About Us
Based in New York and San Francisco, Legend Merchant Group, Inc. is a privately-held financial services firm offering merchant and investment banking services to corporate clients, and brokerage and asset management services to high-net worth individuals. Our corporate banking team works with middle market businesses where our professionals can bring together their capital markets, investment banking, and operating experience. We focus on business sectors where we can combine these elements into a relationship geared towards long-term growth and capital appreciation. These sectors include Technology, Defense, Healthcare, Real Estate, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Business Services and Consumer. Our clients span the globe and include fast growing companies in the United States, Israel and China.
Why Choose Us?
- Middle-market focus
- Established investment and merchant banking practice
- Ability to raise from $500,000 in a bridge facility to over $1 billion through an IPO
- Senior-level relationship management and transaction leadership
- Dedicated financial sponsor coverage
- Private banking and asset management for high-net worth individuals
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The Team
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David (Chip) W. Unsworth, Jr.
Chairman & CEODavid (Chip) W. Unsworth, Jr., Chairman & CEO
Mr. Unsworth has a long history of success as an investment banker, corporate finance strategist and financial services entrepreneur. He founded Legend Merchant Group in 2002. Mr. Unsworth provides the strategic vision and commitment to client service that has fueled the Legend’s rapid growth. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Unsworth served as a founding partner and owner of Broadmark Capital. He played a key role in the expansion of Broadmark's banking, asset management and distribution businesses, which raised over $300 million in private equity for early and venture stage companies.
Prior to Broadmark, Mr. Unsworth was Senior Vice President and owner at Gilford Securities for six years, handling high net-worth, institutional equity and fixed income accounts. He held similar positions with Gruntal & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. Throughout his career, Mr. Unsworth has been an active advisor to early-stage companies in both public and private markets.
He has also helped create shareholder value in public companies by spearheading re-capitalizations, proxy contests, and corporate strategy changes alongside owners and managers. Mr. Unsworth graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island. He holds Series 7, 63, 65 and 24 Registrations.
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Hector Chao
Head of Investment BankingHector Chao, Managing Director & Head of Investment Banking
Mr. Chao brings over 13 years investment banking experience and focuses on capital raising transactions and M&A advisory work. He began his investment banking career in 1993 with Sutro & Co in Los Angeles In 1999 he joined Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco, which became JPMorgan H&Q, to work with emerging growth technology and digital media companies.
Before joining Legend Merchant Group, he led KeyBanc Capital Markets’ technology investment banking efforts in the Bay Area. He has advised companies and executed public offerings, private placements, strategic advisory assignments, and mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate value exceeding $3.5 billion. His relationships include early-stage to large cap companies and investors in the software and IT services sectors.
Prior to joining KeyBanc, Mr. Chao was a consultant to early stage technology companies and served as Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development for Prelytic Software, an early stage predictive analytics software company. He also served on the advisory board of PathWork Informatics, a venture-backed genomics and software-based oncology diagnostic company. Mr. Chao holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mr. Chao holds Series 7 and 63 registrations. -
James Palmer
Head of Private PlacementsJames Palmer, Managing Director & Head of Private Placements
Mr. Palmer has over 16 years of experience originating and funding early, mid and late stage private equity and venture capital transactions in several industries. Through his network of institutions and ultra-high-net-worth individuals he has structured and raised close to $1 billion in capital for entities including public and private companies, hedge funds, venture funds and structured finance products.
In addition to his responsibilities at Legend, Mr. Palmer is a Managing Member of the TW 8701 Opportunities Fund I and the TW Opportunities Fund II, both early/mid stage venture capital and private equity funds that have invested in approximately 25 companies. Mr. Palmer received a B.A. degree in Economics from Rollins College. He holds Series 7 and 63 Registrations.
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Mark Sauter
Managing DirectorMark Sauter, Managing Director
Mr. Sauter specializes in leading complex M&A and financing transactions to successful completion. He also helps clients in the government services, security and other sectors increase the value of their enterprises by improving their strategies, connecting with key partners and raising capital.
Mr.Sauter previously served as COO of the Chesapeake Innovation Center, a public-private technology partnership supported by partners the NSA, Northrop Grumman and Boeing. At the CIC, Mr. Sauter’s expertise in venture financing, growth strategies and the security market helped member companies win substantial financing, major contracts and profitable exits. His analysis of the security market includes co-authoring widely-quoted white papers and McGraw-Hill’s leading university textbook: “Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism.” Mr. Sauter’s experience includes serving as a senior executive at several venture capital-backed companies; principal investigator/program manager for a contract with a major U.S. intelligence agency; and an Army officer in infantry and special forces units. Mr. Sauter is a graduate of Harvard University, magna cum laude, and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He holds Series 7 and 63 Registrations.
