Robert Lau

Robert C. Lau III — known professionally as "Bobby" Lau — has more than 30 years of experience as a senior executive in U.S. financial markets, with deep expertise in middle-market corporate finance, valuations, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, leveraged buyouts, and asset-based lending. He joined Carl Marks Advisors in 2009 and today serves as a Partner, where he leads the firm's nationwide business development, building and managing relationships with equity sponsors, investment banks, attorneys, turnaround professionals, and financial institutions that drive deal origination.

Before Carl Marks, Lau was a Senior Vice President at CIT Group Inc., where he focused on leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and bankruptcy (DIP) financing while cultivating a diverse referral-source network. Earlier in his career he held senior positions at The Bank of New York, Heller Corporate Finance, and IBJ Whitehall Financial Group, working across asset-based and leveraged financing for companies in a range of industries.

Lau earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A. in Corporate Finance from Georgia State University. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA). In May 2022, Carl Marks Advisors appointed Lau and Christopher Parisi to Partner, recognizing Lau's role since 2009 in creating and managing the firm's relationships with leading financial institutions. The advisory business he is part of has since rebranded from Carl Marks Advisors to The CMA Group.

• Lau's role is origination and advisory, not principal/equity investing — he sources and develops middle-market restructuring, M&A, and financing engagements rather than writing investment checks.
• His firm serves middle-market companies, frequently in special situations: turnarounds, restructurings, distressed M&A, and financing (including bankruptcy/DIP financing).
• Personal expertise centers on middle-market valuations, M&A, due diligence, leveraged buyouts, and asset-based lending — the toolkit he built across CIT, Heller, IBJ Whitehall, and The Bank of New York.
• Deal flow comes through a national network of equity sponsors, investment banks, restructuring attorneys, and turnaround professionals, which he has spent over a decade cultivating.