How an Unconventional Location Choice Shaped a Private Equity Powerhouse

Most private equity titans operate from Manhattan penthouses or Boston brownstones. Sami Mnaymneh runs a $70 billion firm from Miami. The geographic choice in 1993 reflected more than climate preference. It represented a broader philosophy about building organizations differently than competitors.

Mnaymneh serves as founder, executive chairman and CEO of HIG Capital, which he launched with Tony Tamer 32 years ago. The firm now operates 19 offices worldwide, employs over 1,000 people and has invested in more than 400 companies. Despite this growth, Mnaymneh maintains hands-on involvement unusual for organizations of this scale.

The journey from startup to industry heavyweight involved identifying underserved markets, building operational capabilities and expanding into multiple strategies while maintaining focus on middle-market opportunities.

Building a Foundation

Mnaymneh’s path to private equity began with academic excellence. He graduated first in his class at Columbia University, earning a B.A. summa cum laude. He then completed simultaneous graduate programs at Harvard University, receiving both a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with honors.

This dual credential proved particularly valuable in private equity. Transactions require navigating corporate law, securities regulations and tax structures alongside financial analysis. The legal training complemented business school’s focus on finance and operations, creating expertise suited for structuring sophisticated deals.

Following graduate school, Mnaymneh joined Morgan Stanley in New York, working in the investment bank’s growing private equity activities. He subsequently moved to The Blackstone Group as a managing director, gaining experience at one of the industry’s pioneering firms during its formative years.

The Blackstone experience proved educational but also revealing. The firm focused primarily on large transactions with enterprise values exceeding $500 million. Middle-market companies with values between $50 million and $500 million received limited attention despite representing thousands of businesses needing capital solutions.

Identifying the Opportunity

Working at major financial institutions gave Mnaymneh insight into market gaps. Large private equity firms in the early 1990s chased the same mega-deals, driving up valuations and compressing returns. Middle-market companies faced limited financing options despite representing a vast market.

This segment appeared underserved for good reason. Middle-market deals required similar effort to large transactions but deployed less capital. Smaller companies often had weak management teams, limited financial systems and operational challenges. Many investors viewed these characteristics as obstacles rather than opportunities.

Mnaymneh saw different potential. Less competition for middle-market deals meant better entry valuations. Operational challenges represented value creation opportunities for investors with relevant expertise. The sheer number of middle-market companies provided abundant deal flow if properly sourced.

However, executing this strategy required capabilities beyond financial engineering. Creating value in middle-market companies meant working directly on business operations, management development and systematic improvement initiatives.

In 1993, Mnaymneh partnered with Tamer to launch HIG Capital, targeting this underserved segment. The firm would provide both equity and debt capital to middle-market companies, with investment professionals combining financial expertise and operating experience.

The Miami Advantage

The decision to headquarter in Miami rather than traditional financial centers like New York or Boston reflected several considerations. Lower operating costs allowed the firm to deploy more capital into investments rather than overhead. Florida’s tax structure provided advantages for both the firm and its executives.

Miami’s geographic position offered proximity to Latin America, which would later become important as HIG Capital expanded internationally. The city’s growing financial services sector provided access to talent while avoiding the intense competition for personnel in New York.

The location choice also signaled differentiation. HIG Capital wouldn’t compete directly with Blackstone, KKR or other mega-funds on their home turf. The firm would build a different kind of organization focused on middle-market opportunities they largely ignored.

Three decades later, Miami has evolved into a more prominent financial center. However, in 1993 the choice represented a contrarian bet that operational excellence and market selection mattered more than prestigious addresses.

Building Diverse Capabilities

HIG Capital began as a traditional leveraged buyout fund but expanded over time into seven distinct strategies. The platform now encompasses private equity, growth equity, direct lending, real estate, infrastructure, special situations debt and growth-stage healthcare.

Each strategy addresses different middle-market opportunities. Growth equity targets businesses not ready for buyouts but needing capital to scale. Direct lending provides flexible debt as banks reduced middle-market lending. Real estate focuses on properties requiring operational improvements. Infrastructure targets essential service providers with predictable cash flows.

The diversified approach creates multiple advantages. HIG Capital can provide various forms of capital to the same company at different stages. Portfolio companies might receive growth equity initially, later refinance with HIG Capital debt, then pursue buyouts backed by the private equity funds.

Multiple strategies also generate steadier cash flows to limited partners than relying solely on buyout exits. Debt funds produce regular income. Real estate and infrastructure generate periodic distributions. Buyout funds return capital through exits concentrated in later fund years. The combination smooths returns over time.

