Charles Towne Professionals

Prior Experience

 

Meet the Charles Towne Holdings Team

Click the team member’s name to view bio, and contact information for each team member.

To return to the top of the page, click the . 

Andy Brusman, CEO
Mike Sanderson, President
Scott Ilario, Senior Managing Director
Andre Ameer, Managing Director, Investment Banking

Brian Anderson, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Peter Barbaresi, Managing Director, Advisory Services

Billy Campbell, Managing Director, Advisory Services

Elijah Duckworth-Schacter, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Philippe Faraut, Managing Director, Investment Banking

Seth Gregg, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Daniel Griesemer, Managing Director, Advisory Services

Ken Hershman, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Hubert Holmes, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Jack MacDonald, Managing Director, Investment Banking

Jim McGrath, Managing Director, Investment Banking

John Sarkisian, Managing Director, Advisory Services
Keith Senglaub, Managing Director, Advisory Services

Shawn Sullivan, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Robert Taylor, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Scott Watson, Managing Director, Investment Banking
Frank Wrenn, Managing Director, Investment Banking

Investment Bankers and Advisors

Scott Ilario

Senior Managing Director

Scott also serves as CEO of Charles Towne Securities, LLC, the FINRA registered broker dealer owned by Charles Towne Holdings, LLC. He has spent his entire 30-year career in the securities industry focused on investment banking. His experience includes several high-ranking positions of responsibility and leadership including Board Director, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer. Most notably, from the period, January 2000 to June 2003, Mr. Ilario was Chief Executive Officer of Wachovia Securities when it was the fourth largest broker-dealer in the U.S. based on assets under management. Subsequent to acting as CEO of Wachovia Securities, Mr. Ilario was named Head of Compliance for Wachovia’s Global Investment Bank where he facilitated business directives to increase international distribution and underwriting by obtaining regulatory approval for subsidiaries in London, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. During his time at Wachovia in his roles as CEO and CCO, Scott was responsible for the oversight of over $50Billion in M & A transactions and over $10Billion in private capital raises. Scott maintains Series 7, 3, 4, 24, 27, 12, 14, 79 and 99 qualifications.

Location: Charleston, SC

 

Andre Ameer

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Andre serves as a Managing Director, overseeing the Construction & Engineering verticals. He began his career with close to a decade as a trader at a multi-billion dollar hedge fund.  In 2011, he pivoted to their family construction business which was involved in a number of recent landmark projects at the Statue of Liberty, LaGuardia Airport, and the World Trade Center.  After relocating to Charleston, SC from New York City with his wife and their 3 young children, Andre’s unique exposure to the worlds of finance and construction led him to Charles Towne Holdings where we continue to expand our reach into the Built World.  This sector has historically lagged in innovation and technology but that’s recently been catching up at an exponential rate.  Charles Towne Holdings is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this trend with its experience across industry sectors.  Andre graduated from Villanova University and maintains his Series 82 and SIE.

Location: Charleston, SC

 

 

Brian Anderson

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Brian Anderson is a seasoned CEO and entrepreneur who specializes in building high-growth consumer brands in the consumer products space. His core competencies are commercial based—branding, marketing, digital transformation, business development, sales, strategic partnerships and bolt-on acquisitions. He thrives in early stage, small cap and lower middle market companies, having worked on several start-ups and run PE portfolio companies up to $150mm in revenue

Location: 

 

 

Peter Barbaresi

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Peter is versatile turnaround and growth-oriented CEO, with experience leading small and mid-cap B2C and B2B products and services companies.  He is currently a business management advisor to several companies in health, wellness and fitness as well as multi-unit and franchised concepts. He has served as President/CEO of several fitness and consumer products businesses, and presently serves as a Board Member and Advisor to multiple companies. Barbaresi has particular strength helping to lead companies and their ownership towards sale/exit and/or recapitalization.  He is a graduate of Williams College and played both hockey and lacrosse.

Location: Orange County, CA

 

Billy Campbell

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Billy Campbell has held senior leadership roles in the entertainment and travel industries.  He served as the Managing Director of Royal Caribbean’s GoBe E-Commerce venture. Prior to joining RCL, Billy was CEO of Forbes Travel Guide, the leader in rating luxury properties, spas and restaurants around the world.  Earlier, Campbell was President of an out-of-home marketing firm Akoo and helped build the 5CTV Network (a media partnership bringing China programming into the U.S. market). 

