In 2022, Luke Phenicie became the Founding Partner of Kissel Capital, establishing an organization with the goal of helping great management teams buy the companies they work for. His like-minded investor network includes many former executives, family office and high net worth investors, and select institutional investors who have invested with him over the past twenty years and who value the firm’s Guiding Principles.
Luke has a 25+ year history of successfully investing in and transforming middle-market companies in partnership with their operating teams. Prior to founding Kissel Capital, Luke spent nearly 20 years at Hammond Kennedy Whitney and Company, Inc. (“HKW”), a leading middle market private equity fund based in Indianapolis, IN, where he led the firm’s investment team in partnering with privately owned companies on behalf of HKW’s investment funds. Luke has investment attribution for 30+ platform company investments during his tenure at HKW and served as Chairman and Director for many HKW portfolio companies. Luke is also on the Board of Directors for HKW and served on its Investment and Exit Committees. Luke remains an employee of HKW and plans to leave the firm in early 2023, however will remain involved in selected portfolio companies thereafter.
Luke started his career working in the M&A group at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. and also for Prospect Partners LLC, a private equity firm based in Chicago, IL. He earned an MBA from The University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and a business degree with concentrations in Accounting and Finance from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business.
Luke is the past President of ACG’s Indiana Chapter, and also serves on various economic development, alumni and non-profit boards in the State of Indiana. Luke, his wife Jenni, and their three boys reside in Zionsville, IN.