Michael Eisenstein, CFA, CTP

Biography

Michael Eisenstein brings over 25 years of executive leadership and transactional expertise to Suffolk University, with a distinguished career spanning corporate finance, treasury, capital markets, financial planning and analysis, securitization, mergers and acquisitions, and investment management.

As co-founder of Clarus Capital, a modern private credit equipment finance firm, Michael serves as Chief Financial Officer and a Board member of this private equity-backed organization. Established in 2021, Clarus specializes in delivering reliable, efficient, and flexible capital solutions to finance critical assets for middle-market and large corporate borrowers. The firm targets direct credit investments of up to $100 million for its own balance sheet across a wide range of equipment types, industries, and credit profiles to support new equipment purchases, strategic expansion strategies, and liquidity generating sale-leasebacks.

For 15 years, Michael was a key member of the NewStar Financial team, which was acquired by First Eagle Investment Management in 2017. He served as Corporate Treasurer and Head of Asset Management, and also as Chief Financial Officer of the firm’s de novo business development company. NewStar, a premier, publicly traded (NASDAQ: NEWS) $7.5 billion private credit investment management firm, was an early pioneer in the private debt asset class. During his tenure at NewStar, Michael led the public company’s treasury, capital markets, investment valuation, securitization, and quantitative analytics functions. The firm extended over $15 billion in loans to more than 750 U.S. middle-market businesses, backed by over 250 unique private equity sponsors, and executed more than 30 benchmark ABS and CLO securitizations to fund its credit investments.

Before joining First Eagle, Michael spent five years at MUFG, one of the world's largest financial institutions. As part of the corporate investment bank's securitization, transportation, and lender finance groups, he specialized in structuring and executing sophisticated asset-backed financings for clients across aviation, container, shipping, specialty finance, and rail sectors.

Michael brings this wealth of practical financial expertise to the classroom, providing students with insights drawn from real-world experience from the forefront of financial markets and institutions.

Professional Activities

• Member, CFA Institute (CFAI)
• Member, Boston CFA Society
• Member, Association of Financial Professionals (AFP)
• Member, Fixed Income Investors Network (FIIN)

Intellectual Contributions

• Michael Eisenstein's Intellectual Contributions [PDF]