Jim Smist

HAS OVER 20 YEARS OF INVESTING EXPERIENCE IN both public and private EQUITIES and COMMODITIES.  HE HAS EXTENSIVE PRIVATE EQUITY DUE DILIGENCE EXPERIENCE IN A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES INCLUDING ENERGY, ENVIRONMENTAL, MANUFACTURING, INDUSTRIAL, CONSUMER PRODUCTS, FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

Jim Smist co-founded the following companies:

Dean & Company is a strategy consulting firm whose clients are public companies and private equity firms.  It uses rigorous analytics and data to help private equity funds with business due diligence and help companies address issues like growth, pricing, benchmarking and cost management, and competitive positioning.

Dean Capital Investments Management manages proprietary hedge funds which invest in a wide range of asset classes globally.  This includes public equities, swaps, fixed income, derivatives, and commodities.

VECO Power Trading is a trading firm that trades short-term electricity in domestic power markets. VECO supports efficient, competitive electricity markets through sound fundamentals based investment and trading.

Nodal Exchange, one of the leading exchanges for electricity contracts, is a derivatives exchange providing price, credit and liquidity risk management solutions to participants in the North American commodities markets. Nodal Exchange is a leader in innovation, having introduced the world’s largest set of electric power locational (nodal) futures contracts. Nodal Exchange was sold to Deutsche Boerse/EEX Group, a group of companies serving international commodity markets.

Prior to his entrepreneurial work, Jim was a Vice President at Strategic Planning Associates, now Oliver Wyman.  Jim has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S, in Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, from University of Buffalo. 

Jim now plans to support other founders through DC Investment Partners, providing capital and experience and expertise to drive their success.

Fun fact: Prior to receiving his MBA, he was a Technical Brand Manager at Procter and Gamble.