Lois Marler

Lois F. Marler is Chief Financial Officer of Banyan Investment Partners, a Miami-based private investment firm focused on control equity and structured capital for lower middle-market companies. Banyan says it has operated since 2002, partnered with 80+ companies, and deployed $800M+ to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, and growth initiatives.

Marler joined Banyan in March 2008 in a newly created CFO role. Her responsibilities include Banyan’s accounting, finance, and administrative operations, as well as managing relationships with the firm’s limited partners.

Before Banyan, Marler was CFO of EDF Ventures from 2001 to 2007 and CFO of White Pines Ventures from 1985 to 2001. Both were Michigan-based, government-licensed Small Business Investment Companies. Earlier, she spent two years as Vice President, Corporate Finance at First of Michigan Corporation, where her work included financial advisory and financing services.

Marler is a former member of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies and a past president of the association’s Midwest regional group. She also served as an at-large director of the Association for Corporate Growth’s Southeast Michigan chapter. She earned a BA summa cum laude from Albion College in 1985 and an MBA with accounting and finance concentrations from the University of Michigan Ross Graduate School of Business in 1992.

• Banyan’s firm-level focus is lower middle-market businesses across the United States, using control equity and structured capital.
• The firm targets companies with strong fundamentals and clear opportunities to scale, and works with founders, management teams, and operators on strategy, operations, and growth.
• Banyan’s stated transaction focus includes control equity, recapitalizations, growth capital, and complex structured solutions.
• Target financial profile: $10M to $200M+ in revenue and $2M to $15M+ in EBITDA.
• Banyan describes its approach as “strategic guidance, operational insight, and disciplined execution.”
• Marler’s role is CFO and limited-partner-facing finance/administration rather than a publicly described deal-sourcing or lead-investor role.