Michelle Russell Johnson is a Principal and joined the firm in March 2023. Michelle is responsible for business development and Investor Relations and sits on the Investment Committee.

She has been in the asset management community for over 30 years. Michelle’s leadership experience in sales strategy, strategic positioning and relationship management has enabled her to connect capital from sophisticated investors with appropriate investment solutions.

Michelle was previously a Managing Director at Waypoint Real Estate Investments, a national real estate investment firm that acquires and develops conventional multi-family properties. Previously Michelle was a Partner and Global Head of Business Development & Investor Relations at Genesis Capital Partners, an emerging asset manager specializing in equity long/short, market neutral strategies.

Prior to that, she was a Principal and Director of Marketing at JANA Partners LLC, an activist investor, responsible for the firm’s global business development initiatives; a Senior Vice President at Paulson & Co. responsible for the firm’s new business development efforts and an Executive Vice President, Business Development at Institutional Investor Inc., advising money managers on how to maximize efforts to raise capital.

Michelle is a founding member of 100 Women in Finance and High-Water Women. She has been an active fund raiser for several Not-For-Profit organizations including: The Center for Family Services of Palm Beach County, Carl Schurz Park Conservancy, The McCarton Foundation, Urban Arts Program and Sheltering Arms. In 2010 Michelle was recognized for her commitment to helping children in foster care by the Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families.

Michelle began her career as an International Portfolio Assistant at BEA Associates Inc. where she was responsible for setting up and running the International Equities Trading Department and assisted in the launch of several listed emerging market funds. Michelle holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a B.A. in Legal Studies and International Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also studied at La Sorbonne and the American University in Paris.