yield Funds (NYSE: “AVK”, “LCM” and “ACG”), and Sprint Industrial Holdings. He is Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Blanket Holdings, President and Chairman of Sqwincher Holdings and the former Co-Chairman of H2O Plus Holdings. He is also Vice Chairman of the NAIC.
Mr. Smart holds a B.B.A. from Howard University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was a former member of the Wharton Alumni Board of Directors.