Campbell served as President of Discovery Networks U.S.  At Discovery, Campbell was responsible for all aspects of the domestic television division, including programming, production, affiliate sales and marketing, advertising sales, consumer marketing, research, new media, business development and communications. During his presidency at Discovery Networks, Campbell led Discovery Channel and TLC through double-digit ratings increases.  While managing 13 channels, he oversaw the production of cable’s highest-rated natural history program of all time, Planet Earth, which drew more than 65 million viewers to Discovery Channel over its 11-part run.  Campbell also oversaw signature Discovery network series Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, American Chopper, The World Poker Tour and Dirty Jobs. 

Chief among Campbell’s accomplishments at Discovery was his leadership effort to recruit Ted Koppel to the Discovery Channel for a pioneering multiyear deal in which Koppel served as managing editor for the network.  Campbell also helped bring Dr. Jane Goodall to Animal Planet and launched the Dr. Oz Show on Discovery Health Channel.  Other programming successes realized under Campbell’s leadership at Discovery Networks include the premiere of The Military Channel and launching a feature documentary division which produced and aired the award winning documentary Grizzly Man and licensed Man On Wire.

Prior to joining Discovery Networks, Campbell served as President of Miramax Television, where he led the production of Emmy-nominated “Project Greenlight,” a cutting-edge venture on HBO integrating film, television and the internet by creating a web community and screenplay competition.  Previously, Campbell was executive vice president, CBS Entertainment and helped develop Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens.  Before joining CBS, Campbell served as senior vice president, drama development at Warner Bros. Television, where he developed a series of successful and critically acclaimed dramas, including ER and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Campbell is a 1982 graduate of Harvard College and a 1987 graduate of the Harvard Business School (MBA).  He was a 1984-85 Rotary International Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  Campbell has served on the boards of The National Parks Conservation Association, The Jane Goodall Institute, and KentWool Corporation.  Currently he is on the Board of Arcadia Publishing, New Leaders Education and the Galapagos Conservancy.

Location: Pawleys Island, SC and Miami, FL

Philippe Faraut

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Philippe currently provides Corporate Finance, M&A and Capital Raising services to global emerging growth companies in the Consumer and Media sectors. 

Philippe has over 20 years of experience in investment banking and principal investing.  Prior to joining Charles Towne, he was a Managing Partner at Bastiat Partners, a firm connecting Family Offices to direct private deals. Philippe joined Bastiat from Knight Global, a media family office, where he served as its Chief Investment Officer. Previously, he worked for middle market investment banks Intrepid and Sage and started his career at Merrill Lynch in NY in the Consumer/Retail team.  He holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.  Philippe is a dual French and American citizen, and holds his Series 7, 63 and 79 licenses.  

Location: Los Angeles, California

 

 

 

Seth Gregg

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Seth focuses on deal origination for Charles Towne. His goal is to develop meaningful relationships with business owners, consultants, accountants, lawyers and commercial bankers who are seeking guidance on raising capital, mergers & acquisitions and private placements.

Prior to Charles Towne, Seth worked at the Club Managers Association of America.  While there, he led the business development team, where he generated several million dollars a year in revenue. Previous experience includes serving as a Principal with Washington, DC based Education Capital, a niche investment banking firm focused on the for profit and non-profit education market.

Seth is a graduate of Clemson University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.  He resides with his wife and two children in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Location: Charleston, South Carolina

 

Daniel Griesemer

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Daniel brings more than 35 years of high growth, brand elevation, digital transformation and turnaround experience in the retail industry in CEO or senior executive roles at both public and private companies such as Gymboree Group, Tillys, Inc., Coldwater Creek, Inc., Gap, Inc. and Macy’s. His natural entrepreneurial orientation is towards all things related to customer experience, with particular skills in design, product, branding, marketing, store and website design and experience, and all customer touch points. He also possesses an enterprise-wide understanding of comprehensive operations, P&L and balance sheet management with skills directly applicable to the hospitality, restaurant and healthcare industries. Daniel aligns culture, values, ethics and vision with mission, strategy and tactics. His rich and diverse experience spans department store, specialty store, online, multichannel, and omni-channel businesses that were both vertically integrated and branded, with customers ranging from children to teens to younger adults to Baby Boomers. He has 13 years working closely with founders, has led both an IPO and secondary fund raising and has served on both public and private company boards for over 15 years. Daniel graduated with a BS in Business Administration from the University of Dayton and attended the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business Executive Education Program. He has been married for 32 years and he and his wife have three amazing children.

