CYwP Funds
Current Yield with Participation Fund I, LLC; Current Yield with Participation Fund II, LLC; Current Yield with Participation Fund III, LLC; Current Yield with Participation Fund IV, LLC; Current Yield with Participation Fund V, LLC; Current Yield with Participation Fund VI, LLC; and Current Yield with Participation VII, LLC (together “CYwP Funds”) were formed to provide flexible growth capital through debt and equity investments in operating companies and high-yield real estate opportunities based in the continental United States. CYwP Funds seek diverse investments that not only provide quarterly distributions of interest or cash flow but also have the potential for significant capital appreciation. CYwP Funds are managed by Ethan Assal, David Brink and Barry Dickstein, and are guided by an Advisory Board. Assal, Brink, Dickstein and the Advisory Board have made meaningful capital commitments to CYwP Funds.
Ethan Assal, Managing Partner
Ethan Assal is the managing partner of CYPF Manager, LLC, CYPF Manager III, LLC, CYPF Manager IV, LLC, CYPF Manager V, LLC, CYPF Manager VI, LLC and CYPF Manager VII, LLC, each of which manages its related CYwP Fund. Assal is also chairman and CEO of Verasolve, which provides comprehensive strategic direction and program implementation in the areas of branding, marketing and public relations for B2B and B2B2G clients; and is founder of the Moxie Award, which recognizes organizations for having demonstrated boldness and innovation as an integral part of their growth strategy. Assal has more than 30 years of experience investing his own capital in middle market and real estate deals.
Before establishing Verasolve, Assal founded and served as chairman and CEO of Multi-Media Holdings, Inc. (MHI). In 2002, the Washington Business Journal ranked MHI as the largest advertising firm in Washington, DC (based on 2000 billings) 1. At MHI, Assal grew capitalized billings to $400 million and managed a staff of 400 employees in offices across five states.
Prior to MHI, Assal founded Personalities, Inc. while still in college. Assal directed all licensing, marketing, product development and manufacturing. In the 1980s, Personalities, Inc. shipped buttons and key chains per month to major retailers for bands including The Police, Duran Duran, AC/DC, Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones. Assal sold the business in 1986 at the age of 25.
A graduate of Brandeis University and the Harvard Business School OPM Program, Assal is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2 award winner and served as a judge for the prestigious award for several years. He also is a recipient of Washington Business Journal’s “Forty Under Forty” 3 award. Assal served on the Board of Directors of Imagination Stage and the Community Foundation of Montgomery County and is an active member of the Washington-Baltimore World Presidents’ Organization.
Notes:
1 In 2002, Washington Business Journal ranked Multi-Media Holdings, Inc. (MHI) as #1 on its list titled “Largest advertising agencies in the metro area” (Ranked by 2000 metro-area capitalized billings from advertising1). No payments were made by Assal to apply for or use this accolade. 1 Research was conducted during April and May 2001. Not all agencies responded to Washington Business Journal’s requests for information.
2 Assal won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in 1995 for his efforts with Multimedia Holding, Inc. He was a regional award winner in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Emerging category. According to Ernst & Young’s website: “Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally. This program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. We celebrate original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future. No payments were made by Assal to apply for or use this accolade.
3 Assal was awarded Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award in 1996. According to WBJ’s website, “Each year, the 40 Under 40 Awards honor 40 rising stars in the local business world who have distinguished themselves in their companies, their communities and their industries — all before their 40th birthday. These young professionals are executives, innovators and entrepreneurs who represent our region’s next generation of business leaders.” No payments were made by Assal to apply for or use this accolade.
David H. Brink, Chief Compliance Officer & Partner
David H. Brink is CYwP Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer and a partner of CYPF Manager IV, LLC, CYPF Manger V, LLC, CYPF Manager VI, LLC and CYPF Manager VII, LLC, each of which manages its related CYwP Fund.
