James Mackay

James Ian Mackay was born September 29, 1944, in Richmond, Indiana, and graduated from Indiana University in 1967 with a degree in business administration. His financial-services career began at Merchants Bank in Indianapolis before he was recruited to Des Moines in 1978 to join United Central Bank Shares (later renamed First Interstate). There he became part of an executive group nicknamed the "Kiddie Kore" by CEO Ken Myers — a set of young leaders in their 30s holding major roles at the company. His obituary credits him with helping keep the bank's portfolios on track through the 1980s agricultural downturn, overseeing multiple venture capital funds, and advising major Des Moines companies against investing in Enron before its 2001 collapse.

Later in his career, Mackay led the investment-banking division of DeWaay Capital Management, an Iowa broker-dealer and financial-advisory firm (Clive/Okoboji, Iowa). In 2010, as part of a strategic restructuring, LWBJ Financial LLC sold its Premier Wealth Division and expanded its Capital Advisors Division, forming its own broker/dealer unit to grow in mergers & acquisitions and capital raising. To staff the expanded investment-banking practice, LWBJ hired two professionals: Jim Eiler (formerly of Cybus Capital Markets) and Jim Mackay, who joined from DeWaay Capital Management.

At LWBJ Capital Advisors, Mackay focused on middle-market M&A, capital raising, and business/management succession planning for privately held Midwest companies — LWBJ being an Iowa-based accounting, tax, audit, financial-consulting, business-advisory, and investment-banking firm serving clients across the Midwest and nationally. He was a registered securities professional (FINRA CRD/BrokerCheck record #1013147). He passed away December 22, 2021, at age 77; the following month, LWBJ joined UHY.

• Worked in investment banking / capital advisory rather than as a pure venture angel — his "angel/seed" classification comes from investor-database aggregators (Foundersuite, Angel Match), not from a published personal thesis.
• Core focus: M&A advisory and capital raising for privately held, lower-middle-market Iowa/Midwest companies, plus management and ownership succession planning.
• Career-long emphasis on established, cash-flowing businesses and their owners — reflected in a banking/portfolio-management background and prior oversight of venture capital funds at First Interstate.
• No publicly stated personal check-size range, sector screen, or investment criteria could be verified.