James Smith is a Partner and Managing Director of Demopolis Equity Partners. Prior to Demopolis, James was a Managing Director at Diamond Hill Capital Management where he led the institutional sales team. His previous experiences include senior roles at Ariel Investments, MFS Investment Management, PineBridge Investments, and Goldman Sachs. James has a stellar track record in fundraising having raised over $12 Billion in institutional assets across his 25-year career in asset management. In addition to direct sales, James is also experienced in managing and servicing relationships with asset owners as well as asset allocators. Additionally, James formed a successful private equity search fund where he acquired and successfully operated a national elementary education enrichment business. James started his career as an engineer at Procter & Gamble.

James holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master of Manufacturing Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University.

First job: Newspaper delivery person and attendant at a recreation center in Calumet Park, IL.