Co-Founder Guides Miami-Based Investment Firm Through Decades of Market Cycles

A private equity executive who began his career in New York banking three decades ago now leads one of the industry’s largest middle-market investment firms from an unlikely location: Miami, Florida.

Sami Mnaymneh serves as founder, executive chairman and CEO of HIG Capital, which manages $70 billion across private equity, debt, real estate and infrastructure strategies. The firm operates 19 offices spanning five continents and has invested in more than 400 companies since 1993.

Early Career and Education

Mnaymneh’s finance career started at Morgan Stanley’s New York offices before he moved to The Blackstone Group, where he worked as a managing director. His educational background includes graduating first in his class at Columbia University with a B.A. summa cum laude, followed by simultaneous graduate degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, both earned with honors.

This combination of legal and business training proved foundational. Private equity transactions require navigating complex corporate law, securities regulations and tax structures across multiple jurisdictions. The dual degree gave Mnaymneh tools for structuring deals that many pure business school graduates lacked.

In 1993, Mnaymneh partnered with Tony Tamer to establish HIG Capital. Both brought experience from major financial institutions, but they identified a market gap in the middle-market segment. Companies with enterprise values between $50 million and $500 million often struggled to find appropriate capital partners.

Building a Multi-Strategy Platform

HIG Capital began as a traditional leveraged buyout fund targeting manufacturing and service businesses. Over three decades, Mnaymneh expanded the platform to include seven distinct investment strategies, each addressing different opportunities in the middle market.

The firm’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs. These transactions typically involve taking control positions in established businesses, then working with management teams to improve operations and drive growth.

HIG Capital’s debt funds provide senior, unitranche and junior financing to companies across the size spectrum. The firm originates loans directly and also participates in secondary markets. This dual approach to debt investing has grown particularly active in recent years.

WhiteHorse, the firm’s direct lending arm, closed its fourth middle-market lending fund at $5.9 billion in August 2025. Fund IV continues the platform’s focus on senior secured floating rate loans, often with bespoke terms and conservative loan-to-value ratios. The WhiteHorse team has now invested in over 285 middle-market companies.

Real estate investments focus on value-added properties that can benefit from improved asset management practices. Infrastructure investments target value-add and core-plus opportunities in the infrastructure sector. The firm also operates special situations debt and growth-stage healthcare strategies.

Management Approach and Decision-Making

Mnaymneh personally approves all capital commitments made by HIG Capital, regardless of which strategy is making the investment. This centralized decision-making creates consistency across the platform while allowing Mnaymneh to maintain oversight of risk management and portfolio construction.

The firm employs over 500 investment professionals with diverse backgrounds. Many team members come from operating roles rather than pure finance backgrounds, reflecting HIG Capital’s emphasis on value creation through operational improvements.

This operational focus distinguishes HIG Capital from purely financial buyers. The firm works directly with portfolio companies on initiatives including sales force expansion, supply chain optimization, add-on acquisitions and management team strengthening.

Portfolio companies often have annual revenues between $50 million and $500 million, placing them squarely in the middle market. These businesses typically lack the internal resources larger corporations possess, making HIG Capital’s operational support particularly valuable.

Academic and Civic Involvement

Beyond managing HIG Capital, Mnaymneh has maintained connections to academic institutions. He has served on the Board of Columbia College, his undergraduate alma mater, and on the Dean’s Council of Harvard Law School.

These advisory roles involve meeting with university leadership, providing input on curriculum development and helping institutions adapt to changing business environments. Board members often contribute financial support alongside their time and expertise.

Mnaymneh’s involvement with educational institutions reflects a pattern common among private equity leaders. Many maintain formal relationships with universities where they studied, viewing these connections as both philanthropic obligations and recruitment opportunities.

Recent Strategic Initiatives

HIG Capital has pursued several growth initiatives under Mnaymneh’s leadership in recent months. The firm announced plans to raise $1.5 billion for a new vehicle focusing on GP-led secondaries transactions, according to Bloomberg reporting from November 2025.

This secondaries strategy represents a new capability for HIG Capital. The firm will invest in continuation vehicles created by other private equity managers, providing liquidity to limited partners while allowing managers to retain ownership of high-performing assets.

To build this business, HIG Capital recruited a team from Morgan Stanley’s private equity secondaries unit. Managing Director Dan Wieder leads the group, joined by Managing Director Yash Gupta and Principals Austin Gerber and Joe Holleran. The team brings decades of combined experience to the new platform.

Continuation funds have grown in popularity as traditional exit markets have slowed. Elevated interest rates have curtailed both IPO activity and strategic acquisitions, leading private equity firms to explore alternative liquidity mechanisms. According to data from Jefferies, continuation funds accounted for 19% of private equity exits in the first half of 2025.

HIG Capital plans to invest at least $50 million in approximately 20 single-asset continuation vehicles. The firm will focus on middle-market companies across sectors including business services, industrials, healthcare and consumer businesses.