Brink has spent his career advising, funding and operating businesses throughout the mid-Atlantic. Most recently, he was the founding partner and Executive Managing Director of Riveron Consulting’s East Coast operations, during which time he started the DC, Atlanta and New York offices. With more than 20 years of corporate finance and leadership experience, he has worked with a wide variety of companies in the areas of finance, strategy and transaction advisory, with an emphasis on middle market M&A and Private Equity. He has worked on deals in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, government services, business services, healthcare, technology and energy services, among others.
A native of Arlington, Virginia, Brink has been in the greater Washington, DC area for most of his life. He earned his undergraduate degree from James Madison University and his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. He previously worked as an investment banker for Houlihan Lokey. Brink earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation.
Barry Dickstein, Partner
Barry Dickstein is a partner of CYPF Manager III LLC, which manages CYwP Fund III.
Dickstein has nearly three decades of experience in investment banking, business transactions and managing successful. Currently, he is the Manager for Silver Lake Capital Advisors, a family office focused on direct investments in real estate and related businesses.
Dickstein was formerly the Development Director in Washington, DC Financial Institutions Group of Houlihan Lokey (HLI: NYSE), an international investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, valuation, financial restructuring and strategic consulting.
Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Dickstein was a Managing Director at Milestone Advisors (acquired by Houlihan Lokey in 2012), where he specialized in providing mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and restructuring advisory services to middle market companies. During his tenure, Dickstein was involved in the capital formation and launch of Blackstreet Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments in underperforming corporate orphans with up to $150 million in revenue. To date, Blackstreet has invested in 30 companies with combined sales in excess of $1.5 billion and has more than 8,000 employees.
From 1989 to 2021, Dickstein was the principal shareholder and Chief Investment Officer at Comsource Management, Inc., a large residential property management firm in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. Comsource currently manages approximately 150 properties comprising more than 35,000 units.
Dickstein was a founder and shareholder in Zenetex (acquired- Vectrus, Inc. NYSE: VEC 2020), a leading provider of technical and strategic solutions focused on enabling mission readiness, performance, and enhanced protection for defense and national security clients globally.
Dickstein received a B.S. in finance from The University of Maryland.
Alain Chetrit, Advisory Board
Alain Chetrit is chairman emeritus of LabConnect, a laboratory services company he founded in 2002. LabConnect provides global central laboratory services, including sample management, biostorage and scientific support services, for drug research and biopharmaceutical clients.
In 2002, Chetrit also co-founded and managed Brochet Capital Partners (“BCP”), a hedge fund that invests long and short in U.S. equities.
Previously, Chetrit was a partner at Focus Bankers, a Washington, D.C. boutique investment banking and consulting firm that offered M&A, capital growth and corporate development consulting services to mid-market companies. From 1996 to 2000, Chetrit was founder and CEO of First Regional Telecom, a full-service broadband and internet communications solutions provider serving residential communities across the U.S.
Chetrit started his career in the luxury apparel industry; he founded and served as CEO of Hugo Boss Stores Holdings until he sold rights to the parent company in 1995. He is a dedicated and active member of the YPO network; he served on the global board from 2010 to 2015, as international finance chair from 2011 to 2013, and as YPO Gold global chairman from 2013 to 2014.
Walter Hsu, Advisory Board
Walter Hsu is the founder and president of HSU Builders, a global commercial construction firm engaged in government, private sector and classified international contracting. The firm’s commercial division services a wide range of tenant improvement needs, including interiors and base buildings.
HSU Builders has served the greater Washington, DC area for more than 20 years. Notable projects include renovations of the US Marine Corps War Memorial – Iwo Jima, the White House West Wing and James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, the Pentagon Athletic Center and the National Zoo’s Elephant Community Center.
A graduate of The University of Maryland and American University’s Kogod School of Business, where he received his MBA, Hsu is an active member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). He is past president and board member of The Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) Metropolitan Washington, DC chapter.
Hsu is a native Washingtonian and currently lives in Maryland with his wife and their four children. He is a trustee of Georgetown Preparatory School. In his spare time, Hsu enjoys martial arts (a lifelong passion), coaching and mentoring youth in sports and entrepreneurship, and purchasing commercial properties.
Satin Mirchandani, Advisory Board
Satin Mirchandani is CEO of Marquis Software Solutions, a provider of marketing and compliance solutions for credit unions and community banks.
