Mike Palm

Partner and Managing Director

Mike has more than 18 years of finance and investing experience. He works on both advisory transactions and investment transactions for Charter.

As an investor, Mike oversees the Charter Growth Capital Fund L.P. as a member of the investment committee, completes fund advisory activities, and helps manage Charter’s venture funds and other SPVs. As an advisor, Mike brings his years of private equity experience to help guide clients through M&A processes and the complex private equity landscape. He has partnered with and advised executives on both growth and recapitalization transactions.

Prior to joining Charter Capital Partners, Mike was a Vice President at Driehaus Private Equity, a Chicago-based private equity firm where he identified, reviewed, and executed investments in addition to providing oversight of the fund's portfolio investments. He joined the team as the firm’s first employee outside the co-founders and is an advisor to the fund.

Mike spent three years as an Associate at Beecken Petty O'Keefe & Company, a middle market healthcare services investment firm in Chicago, where he focused on investments in the practice management, HCIT, insurance services, and medical products sectors. He began his career in the investment banking division of CRT Capital Group in Stamford, CT where he was a member of the healthcare, TMT, and restructuring teams.

Mike is a Director of Innoplast and board observer for Keystone Solutions Group and Chicago Switchboard. He is a former director of Energy Distribution Partners, focus4media, and GrowthPlay. He is a long-time volunteer of his national fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, and is currently Vice President of the organization’s national housing corporation, Phi Sigma Kappa Properties.

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mike lives in East Grand Rapids with his wife, two kids, and reliable retriever, Gus. He enjoys golf, skiing, soccer, and anything his kids are interested in.