Russell Silberstein

Russell Silberstein is the founder, principal and chief investment officer of Carmel Capital Partners, a boutique private wealth management firm he launched in San Diego in 2002 — reportedly starting with roughly $2 million in assets under management, which had grown to approximately $371–400 million by early 2023. He oversees the firm's investment decisions across public equity and fixed-income portfolios as well as all real estate and private equity investments, and advises families on closely held business sales, complex tax and estate matters, and concentrated-stock diversification. He describes his mission as being "the voice of accountability" in his clients' financial lives.

He studied finance at San Diego State University (1989–1993). His investment career began in Chicago with Harris Associates L.P. — the manager of the Acorn and Oakmark Funds — and he subsequently worked as an equity analyst at the investment banking and brokerage firm Kemper/EVEREN Securities. Before founding Carmel, he was a partner at Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling from roughly 1996 to 2001. He has more than twenty years of experience as a professional investor and positions himself as a patient, long-term value investor who makes only a select few new investments each year.

According to SEC Form ADV filings, Silberstein has served as Managing Member of Carmel Capital Partners since August 1, 2004 and is the firm's control person, with beneficial ownership listed as 50–75% (rising to over 75% in more recent filings). His CRD number is 4374792.

Outside of investing, he is active in the San Diego community, having served as Vice President of the San Diego Jewish Academy Board of Trustees and on the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego's Investment Committee. He and his wife Heidi have three children.

• Value-oriented, opportunistic investing: Carmel targets "stable long-term returns … through opportunistic, value-oriented investments," exploiting market inefficiencies with a disciplined, long-term horizon.
• Concentration and patience: Silberstein presents himself as a patient long-term investor who makes "a select few investments each year," favoring conviction over breadth.
• Growth equity within private markets: In his own writing (e.g., "Alternative Investments: We Focus on Growth Equity"), he frames private equity as a portfolio diversifier and emphasizes valuation discipline.
• Value through operations, not hype: His post "Creating Growth Through Operational Improvements" argues that private-equity value is generated through operational methods rather than financial engineering — a signal that he favors businesses with real improvement levers over speculative early-stage stories.
• Accountability as a differentiator: He repeatedly frames the firm around advice, relationships, and results, and being "the voice of accountability" in clients' financial lives.

No specific portfolio companies or named deals are disclosed in public sources. Carmel Capital Partners manages client capital across public equities, fixed income, real estate, and private equity/growth equity rather than publishing a startup portfolio. (If you are researching him as a startup angel/seed investor, note that no such individual deals could be verified.)