Peter DeCaprio

10.28.2026

Home: Boston, MA, with business interests in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  Profession: Private equity investing in middle-market companies, plus venture capital and venture debt for early-stage businesses.  Organization: Emerald Coast Holdings LLC.  Title: Member.  Significant other: My wife and our two children.  Alma mater: Tufts University (B.A., Political Science); Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (MBA, Finance).

Current project: Sourcing, evaluating and structuring middle-market and venture debt investments at Emerald Coast Holdings.  Recent recognition: Appearing as a guest on The Chartcast to discuss market structure and passive investing.  Recent professional development: Becoming a Member of Emerald Coast Holdings in Fort Lauderdale.  Hobbies: Cooking with my family and endurance cycling.

Personal mission: Helping growing companies build on solid financial footing.  Personal motto: Show the work.

How did you get your start in investing?

I came to finance from political science. After earning a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, I completed an MBA in Finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and joined TIAA-CREF in New York in 1989. My first assignments were private placements, restructurings and workouts, along with managing and trading a distressed debt portfolio. In 1992, I moved to Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, where I represented creditor committees in the firm’s workout group. Seeing troubled companies first as a debt holder and then as an advisor to their creditors taught me to examine not just the business plan but what happens if it falls short.

What did your years as a research analyst teach you?

For 13 years, I covered telecommunications services as a research analyst. I started on the public high yield desk at Dillon Read in New York, where I also covered paper and forest products and food and beverage companies, then continued in high yield research at BankBoston Robertson Stephens. At Thomas Weisel Partners, I moved to public equities, and at Evergreen Investments I joined the buy side, adding utilities to my coverage. Following one industry through changing market conditions and from different perspectives sharpened my sense of what a company is actually worth. It also taught me to support every judgment with financial evidence.

What does your work at Emerald Coast Holdings involve?

I’m a Member of Emerald Coast Holdings LLC, a private equity firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We invest in middle-market companies and back early-stage businesses through venture capital and venture debt. My role is to source, evaluate and structure those investments, then work alongside the companies as they grow. The firm takes an active approach, often participating at the board level and supporting mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and strategic planning. Our investments span specialty finance, direct-to-consumer businesses, industrial services, manufacturing, healthcare services and information technology services. We look for companies where our experience can contribute more than the initial capital.

How do you evaluate a new investment?

The first questions I ask when evaluating an investment go back to where I started. Long before I invested in growing companies, I was analyzing troubled ones at TIAA-CREF and advising creditor committees at Houlihan Lokey. The questions have not changed much: how much a company owes, who its creditors are and what happens if things don’t go to plan. Once I understand the downside, I look at whether our experience and an active board role can help the business reach its next stage.

What do you write about?

I write about market structure, fund flows and passive investing, and about how much influence individual investors have in public equity markets. In a 2020 analysis, I drew on figures from the Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, Yardeni Research and the Investment Company Institute to estimate how much discretionary investment money sits outside retirement accounts and consider its potential influence on equity prices. I also joined The Chartcast with TC & Georgia as a guest to discuss the same topics. Much of my approach to writing comes from my years as an analyst: every argument should come with the data that supports it.

What do you do away from work?

Away from work, my time goes to my family. I cook with my wife and our two children, and some of my favorite evenings are spent in the kitchen with them. I’m also an endurance cyclist. My rides are measured in hours rather than minutes, and they call for steady effort over a long day. That pace suits me. Investing has always asked the same of me: patience, consistency and the discipline to keep going when the finish is still a long way off.

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