HIGH
PERFORMANCE
CREDIT
We seek to deliver differentiated returns¹ generated from growth-stage companies in the lower middle market.
LAGO Evergreen Credit BDC's lower middle-market focus and innovative approach to private credit offers the opportunity for premium risk-adjusted total returns focused on generating attractive current cash yields.
WE PROVIDE CAPITAL TO GROWTH COMPANIES IN UNDERSERVED MARKETS WHERE WE BELIEVE OPPORTUNITY AND RISK ARE OFTEN MISPRICED.
We seek to partner with innovative companies that are working to capture opportunities and/or addressing challenges shaping the 21st Century.
Corporate Governance
Tim Gottfried
Interested Trustee
Tim A. Gottfried has served as a trustee and CEO of LAGO Evergreen Credit since October 2024. Mr. Gottfried has over 25 years of principal investing and corporate finance experience, most recently as co-founder and CEO at LAGO Asset Management, LLC.
Prior to co-founding LAGO Asset Management in May 2019, Mr. Gottfried was a co-founder and investment committee member of Stonegate Capital, LLC, a lower middle market-focused finance company from 2016 to 2019. At Stonegate, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for growing to $150 million in commitments, prior to its ultimate sale to another lower middle market finance company. Prior to Stonegate, Mr. Gottfried was an Officer and the Assistant Treasurer for CDW Corporation, a Fortune 250 company from 2010 to 2016. As the Assistant Treasurer, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for the capital strategy for CDW, which included over a dozen debt and equity transactions totaling over $15 billion in transaction value, including the Company’s IPO on NASDAQ. Prior to CDW, Mr. Gottfried was employed at Cerberus Capital Chicago, LLC, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, LP. While at Cerberus, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for originating and structuring second lien and equity transactions, primarily for distressed targets and borrowers. In addition, Mr. Gottfried was the primary liaison responsible for oversight and deal origination through Cerberus’ equity investment in Hilco Trading, LLC, a business services company focused on asset appraisal and liquidation. During his association with Hilco, Mr. Gottfried assisted in the structuring of the in-court acquisition of all or a portion of the assets of several national retailers.
Mr. Gottfried’s credit experience also includes over $2 billion of bank loans and high yield securities underwriting while working in the Leveraged Finance group of JPMorgan Chase in New York. Mr. Gottfried has additional experience originating, structuring and negotiating M&A transactions while working at middle market broker/dealers including William Blair & Company and Mesirow Financial. Mr. Gottfried received an MBA from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Honors) from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.Mark Buffington
Interested Trustee
Mark Buffington is Founder and CEO of BIP Capital, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, which was formed to identify and capture extraordinary investment opportunities for investors while promoting the innovation economy. In addition, Mr. Buffington has served as CEO of the Company since August 2022. Prior to founding BIP Capital, LLC, Mr. Buffington co-founded and served as CEO for BIP Wealth, LLC and was involved in all phases of that firm’s development from its founding.
Mr. Buffington has led investment rounds in more than 80 companies in numerous industries (Healthcare, Digital Media, Ed Tech, Enterprise SaaS, FinTech and Advanced Computing).
Mr. Buffington serves on the board of Trustees of several companies, including the NFHS Network, Trella Health, PlayOn! Sports, Rhyme and Oncolens. He also serves on the nonprofit board of Buckhead Coalition, Inc. and has served on several other nonprofit boards, including the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Mr. Buffington graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology and received an MBA from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.John Loverro
Independent Trustee
John Loverro has 19 years of private equity experience. Since 2005, Mr. Loverro has been a Partner at Lexington Partners, where he is primarily engaged in the origination, evaluation and management of equity co-investments. In addition, Mr. Loverro is a member of Lexington’s co-investment funds investment committee. Lexington Partners is one of the world’s largest and most successful managers of secondary private equity and co-investment funds. Lexington helped pioneer the development of the institutional secondary market over 30 years ago and created one of the first independent, discretionary co-investment programs 25 years ago. Lexington has total capital in excess of $75 billion.
Prior to joining Lexington in 2005, Mr. Loverro was a Vice President in investment banking at JPMorgan and prior to that he was a fixed income portfolio manager at PIMCO/Oppenheimer Capital and Assistant Treasurer at Banco Mexicano.
Mr. Loverro graduated from Fairfield University with a BA in economics and from the Darden School at the University of Virginia with an MBA.Frank E. Roedl
Independent Trustee
Frank E. Roedl was an Executive Vice President at a wholly owned affiliate bank of Synovus Financial Corporation, where he served from 1996 until he retired in 2014. Upon retirement in 2014, Mr. Roedl established a financial consulting business specializing in working with privately owned commercial businesses.
Mr. Roedl began his 43 yearlong business career by joining a Wall Street investment banking boutique in 1971. The investment firm had a deep history in the origination, underwriting, and distribution of corporate and municipal debt securities. Mr. Roedl’s tenure with the firm was primarily spent working with institutional buyers of the debt instruments. In the late 1970s, Mr. Roedl joined Citizens and Southern National Bank of Atlanta, Georgia. He worked in the Fortune 500 market representing the Bank to firms with an economic presence in the Southeast. Between 1982 and 1986, Mr. Roedl managed the Bank’s Chicago Office with responsibility for the five midwestern states surrounding Chicago. In 1986, Mr. Roedl managed the Trade Finance Department of the International Division and in 1988 he started a specialized lending unit to bank media and communications companies.
Mr. Roedl sits on the Board of Harrison Poultry, Inc., a 60-year-old poultry company, and on the Advisory Board of a statewide credit union. For fun, he manages a long stock portfolio of family assets and an income producing equity derivatives portfolio.Robert Vedra
Independent Trustee
Robert Vedra is a founder and Senior Managing Director of Industrial Opportunity Partners, LLC (“IOP”), a private equity firm focused on investing in middle-market manufacturing and distribution businesses. At IOP, he holds a leadership role in all aspects of managing IOP, including origination, execution and oversight of investments, as well as internal IOP management and participation on the investment committee. He serves as a director of many of IOP’s portfolio companies.
Prior to the founding of IOP in 2005, Mr. Vedra was a Managing Director at another Chicago-based private equity firm focused on investing in similar businesses and where he held a leadership role on several prominent private equity investments. Prior to that position, Mr. Vedra worked within the Merchant Banking group of GE Capital, specializing in sourcing, structuring and underwriting senior debt placements for middle-market companies. Prior to completing his MBA degree, he worked at LaSalle Partners Limited. He began his career with Ernst & Young LLP, where he was a staff auditor.
Mr. Vedra graduated from the University of Michigan with an MBA degree with High Distinction and from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA degree with Honors.