Mr. Caruso has more than 20 years of investment banking experience representing public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, private placements, and public offerings of debt and equity. He has broad industry experience in the consumer, industrial products/manufacturing, natural resources/environmental, and technology/telecom categories with particular expertise in the building products, metals, paper and packaging, plastics, security, and telecommunication industries.

Mr. Caruso previously served on the board of directors of The Plastics Group, a privately held custom blow molder until its sale to William Blair Capital Partners.

Prior to joining Goldsmith Agio Helms (now Lazard Middle Market) in 1990, he was a vice president at RBC Dain Rauscher Wessels, Inc., a national investment banking firm, where he initiated and closed a number of successful investment banking assignments. Prior to Dain, Mr. Caruso was a corporate lending officer for JP Morgan Chase, where he successfully closed over $1 billion of senior debt transactions.

Mr. Caruso has a master of business administration degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University.