Lending Platform Success

WhiteHorse, HIG Capital’s direct lending arm, exemplifies successful strategy expansion. The platform launched to provide middle-market companies with flexible debt capital as banks retreated from lending following the 2008 financial crisis.

WhiteHorse has invested approximately $18 billion in 285 companies since inception. The platform closed its fourth fund at $5.9 billion in August 2025, demonstrating substantial institutional demand for the strategy.

Fund IV targets senior secured loans to both sponsor-backed and non-sponsor borrowers with EBITDA between $30 million and $100 million. The lending platform competes with banks, business development companies and other direct lenders, differentiating through flexible terms and execution speed.

Direct lending has grown attractive as interest rates have risen. Senior secured floating rate loans offer compelling returns while providing downside protection through senior positions in capital structures. The strategy appeals to institutional investors seeking current income with lower volatility than equity investments.

Hands-On Leadership Style

Mnaymneh maintains personal approval authority over all capital commitments HIG Capital makes. This centralized decision-making is unusual for a firm managing $70 billion. Most private equity platforms delegate investment authority to fund managers or investment committees at this scale.

The approval requirement means Mnaymneh reviews transactions across seven strategies, 19 offices and multiple continents. Each requires understanding industry dynamics, assessing management quality, evaluating competitive positioning and determining appropriate capital structures.

This approach reflects Mnaymneh’s management philosophy. Centralized decision-making ensures consistency in investment criteria and risk management across the platform. It prevents individual teams from pursuing transactions that don’t align with firm-wide standards. The process forces disciplined due diligence before committing capital.

The structure carries costs. Investment professionals must coordinate schedules to present opportunities. Time-sensitive deals may face delays. Competitors with distributed authority can sometimes move faster on transactions requiring rapid execution.

However, three decades of results suggest the benefits outweigh the constraints. The firm has grown substantially while maintaining this management structure, indicating centralized approval hasn’t prevented capital deployment or constrained returns.

Global Expansion

HIG Capital operates affiliate offices across five continents. European locations include Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan and Paris. Latin American offices span Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Additional offices in Dubai and Hong Kong provide presence in the Middle East and Asia.

This geographic diversification provides access to deal flow beyond increasingly competitive U.S. markets. Recent transactions demonstrate platform breadth. Investments in 2025 included companies in Finland, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and other European markets spanning sectors from waste management to occupational health services to aerospace logistics.

International expansion required substantial investment in local capabilities. European deals involve different legal systems, tax structures, labor regulations and banking relationships than U.S. transactions. HIG Capital built teams in each market rather than attempting remote oversight from Miami or other U.S. offices.

The Latin American offices reflected early insight into emerging market opportunities. Miami’s proximity to the region provided advantages in building relationships and understanding local business dynamics. While Latin American private equity proved challenging for many firms, HIG Capital’s early commitment and local presence provided competitive advantages.

Recent Strategic Initiatives

HIG Capital continues adding capabilities under Mnaymneh’s leadership. The firm recently announced plans to raise $1.5 billion for a vehicle focused on GP-led continuation funds, entering the growing secondaries market.

This strategy involves investing in continuation vehicles other private equity firms create to extend ownership of high-performing assets. As traditional exit markets have slowed, continuation funds have become popular liquidity mechanisms for both sponsors and limited partners.

To build this capability, HIG Capital recruited four executives from Morgan Stanley’s private equity secondaries team. Managing Director Dan Wieder leads the group, bringing decades of secondaries experience. The team will focus on middle-market continuation vehicles, investing at least $50 million in approximately 20 transactions.

The secondaries initiative represents opportunistic expansion into a growing market. However, it also reflects adaptation to market conditions. With traditional exits constrained by elevated interest rates and market volatility, providing liquidity to other managers creates deal flow independent of IPO or M&A activity.

Portfolio Company Activity

HIG Capital’s transaction activity demonstrates the range of opportunities the firm pursues across its strategies. Recent investments have included destination management companies, cloud technology providers, revenue cycle management services, home warranty businesses and cruise excursion operators.

The firm has also completed several portfolio company exits. Sales in 2025 included Soleo Health to Court Square Capital and WindRose Health Investors, SoldierPoint Digital Health to GovCIO and United Flow Technologies to Berkshire Partners.

Exit timing depends on portfolio company development and market conditions. Extended holding periods have become common as traditional exit markets have slowed. Many private equity funds now hold portfolio companies seven years or longer, compared to historical averages of four to six years.

