Stephen Paras
Stephen Paras is Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer of Star Mountain Capital, a specialized asset manager focused exclusively on the lower middle market in the United States. He is also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Stephen is a senior leveraged finance and investment banking professional with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He structured, underwrote, and distributed over $50 billion in event-driven financings across multiple cycles and a variety of industries. Prior to joining Star Mountain, Stephen was Managing Director and Head of U.S. Leveraged Loan Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch in New York and Managing Director and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa Leveraged Loan Capital Markets at BAML in London. He was a Senior Member of Merrill’s and BAML Leveraged Finance Commitment Committees responsible for leveraged loan underwriting and principal commitments of leveraged finance capital.
Stephen Paras Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Managing Director, Chief Credit Officer
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Managing Director, Head of EMEA Leveraged Loan Capital Markets
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Managing Director, Head of U.S. Leveraged Loan Capital Markets
Academic History
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Bachelor of Arts, Economics
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Master of Business Administration, Finance
Stephen was a member of Merrill Lynch's Mezzanine Investment Committee responsible for reviewing investment decisions.
He was a member of Merrill Lynch’s Managing Director Nomination Committee and Merrill Lynch’s Leveraged Finance Operating Committee.
Prior to Merrill Lynch, he was a Vice President and core member at Chemical Securities' leveraged buyout and syndicated finance groups.
Stephen began his financial services and banking careers at Chase Manhattan bank and Citibank.
He holds an MBA in Finance from University of Rochester, a BA in Economics from Hobart College, and is a CFA Charterholder.