H.I.G. Capital Appoints Brian Schwartz as CEO in Leadership Shift

H.I.G. Capital, one of the world's largest independent private equity firms, appointed Brian Schwartz as its new chief executive officer effective January 1, 2025 — a move that marks the first leadership transition in the Miami-based firm's 32-year history. Schwartz, a 23-year veteran of H.I.G. who most recently served as president and co-head of the firm's U.S. buyout practice, takes over from founding partner Sami Mnaymneh, who will continue as executive chairman and remain actively involved in investment decisions.

The succession caps a multi-year planning process at a firm that has grown from a regional middle-market player into a global alternative asset manager with $64 billion in equity capital under management across buyout, growth equity, credit, and real estate strategies. It also signals a generational shift at one of the few major PE firms to remain headquartered outside New York, San Francisco, or Boston — a geographic quirk that has defined H.I.G.'s identity and deal sourcing strategy for decades.

But the appointment raises a question most succession announcements don't answer: Can a firm built on the deal instincts and relationship networks of its founders maintain that edge when the founders step back?

Schwartz's track record suggests H.I.G. is betting yes. Since joining in 2002, he has led more than 50 platform investments and add-on acquisitions, focusing heavily on middle-market industrials, business services, and healthcare — the bread-and-butter sectors that still account for the majority of H.I.G.'s deal flow. He also helped architect the firm's expansion into Europe and Latin America, regions where H.I.G. now maintains permanent offices and dedicated investment teams.

Private equity leadership transitions typically happen for one of three reasons: a founder retires under pressure from limited partners, a firm goes public and installs a professional CEO, or a founding partner leaves to start a competitor. H.I.G.'s move fits none of those templates. Mnaymneh, who co-founded the firm in 1993 with Tony Tamer, remains involved and holds a board seat. The firm is still privately held and has no stated plans to go public. And there's no succession drama — Schwartz has been groomed for this role for years.

That kind of planned, orderly handoff is rarer than the industry likes to admit. Look at the messy transitions at firms like TPG (where co-founder David Bonderman resisted stepping back until the IPO forced the issue) or Carlyle (which cycled through three CEOs in a decade). Even KKR's much-lauded succession from Henry Kravis and George Roberts to co-CEOs Joseph Bae and Scott Nuttall took years of public hand-wringing and structural reshuffling.

H.I.G. avoided that turbulence by doing something uncommon: it promoted from within, early. Schwartz was named president in 2021, giving him four years to operate as de facto CEO before the title made it official. That runway matters. It gave LPs time to build confidence in the new leadership, gave Schwartz time to put his stamp on strategy without the pressure of a sudden handoff, and gave Mnaymneh time to step back gradually rather than all at once.

The structure of the transition also matters. Mnaymneh isn't disappearing. He remains executive chairman, retains a seat on the executive committee, and will continue to weigh in on major investment decisions. That setup — active founder, empowered successor — works when both parties trust each other. When they don't, it's a recipe for shadow governance and confusion about who actually runs the firm.

H.I.G. has never tried to compete in the megadeal market. While Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR chase $10 billion-plus LBOs, H.I.G. has stayed focused on middle-market transactions — typically $100 million to $500 million in equity per deal. That positioning has advantages. Competition is less brutal. Sellers are often family-owned businesses or corporate carve-outs that don't run formal auction processes. And the playbook — buy, improve operations, bolt on acquisitions, sell — is proven and repeatable.

The firm's scale comes not from giant individual funds but from volume and diversification. H.I.G. runs more than a dozen distinct investment strategies, including:

Multiple middle-market buyout funds across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. A growth equity practice focused on tech-enabled services and software. A credit arm (WhiteHorse Capital) that provides junior debt and structured financing. BakerHostetler, a European mid-market fund. A real estate platform targeting distressed and opportunistic investments.

That diversification shields H.I.G. from the feast-or-famine cycles that plague single-strategy firms. When buyout markets freeze up, the credit team keeps deploying. When real estate markets crater, the buyout funds keep transacting. It's a model that prioritizes steady deployment over home-run hunting — and it's one reason the firm has survived multiple downturns without major blowups or fund writedowns.

