Aaron Markos

Aaron Markos is a seasoned finance professional with over 25 years of experience spanning commercial banking, investment banking, leveraged finance, and private credit. He currently serves as a Director on the Investment Team at Deerpath Capital Management, a position he has held since joining the firm in October 2021. At Deerpath, his primary responsibilities include structuring, underwriting, and executing new investments in sponsor-backed lower middle market companies. Deerpath Capital, which was majority-acquired by PGIM (Prudential Financial's investment management arm) in 2023, manages approximately $9 billion in AUM as of late 2025 and has deployed over $14 billion across more than 1,200 transactions since its 2007 inception.

Prior to Deerpath, Markos held the title of Executive Vice President at Rush Street Capital, a Chicago-based middle-market investment banking firm founded in 2014. Rush Street Capital provides advisory services including debt and equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, and business valuations to middle-market companies, private equity firms, and business owners. He is no longer listed on the firm's current public team page, suggesting his tenure there preceded his move to Deerpath Capital in 2021.

Markos's earlier career was built in structured finance and commercial banking at several major financial institutions in the Chicago area. He served as Senior Vice President of Structured Finance at First Midwest Bank (2016-2019, now Old National Bancorp), Vice President in the Structured Finance Group at Fifth Third Bank (2010-2015), First Vice President at LaSalle Bank National Association (2000-2007, now Bank of America), and began his career as a Commercial Banking Officer at American National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago (1995-2000, now JPMorgan Chase). He earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business (2009-2010) and holds a B.S.B.A. from Roosevelt University.

Aaron Markos operates across two distinct investment dimensions. In his institutional role at Deerpath Capital, he focuses on providing customized, cash-flow-based senior debt financing to private equity sponsor-backed companies in the U.S. lower middle market, typically targeting businesses with revenues of $10 million to $200 million and EBITDA up to $25 million, with investment sizes ranging from $25 million to $125 million per borrower. Deerpath targets sectors including healthcare, business services, communications, energy/natural resources, and manufacturing.

In his angel investing capacity (as reflected by his Rush Street Capital email and seed-round investor classification), Markos brings deep credit analysis expertise and middle-market financial acumen to early-stage opportunities. His extensive background in structured finance, leveraged lending, and M&A advisory equips him with a differentiated lens for evaluating startup business models, capital structures, and growth trajectories. His Chicago-area network across commercial banking, investment banking, and private equity circles provides significant deal flow and co-investment relationships.