Jonathan Blanco

Jonathan Blanco is a Managing Partner of Five Points Capital, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina–based private equity and credit manager focused exclusively on the U.S. lower middle market. He sits on the firm's Board of Managers and its Investment Committee. He joined the firm in 2002 — the organization traces its roots to 1997 and was historically affiliated with BB&T (formerly known under the BB&T Capital Partners banner) before operating independently as Five Points Capital, which today manages on the order of $1.4 billion across private equity, mezzanine/SBIC credit, and fund-of-funds strategies.

Before Five Points, Blanco worked at Carousel Capital, a Charlotte, NC private equity firm, where he invested equity capital and worked closely with portfolio companies. Earlier he was at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. (BHC), an investment bank specializing in middle-market M&A and private placements, and began his career in New York at JP Morgan Chase Securities in its asset-backed securities and syndicated lending groups.

Blanco earned an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business — where he received the William Michael Shermet Award and the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence — and a BA in Economics (with a minor in Business) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Outside the firm, he has been active in community and nonprofit leadership, serving as a trustee of Crossnore Communities for Children and as Chairman of the Crossnore Foundation Board, and has held volunteer roles with St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the RJR High School Boosters Club, and the YMCA Adventure Guides program.

• Invests debt and equity capital in the lower middle market, supporting private, growth-oriented companies and financial sponsors.
• Operates across three complementary strategies: direct equity (as lead investor or co-investor), subordinated/mezzanine debt with equity co-investments alongside sponsors, and fund-of-funds investing in other lower-middle-market PE funds.
• Typical investment size of roughly $5–$30 million, targeting companies with $3M+ EBITDA and $10M+ in revenue.
• Generalist sector approach with concentrations historically in business services and distribution, plus healthcare services, consumer, manufacturing, building materials, and technology/software.
• Runs licensed SBIC mezzanine funds — e.g., it raised $269M for its fifth mezzanine SBIC fund, and Five Points Credit SBIC IV is a 2022-vintage fund — signaling a steady, credit-oriented junior-capital franchise rather than a venture/seed model.