Even in the midst of market volatility, Capstone Partners executive Olivia Ferris helped the investment banking and advisory services firm achieve a 6% increase in engagements and a 17% increase in closings last year compared with 2023.
Ferris credits the leadership team's "management-as-a-service" philosophy — a philosophy trumpeted by Capstone founder and CEO John Ferrara — for last year's boost in engagement and closings.
"It's an approach that resonates with me because it symbolizes a commitment to servicing the needs of our bankers and broader employees so they can perform at their best and deliver superior results to our clients," said Ferris, chief operating officer at Capstone, a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares.
Specifically, Ferris cited three management-as-a-service factors that helped bolster last year's performance: powerful lead generation tools that supply a continuous flow of leads; systems and infrastructure that prompt greater efficiency and agility; and a focus on employee growth and retention.
Ferris' accomplishments go beyond the engagement and closing successes. For example, she oversaw the 2024 rollout of a firmwide sentiment survey. The survey delivered real-time insights into employees' perceptions of the firm's strategic plan and the execution of that plan.
Under the strategy umbrella, Ferris helped create a buy-side product that complements Capstone's M&A and financial advisory services. The product enables portfolio companies to pursue bolt-on opportunities through outsourced corporate development. She said her role in development of the product involved taking the concept from idea to reality by stress-testing several business plans and devising a launch plan.
"The launch of our buy-side offering has fueled our engagement with and attractiveness to the private equity community," said Ferris, who was promoted from director of strategy and operations of Capstone to COO in 2023. "Since its launch, we have tripled the size of the team working on these engagements, doubled the number of inbound inquiries, and generated a positive ROI within the first six months of launching."
Additionally, Ferris set up a permanent committee whose eight senior members review deals. She said the committee, which performs preengagement due diligence, serves as an extension of Capstone's quality assurance and client satisfaction initiatives. As a follow-up, the firm established a post-engagement review process run by a rotating group of eight junior professionals. These professionals check on the status of engagements and go over changes in clients' expectations or goals.
Phil Seefried is founder and former CEO of Headwaters MB, an investment banking firm where Ferris started her career. Seefried said Ferris always exhibited "off the charts" proficiency and efficiency at Headwaters, which Capstone acquired in 2017. He's now an executive advisor for Capstone, which Huntington acquired in 2022.
"She gets more done than anyone I have ever worked with and seems to do it with ease," said Seefried. "I've never had to give Olivia a deadline. She has a sense for what is a priority and delivers ahead of any schedule that I would have put forth."
Seefried described Ferris as an MVP who's able to clearly see the "big picture."
"She will take the ball, run to the end zone and spike it," he said. "Olivia will often come up with a new or better way forward. But then she shifts into execution mode and really makes things happen. She brings others along to build consensus, delegates as needed, and leads the way with both thought and work effort."
