Merit Capital Partners (“Merit”) is pleased to announce two recent hires within its finance and investment teams.

Aaron Karlinsky was hired as Controller in February 2025. Aaron was previously a Vice President at Adams Street Partners in Chicago, working in their Private Equity Accounting and Client Operations group. Prior to Adams Street, Aaron was a Senior Fund Accountant at Mesirow Advanced Strategies and a Federal Tax Senior Associate at KPMG. Aaron is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Illinois CPA Society.

Lauren St. Clair was hired as a Vice President in September 2025 after successfully completing her MBA at University of Chicago. Prior to joining Merit, Lauren was an Associate at HKW, a middle-market private equity firm. Previously, Lauren was an Investment Banking Associate in the Financial Sponsors Group at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Chicago, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. She also worked in the Consumer & Retail Group at KeyBanc.