Robert T. Lynch
Managing Partner
United Enterprise Fund, L.P. 

During his business career, Robert Lynch has compiled a record of success that includes extensive experience in real estate, commercial banking, financial service consulting, franchising, marketing and private equity investing.  He has expertise in credit analysis, loan origination and underwriting, franchise evaluation and management, and the management of investments in the franchise industry.

Robert is a founder and one of two Managing Directors of the United Enterprise Fund, L.P. (UEF).  Robert has helped establish and implement UEF’s successful strategy of partnering with minority restaurant operators in urban and low-to-moderate income (LMI) markets.

Robert began his career with Wells Fargo Bank in 1991, where he served for several years as a real estate loan officer and a commercial/business loan officer before founding Keys Consulting Group, a financial services consulting company that provided expertise in business development, financial modeling, franchise and small business finance, equity placements, and project management.  In the years just prior to founding UEF, Robert was with the Franchise Mortgage Acceptance Company (“FMAC”) where he exercised regional credit responsibilities and oversaw marketing to potential borrowers in the franchise industry.

Robert holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA in Finance & Real Estate and International Business & Entrepreneurship from UCLA’s Anderson School, where he was a fellow of the Robert Toigo Foundation.  As part of UCLA’s MBA exchange program, Robert spent six months at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Hershel M. Velasquez
Chairman
United Enterprise Fund, L.P.

Hershel Velasquez is the founding member and Chairman of the various entities that make up the Velasquez Organization, the nation’s largest minority-owned and managed investment banking organization. The organization includes five separate entities offering services to both private and public sector institutional investors in asset management, investment banking/underwriting, and various private equity areas. In the private sector alone, nearly half of all Fortune 200 companies enjoy a relationship as an institutional investor with at least one of the Velasquez Organization’s entities.  Twenty-five percent of those companies have invested in two or more Velasquez affiliates. Through Hershel’s leadership, product diversification and an extensive and successful track record, the Velasquez Organization has differentiated itself from its peers as the leading institution of its kind in corporate America.

Hershel is one of the founders of the United Enterprise Fund (UEF) and serves as the Chairman of the Fund’s Board.   He is an accomplished veteran of Wall Street with more than two decades experience. His career began at Salomon Brothers, and continued at Merrill Lynch’s corporate bond department where he was a trading desk manager, before he founded the Velasquez Organization.

A graduate of Long Island University, Hershel received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Velasquez is dedicated to furthering the cause of charitable organizations that focus on children and education.  He serves the Boards of several organizations, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Buena Vista University, and The US Fund for UNICEF. In addition, Hershel previously served on the board of the Securities Industry Association (SIA). 

David V. McCarter
Managing Partner
United Enterprise Fund, L.P.

David McCarter is a successful businessman with substantial experience in real estate, restaurant and private equity investment markets.  His experience has spanned financial and operating roles in public and private enterprises, including corporate finance roles and expertise in underwriting and structuring of debt and equity investments, as well as the development, implementation and management of strategic plans.

David is a founder and one of two Managing Partners of the United Enterprise Fund, L.P. (UEF).  UEF’s success has been due in large part to its strategy of partnering with minority restaurant operators in urban and LMI environments as well as the extensive operating experience of its managing partners. 

David started his nearly 20-year business career in retail and residential real estate before joining Pepsico, Inc.’s renowned Pepsico Restaurant Group, where he was involved in strategic planning and corporate finance.  He was primarily responsible for the corporate management of Pepsico’s relationship with its Casual Dining Concepts, which include California Pizza Kitchen, Chevys Mexican Restaurants and East Side Marios.  While at Pepsico, David worked with operations management to execute turnarounds at underperforming units, and participated in the company’s refranchising program, which included the Pizza Hut line.  He was initiated into the world of private equity while a principal at the CMS Companies, a multi-billion dollar money management firm.

David earned a BA in English Literature from Columbia College, and an MBA in Marketing & Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

UEF’s Board of Managers

The Fund’s Board of Managers was formed to bring decades of restaurant and food service experience to supplement the Managing Partners’ and operating managers experience in general management and corporate finance.

The Board’s members include Richard A. Hastings, Chairman and Majority Owner of Hastings Food Group; George P. Williams, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies of The Anderson School of Business at UCLA and Chairman of the Family and Closely-Held Business Program; Matthew S. Padgett, President and CEO of McDonald’s Franchisee TCB Management Group and past President of the National Black McDonald’s Owner/Operators Association; James M. Hall, Executive Vice President and CFO of Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and former Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration for The United Negro College Fund, Inc.; Shawn A. Harrod, Partner Goldman Sachs & Company, retired, and past Governor and Vice Chairman of The Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX) and The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX); Hershel M. Velasquez, Chairman, President and CEO of the Velasquez Organization, which includes Velasquez Capital Management, L.P., a $3 billion asset management firm; and Joshua J. Robinson, Executive Director of The California Restaurant Association and former senior operating manager with Bennigan’s, California Pizza Kitchens, Boston Markets and World Wrapps.

United Enterprise Fund, L.P. • 30 Broad Street, 21st floor
New York, NY 10004 • (212) 635-2303

© 2006 United Enterprise Fund, L.P.