Mary Josephs

Mary Josephs is the Founder and CEO of Verit Advisors LLC, a Chicago-based boutique investment bank she launched in 2009. Verit combines sophisticated middle-market investment-banking capabilities with a client-centric approach, working across ESOPs, debt and equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and valuation services. Josephs is a nationally recognized authority on employee ownership, with more than 35 years of experience treating the ESOP as a specialized succession and liquidity transaction for middle-market companies. Over her career she has advised and led more than 500 solutions for middle-market companies, representing more than $30 billion in enterprise value — the majority in support of ESOPs.

Before founding Verit, Josephs built her reputation inside the banking world. She founded and grew the ESOP group at LaSalle National Bank in Chicago into what became recognized as the nation's leading middle-market ESOP financing team. She then co-founded and launched the leading ESOP advisory practice for ABN AMRO LaSalle Corporate Finance, and when LaSalle was acquired by Bank of America, she led the ESOP Solutions and Advisory Groups for all of Bank of America–Merrill Lynch before striking out on her own.

Josephs holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French from Marquette University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She maintains FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, and 79 registrations. She is a fixture in the employee-ownership community, serving on the Board of Directors of the ESOP Association (and as a lifetime Board of Governors member), and is active with the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), the ESOP Association of America (ESCA), the Rutgers University NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership, and Expanding ESOPs.

She serves on several corporate and civic boards — including Proponent, Inc. (aerospace parts distribution), Hisco, Inc., Manson Construction Co., and Performance Contracting, Inc. — as well as the Big Shoulders Fund, the Economic Club of Chicago, the International Women's Forum, and The Chicago Network. Mergers & Acquisitions magazine named her one of the most influential women in mid-market M&A multiple years running (2016 through 2020), and she was recognized among Crain's Chicago Business Notable Entrepreneurs.

• Employee ownership as a succession/liquidity strategy. Verit's central premise is that a well-structured ESOP is a powerful, tax-advantaged way for founders and families to achieve liquidity while preserving legacy, culture, and jobs — an alternative to a strategic or private-equity sale.
• Middle-market, established companies. The focus is on profitable, operating middle-market businesses ready for an ownership transition — not startups or early-stage ventures. (The "angel / seed-round" framing in the source stub does not match Verit's actual practice.)
• Full-service advisory, sector-agnostic. Verit fluently spans ESOPs, M&A, debt and equity capital markets, and valuation, and has closed deals across construction, engineering, manufacturing, distribution, aviation supply, and consulting.
• Scale and track record as differentiators. Josephs frequently emphasizes the depth of Verit's experience — 300–500+ transactions and ~$30 billion in enterprise value — as evidence of the firm's ability to structure complex, multi-party ownership transitions.