Banner Ridge Partners

Banner Ridge Partners is a registered investment advisor specializing in private markets, focusing on identifying best-in-class private equity managers within niche markets and offering liquidity solutions to their limited partners. The firm employs a strategy centered on deep value opportunities, fragmented markets, and navigating structural complexities to achieve its clients' investment objectives. Their investment solutions encompass primary commitments to world-class private equity managers, secondary transactions providing liquidity for private equity interests, and co-investments alongside established managers to uncover undervalued opportunities.

The firm was co-founded in 2019 by Anthony Cusano and C.J. Driessen, who are also the principal owners and responsible for managing the firm's strategies. Both co-founders bring significant experience in the secondary market and niche private equity sectors. Anthony Cusano, as Managing Partner and Chairman of the investment committee, has extensive experience in analyzing and structuring complex private deals, including his prior role as Portfolio Manager of a Secondary Opportunity Fund at Siguler Guff & Co. C.J. Driessen, as Partner, focuses on sourcing, underwriting, and analyzing investments across the firm's platform, with previous experience in secondary transactions and co-investments at Siguler Guff & Co. and LSV Advisors.

Banner Ridge Partners' investment focus spans distressed, special situations, and credit strategies, including distressed trading, distressed-for-control, turnaround private equity, and structured credit. They aim to construct high-conviction, diversified portfolios that mitigate risk while generating outsized returns. The firm manages discrete investment vehicles for primary, co-investment, and secondary investment strategies, with a reported $15.4 billion in assets under management as of January 2026.