Walter O’Leary

Walter O’Leary established South Pointe Capital in 2012 to broaden the geographic footprint of a private equity firm he established in London and Zurich, where his company co-invested with Family Offices throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia. Since relocating to the US, he has led seed rounds and pre-Series A investment rounds in quantum software, cybersecurity, fintech, and data centers. His model is unique in that he co-invests and operates as a CFO/COO and sometimes co-CEO level. 

Walter is a seasoned finance professional who started his banking career with The Bank of New York in the mid 1990s responsible for establishing ADRs for international companies listing in the NYSE and NASDAQ. He then managed a team of specialists responsible for making markets in international equities on the NYSE prior to enrolling in the full-time MBA Program at the University of Chicago where he was a GSB Scholar (top 10%). 

Walter then worked at Goldman Sachs in equity capital markets and Morgan Stanley in private investments. He then transitioned to institutional quantitative research sales at Brown Brothers Harriman managing the UK, and at William Blair in charge of hedge funds coverage in the UK and Europe. In 2005, Walter opened an office in London for Bradesco BBI, the investment banking arm of the largest Brazilian bank at the time, and managed a team that successfully placed dozens of IPOs including BM&F, the Brazilian Futures and Derivatives Exchange that subsequently merge with Bovespa to form B3, the leading exchange in Latin America. In 2007, he established his own advisory boutique firm in London, and an external asset manager in Zurich. 

Walter is also an adjunct faculty member in Finance at the University of Miami Herbert Business School where he teaches FIN418 Fundamentals of Fintech, and the Private Equity Capstone as part of the MSF Program.