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Bradley W. McGowan
Head – Financial Sponsors CoverageBradley W. McGowan, Head – Financial Sponsors Coverage
Mr. McGowan leads Legend’s business development activities and maintains active communications with a wide networks of public and private institutional investors, including private equity groups, venture capital firms and strategic corporate buyers and sellers.
Mr. McGowan has over 20 years of financial services and investment banking experience at Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and UBS. Prior to joining Legend, he was a Managing Director at Jefferies & Co. and worked closely with its subsidiaries and industry-focused teams including the Aerospace, Defense & Homeland Security group (Quarterdeck Investment Partners), Broadview, the Technology Banking Group, and the Biotech Banking Group.
Mr. McGowan earned an Executive MBA in Finance at the Stern Business School at New York University and served as his class President two years in a row. He earned a B.A. degree in Finance from Lehigh University. Mr. McGowan is currently a member of the Alumni Board of Trustees of Lehigh University. He holds Series 7, 63 and 65 Registrations.
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Jeff Pomeranz
Head of Alternative InvestmentsJeff Pomeranz, Head of Alternative Investments
Jeff Pomeranz joined Legend Merchant Group in 2004 and is currently Head of Alternative Investments at Legend Merchant Group, Inc. Mr. Pomeranz has been in the investment industry for 19 years, active in the alternative investment arena during the last nine. In addition to his responsibilities at Legend Merchant Group, Mr. Pomeranz is a Venture Partner with Right Side Capital Management, a venture firm that has developed a new approach to scalable seed-stage technology investing.
Previously, Mr. Pomeranz was President of Hotovec, Pomeranz & Co., LLC, a boutique technology research, investment bank & wealth management firm located in San Francisco. He co-founded the firm in 1996.
Prior to that, Mr. Pomeranz joined Smith Barney in 1992 where he acted as a private client financial consultant. Mr. Pomeranz began his career in 1991 as a senior fixed income account executive at McLaughlin, Piven & Vogel Securities. Mr. Pomeranz received a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He holds Series 7, 63, 65, 24 & 53 registrations.
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Samuel F. Ottensoser
General CounselSamuel F. Ottensoser, General Counsel
Since 2004, Mr. Ottensoser has served as Legend’s General Counsel, drawing upon over 30 years of experience as a capital markets attorney focusing on corporate financing transactions.
Prior to joining Legend, Mr. Ottensoser represented both issuers and underwriters and has structured and negotiated IPO’s, secondary offerings, private placements, PIPES and mergers and acquisition transactions as a senior and managing partner at several New York law firms. He has represented clients in front of the SEC, FINRA, foreign and other such regulatory authorities. Mr. Ottensoser received his BA from Yeshiva University and his JD from Harvard Law School.
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Scott Ilario
COO & Head of ComplianceScott Ilario, Chief Operating Officer & Head of Compliance
Mr. Ilario has over twenty-five years experience in regulatory compliance and business development. Prior to joining Legend Merchant Group, Mr. Ilario was Head of Global Compliance for Wachovia Corporation’s Global Investment Banking Division. In that role he had compliance responsibility for over 60 distinct investment banking and capital markets business units conducted domestically and in over 25 international locations. In addition to his compliance responsibilities, Mr. Ilario played a senior role in facilitating business directives and new products to increase revenues. In that role he established risk management programs, obtained regulatory approval and establishing related bank and non-bank subsidiaries.
Prior to working with Wachovia and its predecessors, Mr. Ilario spent five years with FINRA (F/K/A the NASD). He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in Business Administration. He holds Series 7, 24, 27, 12, 14 and 4 registrations.
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Kevin Sarsany
Managing DirectorKevin Sarsany
Mr. Sarsany, CFA, has deep expertise and a wide network in the security industry based on his two decades of finance experience, including 10+ as equity research analyst covering publicly traded companies, successfully picking stocks and marketing ideas. He covered companies in a wide variety of industries, most recently the security and electronic supply chain sectors.
Mr. Sarsany focused on picking quality, growth, and value companies through identifying business trends and applying full-cycle analysis applied to a variety of valuation methodologies. In 2007, he started a long-short equity fund. Also, Mr. Sarsany has seven-plus years as CFO and financial consultant overseeing financial operations, raising funds, and developing business models for three technology companies. Mr. Sarsany graduated from DePauw University with a degree in economics, is a CFA, and holds Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 Registrations.
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Our Mission
To help our clients incubate ideas, evaluate and implement strategic initiatives, support their short and long term goals, and build value and wealth.