Longford Capital Adds Depth and Experience with the Addition of Laura P. Pearl as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer
CHICAGO, February 1, 2016 - Longford Capital today announced that Laura P. Pearl has joined the firm as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer.
In her role as Managing Director and CFO, Ms. Pearl will be responsible for all accounting, audit, finance, and HR functions, as well as monitoring of investment performance and investor relations. Ms. Pearl will serve on Longford Capital’s Investment Committee.
“Laura has achieved great success throughout her career in the private equity and investment industry; she has the experience and ability to help Longford Capital keep pace with the enormous growth our asset class is experiencing. We are proud to have Laura as an important member of our management team,” stated Bill Strong, Chairman of Longford Capital.
Ms. Pearl is an accomplished senior finance and private equity professional with 35 years of financial services experience. Ms. Pearl has been responsible for financial reporting and budgeting, financial modeling, due diligence on prospective investments, tax and deal structuring, compliance matters, as well as fundraising and investor relations.
Ms. Pearl is a Certified Public Accountant and began her career with Ernst & Young LLP.
Following Ernst & Young, she joined Frontenac Company, a nationally-recognized leader in middle market private equity investments. Ms. Pearl rose to become Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Frontenac. During her tenure at Frontenac, assets under management at Frontenac grew from approximately $50 million to over $1 billion. She was involved in all aspects of Frontenac’s growth including fundraising, investor relations, overseeing investments, risk and litigation management, tax planning, asset valuation policy, financial reporting, audits, compliance, and contract negotiation. Ms. Pearl served on the Board of Directors of several Frontenac portfolio companies.
Following Frontenac, Ms. Pearl co-founded a venture capital firm, Ceres Venture Fund, LP, one of the few women-only owned firms of its type in the United States, where she served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for all accounting, audit, and finance functions.
As her responsibilities at Ceres wound down, Laura was named Chief Financial Officer of Instadium, Inc., a rapidly growing private equity-backed sports marketing digital media company. She was responsible for all finance, real estate, legal, IT, facilities, and HR functions.
Ms. Pearl received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a B.S. from the University of Illinois, summa cum laude. Ms. Pearl is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.
Ms. Pearl stated, “I am thrilled to be joining the Longford team. Litigation finance is a growing area with attractive investment characteristics. I believe institutional investors are poised to become more active in this emerging asset class and Longford is well-positioned to build on its successes and take advantage of this investor appetite.”
About Longford Capital
Longford Capital is a private investment company that provides capital for use by companies involved in large-scale, commercial legal disputes. Typically, it funds attorneys' fees and other costs necessary to pursue claims in return for a share of a favorable settlement or award. The firm manages a diversified portfolio and considers investments in subject matter areas where it has developed considerable expertise, including, business-to-business contract claims, antitrust and trade regulation claims, intellectual property claims (including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret), fiduciary duty claims, fraud claims, claims in bankruptcy and liquidation, domestic and international arbitrations, and a variety of others.