Personal Wealth and Influence

Mnaymneh’s personal financial standing reflects HIG Capital’s growth over three decades. Various reports place him among Florida’s wealthiest residents, though specific net worth figures remain private given the firm’s ownership structure.

Private equity executives typically earn income through management fees, transaction fees and carried interest. Carried interest represents a share of investment profits, usually 20%, that general partners receive after returning capital and preferred returns to limited partners.

For a firm managing $70 billion, even a modest management fee of 1.5% generates over $1 billion annually. While this revenue funds operations and salaries for over 1,000 employees, the founders retain significant economics from both management fees and carried interest on successful investments.

Geographic Footprint

HIG Capital maintains headquarters in Miami, an unusual choice for a major private equity firm. Most large alternative investment managers base themselves in New York, San Francisco, Boston or London. The Miami location reflects Mnaymneh’s personal preference and offers certain tax advantages.

The firm operates seven U.S. offices beyond Miami, including locations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Stamford. International affiliate offices span Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan and Paris in Europe, with additional offices in Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Dubai and Hong Kong.

This global network allows HIG Capital to source investments across multiple geographies. European offices have proven particularly active, completing transactions in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Norway and Finland in recent quarters.

The international expansion has occurred gradually as HIG Capital built local teams with regional expertise. European private equity markets differ from U.S. markets in regulatory frameworks, financing structures and exit options, requiring dedicated teams rather than remote oversight.

Industry Position and Competition

HIG Capital operates in an increasingly crowded market. The number of U.S. private equity firms has grown substantially since 1993, with many targeting the same middle-market companies HIG Capital pursues.

Competition for deals has intensified, pushing up purchase price multiples and making it more challenging to generate attractive returns. Firms differentiate themselves through sector expertise, operational resources, speed of execution or willingness to tackle complex situations.

HIG Capital’s scale provides certain advantages. The firm can deploy larger equity checks than smaller competitors, making it a credible buyer for businesses at the upper end of the middle market. The multi-strategy platform offers flexibility in capital structures, allowing HIG Capital to provide both debt and equity when situations require it.

However, scale also creates challenges. Deploying $70 billion requires a constant flow of investment opportunities. As funds grow larger, managers must either move up-market to larger deals or complete more transactions of similar size. Both approaches carry risks.

Current Portfolio Activity

HIG Capital’s current portfolio exceeds 100 companies with combined sales surpassing $53 billion. Recent transactions demonstrate the breadth of sectors and deal types the firm pursues.

Investments in 2025 have spanned destination management companies, Microsoft cloud solutions providers, revenue cycle management services for healthcare, home warranty providers, shore excursions for cruise passengers and numerous other businesses.

The firm has also completed several exits, including the sale of Soleo Health to Court Square Capital and WindRose Health Investors, and the sale of SoldierPoint Digital Health to GovCIO. These exits return capital to limited partners and generate carried interest for HIG Capital’s partners.

Portfolio company performance ultimately determines returns. Middle-market companies face challenges including labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, regulatory changes and technological disruption. HIG Capital’s operational resources aim to help portfolio companies navigate these issues.

Leadership Structure

Mnaymneh shares leadership with co-founder Tony Tamer, who serves as executive chairman. Both founders remain actively involved more than 30 years after establishing the firm.

This longevity is somewhat unusual in private equity. Many founding partners step back from day-to-day management within 15-20 years, transitioning to advisory roles or pursuing other interests. Mnaymneh and Tamer have maintained their operational involvement.

The firm has developed senior leadership across regional offices and strategy-specific funds. Managing directors run individual funds and regional offices with substantial autonomy, though Mnaymneh retains approval authority over capital commitments.

Questions about succession planning naturally arise given the founders’ tenure. HIG Capital has not publicly addressed leadership transition plans, though the development of a deep management bench suggests preparation for eventual change.

Market Environment and Outlook

The private equity industry faces a challenging environment entering 2026. Interest rates remain elevated compared to the 2010s, increasing borrowing costs and reducing leverage multiples. Exit markets have slowed considerably, with both strategic buyers and public markets showing restraint.

These conditions have extended holding periods for private equity investments. Funds that historically exited portfolio companies within five years now hold assets for seven years or longer in many cases. Extended holding periods tie up capital and delay distributions to limited partners.

However, the middle market where HIG Capital operates may prove more resilient than larger deal segments. Middle-market companies have limited access to public capital markets, creating consistent demand for private equity capital regardless of broader market conditions.

Mnaymneh and his team have managed HIG Capital through multiple economic cycles, including the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent inflation spike. This experience navigating volatility may prove valuable as markets adjust to sustained higher interest rates.

The firm continues raising capital and deploying funds across its strategies, suggesting limited partner confidence in HIG Capital’s ability to generate returns in the current environment. The ability to attract nearly $6 billion for a single lending fund indicates strong demand for the firm’s investment approach.

For Mnaymneh, now in his fourth decade managing alternative investments, the current market presents both challenges and opportunities. The tools and experience accumulated since 1993 will determine whether HIG Capital maintains its position among the industry’s leading middle-market firms.