H.I.G. is one of the few top-20 private equity firms by AUM that isn't based in New York, the Bay Area, Boston, or London. The Miami headquarters was a deliberate choice by the founders, who saw an opportunity to dominate dealmaking in the Southeast, Latin America, and among the growing population of family-owned businesses relocating to Florida for tax reasons. That geographic positioning has worked. H.I.G. is the default first call for middle-market M&A in Florida, the Caribbean, and much of Central and South America.

Schwartz built his reputation inside H.I.G. doing the kind of deals that don't generate TechCrunch headlines but quietly generate 3x cash-on-cash returns. Before becoming president, he spent two decades leading investments across three core sectors: industrials (logistics, specialty manufacturing, distribution), business services (staffing, facility services, B2B outsourcing), and healthcare (specialty pharma, medical devices, healthcare IT).

Some of his notable transactions include the acquisition and build-out of United Site Services, a portable sanitation and temporary fencing provider that H.I.G. sold to a strategic buyer in 2018; the buyout of surgical instrument maker Symmetry Surgical, which was later merged with another portfolio company; and the recapitalization of Genoa Healthcare, a specialty pharmacy serving behavioral health patients.

None of those deals involved cutting-edge technology or disruptive business models. All involved operational improvement, market consolidation, and incremental margin expansion — the H.I.G. playbook. Schwartz is a process operator, not a visionary. That's not a criticism. It's the profile H.I.G. needs in a CEO. The firm doesn't win by predicting the next platform shift in enterprise software or consumer behavior. It wins by finding fragmented markets, buying solid businesses at reasonable prices, improving operations, and rolling up competitors.

Schwartz also played a central role in H.I.G.'s international expansion. He helped open the firm's London office in 2009 and its São Paulo office in 2010, and he oversaw early European and Latin American investments that validated the model of applying U.S. middle-market PE tactics in less efficient markets abroad. That cross-border experience will matter as H.I.G. continues to scale its non-U.S. platforms.

Schwartz has functionally been running H.I.G. since 2021, when he was named president. That four-year stretch was the real test. During that period, the firm raised multiple new funds, navigated the 2022-2023 deal drought, managed a credit portfolio through rising rates, and continued deploying capital in Europe and Latin America without major missteps. The CEO title formalizes what was already true operationally.

Still, there's a difference between running day-to-day operations with a founder in the building and owning the final call on strategy, fund terms, and LP relationships. Schwartz now has that authority — and the accountability that comes with it.

Every new PE CEO inherits a set of strategic crossroads. For Schwartz, the big ones are:

Does H.I.G. keep expanding its strategy count, or does it consolidate? The firm now runs more than a dozen funds across buyout, growth, credit, and real estate. That breadth creates diversification but also operational complexity and potential brand dilution. Some LPs love the one-stop-shop model. Others prefer firms that do one thing exceptionally well. Schwartz will have to decide whether H.I.G. doubles down on its multi-strategy model or narrows focus.

How big should the funds get? H.I.G.'s middle-market buyout funds have grown steadily in size, but the firm has resisted the temptation to raise $10 billion-plus megafunds. That discipline has kept it in its sweet spot, but it also caps fee income and limits the firm's ability to compete for larger deals when strategic logic demands it. If Schwartz pushes fund sizes higher, H.I.G. risks losing its middle-market edge. If he keeps them flat, he limits growth.

Where does international expansion go next? H.I.G. has a strong presence in Europe and Latin America, but it's underweight in Asia compared to peers. Does Schwartz invest in building an Asia-Pacific platform, or does he deepen the firm's existing geographies? The answer depends on where he sees the best risk-adjusted returns — and whether H.I.G. wants to be a global firm or a Western Hemisphere specialist.

Does H.I.G. stay private, or does it eventually go public? Most large PE firms have either gone public (Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Carlyle, TPG, Ares, Blue Owl) or been acquired (Hellman & Friedman, CCMP). H.I.G. is one of the last major independents. An IPO would unlock liquidity for existing partners and provide permanent capital, but it would also impose quarterly earnings pressures, disclosure requirements, and governance constraints. Schwartz hasn't signaled any plans to go public, but the question will keep coming up.

Limited partners — pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, family offices — care about succession because it directly affects returns. A botched transition can lead to key dealmakers leaving, cultural drift, and declining fund performance. A smooth one can actually strengthen LP confidence by demonstrating that the firm has built a sustainable institutional platform beyond its founders.