Location: Dana Point, CA

 

Ken Hershman

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Widely known in the TV sports world for his 27+ year career, Ken is an award winning and innovative sports television programming executive. He served as the President of HBO Sports and as the SVP and General Manager with Showtime Sports. He is also one of the pioneers of the global e-sports industry, including with his tenure as CEO and Commissioner of the World Esports Association.

Location: 

 

 

Hubert Holmes

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Prior to Charles Towne, Hubert was Senior Director managing the $150 million Reference Data business of ICE Data Services. He came to ICE as the Chi-X Global’s Executive Vice President responsible for the company’s global business development strategy. Chi-X Global owned and operated MTF and ATS markets around the world. The CHI-X’s trading infrastructure technologies and services were created through the acquisition of Cicada Corporation of which Hubert was a founder. As the Executive Vice President, he was responsible for relationships with major exchanges and financial institutions around the world. Hubert started his career at Reuters Group PLC serving in various executive capacities and locations (Hong Kong, London, and New York) His last position at Reuters was as Executive Vice President and Director of Global Securities Markets, responsible for the global product marketing of all equities and fixed income products sold by Reuters. Hubert holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German from Rice University.

Location: Ridgefield, Connecticut

 

 

Jack MacDonald

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Jack has more than 30 years experience serving the capital and strategic advisory needs of growing asset management firms. His expertise crosses many sectors, including institutional asset management, mutual funds, wealth management, and alternative asset management. He is an experienced dealmaker advising asset and wealth management firms on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising, most recently with JJM Advisory Group. Previously he was a Managing Director at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Prior industry experience includes seven years as the principal and co-founder of XPL Advisors LLC, mergers and acquisition and a strategic advisory boutique firm specializing in the asset management industry. He provided advisory services on domestic and cross-border transactions to asset management companies in the United States and Canada. Mr. MacDonald spent five years with Putnam Lovell Securities Inc., first as managing director and co-founder of capital markets fixed income and subsequently as managing director, asset management mergers and acquisitions. Earlier he served as a senior banker, financial institutions group for Citicorp Securities, Inc., and director of corporate finance at PepsiCo, Inc. He began his career as a CPA. Mr. MacDonald holds a Master of Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in accounting from St. Norbert College.

Location: Charleston, South Carolina

 

Jim McGrath

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Jim has 20 years of corporate finance experience advising middle market companies and private equity groups, including broad experience in M&A and private equity and debt placements. His M&A transactions span business & technology services, healthcare, energy, and specialty manufacturing. His clients have included Fortune 500 companies, private companies, and private equity funds. Most recently, McGrath was a managing director and led the investment banking group at Keiter Advisors. Previously, Jim held senior positions with KPMG Corporate Finance and with Ewing Bemiss & Co. He also has a J.D. and was a corporate/M&A lawyer at Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, before beginning his corporate finance career.

Location: Richmond, Virginia

 

 

John Sarkisian

Managing Director, Advisory Services

John is a serial entrepreneur with a long track record of successful ventures. John began his career as a real estate broker with Marcus and Millichap. He later formed a development company, Del Mar Heritage, which completed over 20 projects including apartments, office, medical and industrial buildings in San Diego County. With his family he founded and developed Pat and Oscar’s Restaurants which was sold in 2001 to a public company. John then founded SKLZ which grew from one baseball hitting product to the market leader for athletic training gear with over 300 products. In 2013 SKLZ was sold to a private equity firm. John was also the founding investor and Chairman of the Board of Semtek Innovative solutions which developed and commercialized patented encryption technology protecting sensitive date for the credit card industry. Semtek was sold to Verifone the market leader in credit card processing terminals. His list of accomplishments include being the founding investor and Chairman of the board of the investment services firm Brightscope which was sold to Strategic Insights. He received his BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. He was awarded the 1999 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year for San Diego County. He served on the board of the San Diego County YMCA for 25 years and is currently the Industry Chairman of San Diego Sports Innovators.