This extended duration requires different approaches to value creation. Firms must continue driving operational improvements and growth initiatives beyond typical holding periods. Portfolio companies need capital for additional acquisitions or investments to sustain momentum.

Building Organizational Culture

Creating a durable organization required developing culture beyond just investment strategy. HIG Capital built a team emphasizing operational value creation alongside financial expertise. Many investment professionals came from consulting or operating backgrounds, not just banking.

This hiring approach reflected Mnaymneh’s belief that middle-market success required understanding business operations. Financial modeling skills remained essential, but so did the ability to diagnose operational issues, develop improvement plans and work with management teams on implementation.

The firm also emphasized long-term relationships. Many portfolio company CEOs remained connected to HIG Capital after exits, sometimes pursuing additional investments together or serving as advisors on new deals. These relationships provided both deal flow and operational expertise.

Geographic expansion required trusting local teams while maintaining firm-wide standards. Regional offices operated with substantial autonomy but within investment criteria and risk parameters Mnaymneh established. This balance between centralized oversight and local entrepreneurship proved challenging but essential.

Academic and Civic Engagement

Beyond managing HIG Capital, Mnaymneh has maintained involvement with educational institutions throughout his career. He has served on the Board of Columbia College and 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 typically contribute financial support alongside their time and expertise.

Academic involvement serves multiple purposes. It maintains connections to alma maters, supports educational missions and provides recruitment opportunities. Many private equity firms draw talent from universities where partners maintain relationships.

The pattern reflects both philanthropic motivations and practical considerations. Supporting institutions that provided foundational education represents an obligation many successful executives feel. Simultaneously, university connections facilitate talent identification and recruitment for growing organizations.

Leadership Questions

Mnaymneh and Tamer remain actively involved more than 30 years after founding HIG Capital. This longevity raises natural questions about succession planning and leadership transition.

The firm has developed deep management ranks. Managing directors run regional offices and strategy-specific funds with substantial autonomy, though Mnaymneh retains ultimate approval authority. This structure provides operational continuity while maintaining founder oversight.

HIG Capital has not publicly addressed succession timing or specific transition plans. However, the development of senior leadership capable of managing complex operations suggests preparation for eventual change.

Succession planning presents challenges for many private equity firms. Founders often establish distinctive investment approaches and organizational cultures that prove difficult to maintain through leadership changes. Balancing continuity with necessary evolution requires careful planning and execution.

Market Environment and Adaptation

The private equity industry faces challenges entering 2026. Interest rates remain elevated compared to the previous decade, increasing borrowing costs and reducing leverage multiples. Exit markets have slowed as both strategic buyers and public markets show restraint.

These conditions create performance pressure. Private equity historically relied on multiple expansion and financial leverage to amplify returns. With purchase price multiples high and debt expensive, operational improvements must carry greater weight in value creation.

The middle market where HIG Capital operates may prove somewhat more resilient than large-cap transactions. Smaller companies have limited access to public capital markets regardless of broader conditions, creating consistent demand for private capital. Competition remains intense but perhaps less extreme than for mega-deals attracting numerous large funds.

Mnaymneh and his team have navigated multiple market cycles. The firm managed through the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to raise capital and complete transactions. This experience provides perspective that newer firms lack.

Looking Forward

As HIG Capital approaches its 35th anniversary, Mnaymneh continues pursuing growth opportunities. The secondaries initiative, ongoing European expansion and fundraising across multiple strategies indicate sustained ambitions.

Whether a $70 billion platform can continue growing depends on market conditions and execution quality. Larger firms face challenges deploying capital efficiently while maintaining return standards. Some private equity firms have struggled after growing too large to execute their original strategies effectively.

HIG Capital’s multi-strategy approach provides flexibility but requires coordinating complex operations. Managing seven investment strategies across 19 offices demands sophisticated systems and communication processes.

The personal approval requirement Mnaymneh maintains may become increasingly difficult to sustain as transaction volumes grow. However, three decades of results suggest he has built a durable organization capable of adapting to changing conditions while maintaining its middle-market focus.

The unconventional choice to build from Miami rather than Manhattan, to focus on middle-market companies rather than mega-deals, and to maintain hands-on leadership rather than delegating broadly has produced a distinctive organization. Whether this approach continues delivering results will determine HIG Capital’s trajectory through its fourth decade.

For now, the executive who chose a different path three decades ago continues leading one of private equity’s most active middle-market platforms.