James Velgot

Bio

Mr. Velgot joined Fifth Street in July 2010 as an Executive Director, Marketing & Brand Management of our investment adviser. Mr. Velgot has dedicated the past 25 years of his career to marketing and brand strategy in the financial services area. More than 20 of those years were spent at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., now AllianceBernstein. Mr. Velgot built and oversaw one of the most respected communications capabilities on Wall Street, covering the full spectrum from concept to delivery of printed pieces, PowerPoint presentations to internal and external websites, event branding, interactive video, and full motion graphics. As Managing Director of Client Communications, Mr. Velgot oversaw a team of 48 professionals including graphic and flash designers, video editors, website developers, and project managers, while personally negotiating and managing relationships with a variety of key internal executive personnel as well as outside advertising/research agencies and suppliers. In his strategy and communication initiatives, he partnered with a wide array of internal clients, including institutional, private wealth, retail, and corporate. He was the pivotal creative and driving force behind the worldwide rebranding of Alliance Capital and Sanford Bernstein. Before joining Sanford Bernstein, Jim worked with Kidder Peabody and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Velgot received his B.F.A. in Communications Design from Pratt Institute.