Robert S. (Bob) Smith
(240) 395-2411
Bob is a Managing Director of National Capital Merchant Banking and a Special Advisor to its affiliated Investment Bank.He has spent most of his career working with middle market companies and their financing, and brings that experience to bear in identifying the financing needs of our partner companies and structuring financings that support the success of the business and the growth of the owners’ equity.
Bob founded Sherier Capital, LLC, a business advisory firm focused on middle market companies in 2005. Earlier, Bob was the Chief Operating Officer of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR), where he was instrumental in growing FBR to $1.7 billion of shareholders’ equity, $2 billion of third party assets under management, and more than 500 employees. He was intimately involved in the IPOs of FBR Group and its affiliate FBR Asset and the merger of FBR Group and FBR Asset, as well as dozens of client IPOs, secondary offerings, advisory assignments and direct investments. Bob was a founding member of FBR’s commitment, valuation, risk management, and strategic management committees. Before joining FBR initially as its General Counsel, Bob was a partner in the law firm of McGuire Woods. He began his career as a lawyer with Dundas & Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Bob is also member of the Board of Directors of Tower Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWGP), where he serves as the Chairman of the Investment Committee. He was previously a member of the Board of CastlePoint Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPHL) which merged with Tower in 2009.
Bob holds an LL.B and Diploma in Legal Practice from Edinburgh University, and an LL.M from the University of Virginia. He served for several years as an adjunct member of the faculty of the University of Maryland University College Graduate School of Management and Technology.