Prior CEO stints at PE-backed companies have taken Mirchandani into cybersecurity (FireMon) and healthcare (MD Bulyine, TractManager). He co-founded MessageOne in 2002 and served as CEO until its acquisition by Dell Inc. in 2008, after which he served as corporate vice president & general manager of Dell’s SaaS businesses. Previously, as a partner at Impact Venture Partners, Satin focused on e-business services and next-generation enterprise applications. He held other professional roles at pcOrder.com, McKinsey & Company, and Microsoft, where he started his career as a software engineer. Mirchandani received an AB in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College, Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA with Honors from the Harvard Business School.
Troy Peple, Advisory Board
Troy Peple has over three decades of experience in corporate leadership, private equity investing and growing and managing successful companies.
He is CEO and owner of Accelerent, a business development company currently operating in six markets, with growth plans to ultimately enter 20-30 markets throughout the US. In addition to Accelerent, he owns interests in just under 100 privately held companies, nine private equity funds, and approximately 150 commercial real estate projects located throughout the United States.
Before starting Accelerent, Peple was president of Fameco Real Estate Services (subsequently acquired by CBRE). Prior to Fameco, he was president, CEO and majority shareholder of ChainLinks Retail Advisors. He started his career with Arthur Andersen in Washington, DC and was later part of the leadership team that ran the real estate practice in the middle Atlantic for Coopers and Lybrand (which later became PWC after merging with Price Waterhouse). He was also CFO, and later EVP and COO, of a large commercial real estate development company.
Peple is a CPA, having received his BBA in accounting from the college of William and Mary. Troy and his wife, Kathryn, currently live in Las Vegas and Scottsdale when not traveling internationally.
John F. (Jay) Ripley, Advisory Board
Jay Ripley is the founder of Vivant Behavioral Healthcare, a national operator of behavioral health services in the USA. He also is a founding stockholder of Global Partner Acquisition Corp II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that merged with and was renamed Stardust Power, Inc. He is a partner in Seaview Capital Partners and Pratt & Company Capital – both real estate development groups in the Cayman Islands, and is a partner in SR Mineral Resources, a mineral resources company in Zambia.
Previously, Ripley served as chairman of the Alaris Equity Partners Income Trust board of directors. Alaris is a publicly traded investment company located in Calgary, Alberta that invests in North American companies. He also co-founded Sequel Youth & Family Services in the behavioral health industry. Additionally, Ripley co-founded and was the principal owner of BGR The Burger Joint, an upscale, fast casual gourmet burger restaurant concept. He also was a founding stockholder of Youth Services International and served as its president and COO as well as its CFO. Finally, he served as president and CEO of Precision Auto Care, a worldwide franchiser of automotive service centers, and was an executive with Jiffy Lube, after beginning his career with Ernst & Young, CPAs in Baltimore, MD.
Ripley is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Baltimore and a licensed CPA. He is a member of both CEO (Chief Executives Organization) and YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), serves on the University of Baltimore President’s Advisory Council as well as a number of not-for-profit boards, and is a partner in Sageworth, a shared family office that serves its members and clients globally.
In his spare time Ripley is an avid yachtsman, cruising on Adventure, his Fleming 65, in the Chesapeake Bay. He also loves downhill skiing, scuba diving, road cycling, and playing golf. He and his wife, Barbara live in Northern Virginia and have five children and 11 grandchildren.
Mark Segal, Advisory Board
Mark Segal is the family office managing partner of Seglo Capital LLC, a family-held angel and venture capital partnership. Previously, he was CEO of US Fertility (2020 to 2022); CEO of Shady Grove Fertility (2009-2020) and regional president of IntegraMed America (1998-2009).
Segal has served and is currently serving on numerous boards. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Cape Town, South Africa; and an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. He and his wife, Amanda, live in Potomac, Maryland. They have three children.
Footnote to Advisory Board Bios
Members of the Advisory Board are not part of the CYwP Fund investment team and have no obligation for time committed to and are not paid for this role. Advisory Board members have invested or may invest in one or more CYwP Funds