ClearPoint Investment Partners Announces Appointment of Taimur Shaikh as Principal and Joseph Velli as Operating Director

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ClearPoint Investment Partners, a private equity firm investing in business services and financial processing companies in the lower middle-market, today announced the appointment of Taimur Shaikh as Principal and Joseph Velli, a veteran financial services and technology executive, as the firm's sixth Operating Director.

Carty Chock, Co-founder and Partner of ClearPoint, said, "We are fortunate to have two executives with such outstanding investment and business transformation skills join our team. Taimur's knowledge and relevant investment expertise provide additional sourcing and execution capabilities. Joe further diversifies the experience base of our strong bench of Operating Directors. His decades of leading payments and transaction processing companies add valuable management insight and relationships in these key sectors."

ClearPoint was formed by Ingrid Mazul, Co-founder and Partner, and Carty Chock, whose collective 30-year history of successful investing in business services and financial processing drive the firm's investment strategy. Ms. Mazul, said, "These additions to the team reinforce our strategy to serve as a valuable partner to management through deep sector and functional expertise across operations, finance, and strategy."

Mr. Shaikh brings to ClearPoint over seven years of private equity experience at Trident Capital and Oak Hill Capital Partners. Throughout his career, he has been involved in numerous investments in business and healthcare services and software, and has been responsible for all aspects of the investment process, including origination, transaction evaluation and execution, and portfolio monitoring. Mr. Shaikh began his career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers. He earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Mr. Velli has direct experience in building financial services and technology-based businesses and is recognized for his ability to re-engineer businesses and pursue growth.  He has completed 50 acquisitions during his 30-year career and has served on the Boards of private and public companies. For 22 years, he served with BNY Mellon (formerly The Bank of New York), most recently as Chairman and CEO of BNY Convergex Group, LLC. He headed businesses in brokerage services, payments, clearing and securities services, employee benefits administration, and consumer banking. Mr. Velli currently serves on the Boards of Paychex, Inc. and Computershare Limited, and previously served on the Boards of E*Trade Financial Corporation, and American Management Systems, Inc., among others.

About ClearPoint Investment Partners
ClearPoint Investment Partners invests exclusively in business services and financial processing companies in the lower middle-market. ClearPoint targets companies where its extensive operating approach, deep industry expertise, and tailored strategic resources can materially enhance company value. ClearPoint's collaborative and cross-functional team has decades of experience in the firm's target sectors and a strong understanding of how small companies succeed. Target companies generally have up to $100 million in revenue.

Additional information is available at www.clearpointinvest.com.

Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334

SOURCE ClearPoint Investment Partners