About Us

Mark Holdsworth

Partner

Mark Holdsworth is Founder and Managing Partner of The Holdsworth Group, LLC (“THG”), a principal investor across real estate, public and private equities, credit, and other alternative investments sourced by the firm. THG also advises family offices and operating companies on investment strategy and general business issues. He serves as Chairman and co-Chief Investment Officer of THG Securities Advisors, LLC, an investment firm focused on public securities of all types, including equity and debt instruments and related products.

Before founding THG, Mark was a Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and Operating Partner of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC (“TCP”), the Los Angeles–based private investment firm he helped build from its 1999 founding. TCP managed approximately $9.0 billion of capital when BlackRock, Inc. acquired it in 2018; Mark then served as a Managing Director at BlackRock through April 2019. At TCP he was Chairman of the Investment Committee and Chief Executive Officer of several of the firm’s funds. His investing career has centered on the equity and debt of companies in transition across a wide range of industries — a discipline that demands operating judgment as much as financial structuring, and one he has practiced through multiple credit cycles.

Mark brings roughly two decades of public and private board experience. He serves as a Director of Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN), the worldwide engineering and digitally enabled solutions provider serving defense, security, and critical infrastructure markets, where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and sits on the Executive Committee. He is Chairman of RF Industries, Ltd. (NASDAQ: RFIL), a manufacturer of cabling and connectors for the telecom industry, and a member of the Board of Directors of PlantsExpress.com.

He is a graduate of Pomona College with a B.A. in Physics, the California Institute of Technology with a B.S. (Honors) in Engineering and Applied Science, and Harvard Business School.

Mark is Chairman of The First Tee of Greater Pasadena, a Trustee of Polytechnic School in Pasadena, and a guest lecturer on board governance at California State University – Los Angeles. He is a former National Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and former Chairman of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Chair’s Council at Caltech.

John Cattau

Partner

John Cattau is Co-Founder, Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer of The Silverfern Group, a Greenwich-based private equity and real estate investment firm focused on family offices and alternative investments. Over more than two decades, John has helped build and scale the firm’s global investment platform, with responsibilities spanning capital formation, strategic relationships, operations, administration and compliance in the United States and Luxembourg.

His work at Silverfern has given him a broad perspective on the intersection of family capital, institutional investment practices and entrepreneurial firm-building. He has worked closely with family offices, institutional investors and investment partners across private equity and real estate, helping develop the relationships and infrastructure required to support a global co-investment platform.

Prior to Silverfern, John spent eight years at American Express, where he held Vice President roles with American Express Financial Advisors, now Ameriprise Financial, and within the company’s Corporate Card businesses. His experience combines the strategic and marketing discipline of a global financial institution with more than two decades of building and operating an entrepreneurial investment firm.

John holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Colgate University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 registrations through INTE Securities LLC.

Bob Blair

Partner

Bob Blair has spent his career building and leading investment programs for ultra-high-net-worth families, with a track record of long-term performance across private equity, real estate, and alternative assets.

For sixteen years he formalized and developed a professionally managed single-family office in partnership with family leadership. He provided executive oversight across family governance, asset allocation, investment strategy, portfolio management, financial administration, tax planning, and risk management, and designed legacy-focused strategies in control buyout, growth equity, and real estate. As one of three Investment Committee members, he held direct responsibility for approving every family and fund investment, including a family office–backed third-party fund strategy in private equity and real estate with $1.5 billion in AUM. His direct private equity portfolio produced a 33.9 percent IRR, an 18x total value to paid-in capital, and 5.9x distributions to paid-in capital.

Bob is Managing Partner of Angeles Crest Capital LLC, directing family office investments across late-stage venture, buyout, real estate, private credit, and hedge fund strategies. He serves as Senior Advisor to The Holdsworth Group, LLC, a single family office and hedge fund, advising its Investment Committee on value-oriented public equity and credit, and as Senior Advisor to Inflection Point Advisory Group. Across these roles he advises multiple single-family offices on governance, succession planning, investment strategy, and family office structure — including board construction, advisor oversight, and manager selection.

Earlier, he was Principal and Vice President at Dubin Clark & Co., a middle-market leveraged buyout firm, where he built deal origination across 900+ intermediaries in 23 states, led firm-wide due diligence, closed twelve transactions representing more than $550 million in aggregate target revenue, and served on four portfolio company boards. He began his career at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he managed audit, due diligence, and consulting engagements and was a partner candidate before business school.

Bob holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence, and a BS in Accounting from the University of Delaware. He is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania.

Ken Ude

Partner

Ken Ude advises family-owned businesses, family offices, and private companies navigating transition, growth, and leadership change. Over a 45-year career he has served as President or CEO of six private equity–backed companies across a wide range of industries, recruited in each case to grow sales, stabilize operations, strengthen leadership teams, restore profitability, and build enterprise value.

His operating record spans consumer brands, manufacturing, building products, agriculture, and services. As President of Storage Mobility — the nation’s largest independent PODS operator, with 21 locations across eight states — he grew revenue 25 percent and EBITDA more than 350 percent before the company’s sale to PODS in 2014. As President and CEO of Stila Cosmetics, he led the brand’s extraction from Estée Lauder following its acquisition by Sun Capital, expanded North American sales, restructured international distribution, and delivered the company’s first profitable year. He also led Jim Russell Racing School, Bell Racing, Nailite International, and The Reliable Company, each through turnaround, transition, or preparation for strategic sale. Earlier in his career he held marketing and general management roles at Petoseed, Rain Bird, ARCO Solar, and Hill & Knowlton.

From 2015 to 2019, Ken served as Director of the USC Marshall School of Business Family Business Program, working with business-owning families to strengthen both company performance and family governance, communication, and decision-making. He remains a member of The Board Group, which builds and serves on advisory boards for privately held companies approaching a liquidity event, transition, or period of crisis.

Today Ken’s advisory work centers on succession planning, next-generation development, family and business governance, family meeting facilitation, and operational improvement — the qualitative and quantitative issues that determine whether a family enterprise survives its next generation.

Ken holds an MBA in International Finance and a master’s in Public Relations from USC, along with a BA in Psychology. He served on the San Marino City Council from 2018 to 2022 and as Mayor in 2021.