Location: Pittsfield, Massachusetts

 

Keith Senglaub

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Keith is a 34-year veteran of corporate finance, accounting, and operations leadership roles including C-Level positions with fast growing privately held companies ranging in size from $15mm to over $500mm in the media, entertainment, sports, business and technology services, professional services, and consumer products industries.  Most recently he served for over 10 years as CFO of Feld Entertainment, the world’s largest privately held producer of live touring and location-based family entertainment, and owner of such iconic entertainment properties as Disney On Ice®, Disney Live®, Sesame Street Live®, Marvel Universe Live®, Jurassic World Live®, Trolls: The Experience®, motor sports event series Monster Jam® and Monster Energy Supercross®, and formerly Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Circus®.  Mr. Senglaub is a licensed CPA and began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, leading the worldwide audits of a large publicly traded diversified media company.  Since then, he has gained significant corporate experience leading buy and sell side M&A transaction valuation, due diligence, financing and integration; negotiation and structuring of syndicated senior and subordinated debt financing; operational and legal organization analysis and restructuring; building and managing world class finance organizations, processes and systems; and implementation of financial, operating, strategic planning, and corporate governance disciplines necessary to successfully operate in a leveraged fast-growth environment.  In addition, he brings extensive strategic and operational leadership experience in information technology, risk management, customer service, fulfillment operations, commercial real estate, facilities management, and international operations in over 75 countries.  Keith earned his BS in Accounting from St. John Fisher College (Rochester, NY), and in 2009 earned his MBA in Corporate Finance from Virginia Tech.

Keith is focused on applying his extensive corporate finance, operations, and deal experience to help clients plan, prepare for, and execute on key strategic growth initiatives including financing and M&A transactions, along with providing fractional or interim CFO-level support as may be needed to achieve their objectives.

Location: Charleston, SC

 

 

Shawn s. Sullivan

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Shawn focuses on the origination and distribution of firm deals. A 25 year veteran in leveraged financed and junk bond sales on Wall Street with such firms as Drexel, Burnham, Lambert, Bankers Trust, Citibank and Deutsche Bank he switched to the startup world as a founding partner and COO of FlightAware, the world’s largest flight tracking and flight data services company now owned by Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Company. He is a Airline Transport Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor with a deep background in aviation and aviation technology.

He holds a BA degree in Economics, cum laude, from Montclair State University, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University in Finance and International Business. He currently resides in Darien, CT where he has a high school aged son.

Location: Darien, CT

 

Robert Taylor

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Robert focuses on business development and private placement distribution across the multiple industry verticals covered at Charles Towne Holdings. Robert has spent the majority of his 15-year career within the finance sector, having served in multiple capacities across securities trading, investment banking and private equity with such firms as JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo Securities and Bayview Asset Management. In 2017, he founded Bray Ventures to support small to lower-middle market companies with implementation of strategic, operational and capital efficiencies within their existing business models. Robert’s primary focus is on structuring private placement securities offerings with coverage spanning various industry sectors such as financial technology, healthcare technology, real estate and consumer products. Robert holds a Master of Business Administration from Wake Forest University and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He maintains a FINRA Series 7 securities license.

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

 

 

Scott Watson

Managing Director, Investment Banking

Scott serves as a Managing Director focusing on origination and distribution. He has been working with institutional and private investors for over 25 years. At Charles Towne, Scott works with sector heads across the firm to help mid-sized private companies with working capital, and growth solutions.  Prior to joining Charles Towne, Scott was at global banks MUFG, UBS and Morgan Stanley in senior asset management and business development roles. At UBS, Scott was Head of US Short Duration Corporate Sales collaborating with the whole firm which included the investment bank and one of the largest global retail forces. Moving on to Morgan Stanley, Scott worked with corporates, foundations and public funds focusing on global liquidity management.  Earlier on, Scott spent 11 years at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, the largest bank globally at the time, focused on advising corporate defined benefit and deferred compensation plans across all asset classes.  At BTM, he sat on the asset allocation committee for subsidiary HighMark Capital Management.  Scott went on to help BTM open a NYC trust office for Union Bank of California which was majority held by BTM at the time. After a successful opening in NYC, Scott replicated this effort in Dallas, Texas opening another trust office for UBOC.  Scott has held NASD series 63 and 7 licenses for over 20 years.  In college, Scott played on the men’s tennis and golf teams.  He currently resides in University Park, Texas with his wife and two children.

Location: Dallas, Texas

 

 

Frank Wrenn

Senior Advisor, Advisory Services

Frank focuses on private debt structuring and placement, distressed asset management and strategic advisory services. Previously he was the founder of Crescent Capital Partners, a financial consulting firm, focusing on distressed debt resolution, financial engineering, restructuring, capital formation of both debt and equity, and providing strategic advice. Mr. Wrenn has over 30 years of banking and capital markets experience. Prior to founding his consulting business, he was Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Investment Banking with both First Union and SunTrust where he held FINRA Series 7, 63, and 66 licenses. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, the UNC Keenan Flagler Business School executive program, and Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

Location: Greenville, South Carolina