James Hallene

James "Jim" N. Hallene is a Chicago-based private equity investor and financier with more than 30 years of experience in private equity and banking. He began his career at American National Bank, a subsidiary of Bank One Corporation, where for roughly 15 years he managed several business units spanning commercial and private banking, treasury/cash management, mortgage services, and technology operations. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Hallene's entrepreneurial track record includes co-founding MaxMiles, Inc., a data-consolidation company that he ultimately sold. In 1998 he founded Capital Concepts Holdings, LLC, a Chicago private equity firm that he continues to lead as Managing Partner. Capital Concepts pursues an "opportunistic" investment style, combining traditional private equity with a hands-on operating approach, and has made more than 40 growth and control investments in middle-market family- and entrepreneur-owned businesses across manufacturing, technology/data, real estate, and commercial services.

In 1999 Hallene was one of the founding partners of CapX Partners, a specialty equipment-finance firm providing debt financing (historically in the ~$2–$20M range) to middle-market companies. CapX was a licensee of the SBA's Small Business Investment Company program and launched four funds deploying over $500 million of capital before joining Accord Financial Corp.'s family of companies in 2017 (later operating as Accord Equipment Finance). Most recently, in 2023 Hallene helped form Factor89, a Chicago private investment firm focused on lower-middle-market manufacturing and distribution businesses, where he is responsible for sourcing, deal structuring, and investor relations.

Hallene is an active board member and civic leader. He has served on the boards of KeHE Distributors (one of the largest specialty/organic food distributors in the U.S.), The HallStar Company (specialty chemicals), VSA Partners, AG Twin Brook BDC, Olsen Engineering / Uniparts Olsen, Resource Land Holdings, and (historically) MB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: MBFI). He serves as board chairman of QCC (Quality Control Corporation). In the nonprofit and civic sphere, he is Board Chairman and a Lifetime Trustee of Wellness House (a cancer-support organization) and sits on the University of Illinois's Illini Leadership Council. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and four children.

• Invests primarily through Capital Concepts Holdings, targeting middle-market and entrepreneur/family-owned businesses with an "opportunistic investment style which augments traditional private equity activities with a hands-on investment and management approach."
• Core sectors: industrial manufacturing & supply, equipment finance, technology/data management, real estate, and commercial services.
• Pursues both growth and control investments — more than 40 to date — and is comfortable across the capital structure, including debt/equipment financing (the original CapX Partners specialty).
• Via Factor89, focuses on lower-middle-market manufacturing and distribution companies ($20–$100M revenue) where operational improvement can create value.
• Brings an operator/board-level orientation: Hallene's stated strengths are "investor relations, new business development and portfolio management," and he leverages a deep personal and business network to source and structure deals.