H.I.G.'s LPs are likely relieved by this transition. Schwartz is known, tested, and internally promoted. Mnaymneh is still involved. There's no mass exodus of senior partners (always a red flag). And the firm continues to deploy capital at scale across multiple strategies. That continuity matters, especially in an industry where founder-dependent firms often struggle after the founder steps back.

H.I.G.'s transition invites comparison to other major PE firms that have recently navigated founder exits. The track record is mixed.

KKR executed one of the smoothest transitions in PE history when Henry Kravis and George Roberts handed control to Joseph Bae and Scott Nuttall in 2021. The key: Bae and Nuttall had been groomed for a decade, were already running most operations, and were trusted by LPs and internal partners. KKR's AUM and stock price both grew post-transition.

Carlyle's transition, by contrast, was a multi-year soap opera. After co-founders David Rubenstein, Bill Conway, and Daniel D'Aniello stepped back, the firm cycled through Glenn Youngkin (who left to run for Virginia governor) and then Kewsong Lee (who was forced out after clashing with the founders). The firm didn't stabilize until it brought in a new leadership team and restructured governance.

TPG handled succession by going public and installing professional management. That worked operationally but diluted the firm's founder-driven culture. Blackstone has avoided succession drama by simply refusing to hand off. Steve Schwarzman, 77, remains chairman and CEO, with Jon Gray as president and COO — a structure that punts the real succession question down the road.

The hardest part of founder-to-operator transitions isn't picking the successor. It's getting the founder to actually step back. Titles and org charts are easy to change. Founder psychology is not. Even when founders say they're stepping aside, they often don't — at least not fully. They show up to investment committee meetings and second-guess decisions. They stay close to key LPs and undercut the new CEO's authority. They hold veto power on major calls, making it unclear who's really in charge.

Mnaymneh's continued role as executive chairman could be a strength or a liability, depending on how he and Schwartz navigate the relationship. If Mnaymneh genuinely empowers Schwartz to lead while offering counsel when asked, it works. If he lingers as a shadow CEO, it creates confusion and resentment inside the firm. The next 12-24 months will reveal which path H.I.G. is on.

One encouraging sign: Schwartz has been operating as the day-to-day leader since 2021, and there's been no public friction or partner departures. That suggests the relationship works and the power-sharing arrangement is functional.

Another encouraging sign: H.I.G. didn't wait until Mnaymneh wanted to retire to start succession planning. The firm began the process early, while Mnaymneh was still fully engaged, which meant the transition happened on the firm's timeline rather than being forced by age or health concerns.

Limited partners will track a few key signals over the next 12-18 months to assess whether the transition is working. Partner retention: Do senior investment professionals stay, or do they leave to join other firms or start their own? A wave of departures would signal internal instability. Fund performance: Do returns stay consistent, or does performance slip as the new leadership settles in? Strategy clarity: Does Schwartz articulate a coherent vision for where H.I.G. is headed, or does the firm drift without clear direction?

If H.I.G. checks all three boxes, the transition will be regarded as a success. If it stumbles on any of them, LPs will start asking harder questions.

H.I.G. has done everything right so far. It promoted from within. It gave the successor years to prove himself. It kept the founder involved without making him a bottleneck. It maintained stability while executing the handoff. That's the textbook way to do founder succession in private equity, and it's rare to see it executed this cleanly.

But the real test isn't the announcement. It's what comes next. Can Schwartz lead H.I.G. through the next market cycle? Can he make the hard strategic calls on fund sizing, geographic expansion, and portfolio construction that will define the firm's next decade? Can he keep the partnership together and attract the next generation of investment talent?

Those questions won't be answered by a press release. They'll be answered by the deals H.I.G. does, the returns it delivers, and the talent it retains over the next three to five years. Schwartz has the title, the track record, and the mandate. Now he has to prove the firm he's inheriting can thrive under his leadership — not just replicate what the founders built.

The good news for H.I.G.'s LPs: if succession were going to blow up, it usually does so early. The fact that Schwartz has been running operations for four years without drama suggests the hard part is already behind them. What remains is execution. And execution, not vision, has always been H.I.G.'s core competency.