Darrell Crate


Darrell W. Crate is an American investor, private equity manager, and philanthropist. He served as the chief financial officer of Affiliated Managers Group. He is currently a managing principal of Easterly Capital, a private equity firm in Beverly, Massachusetts he founded in 2009.
A native of New York City, Crate attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine before attending Columbia Business School in New York City. After his career as an investment banker at Chase Manhattan Bank, he was hired as the managing director of Financial Institutions Group based in London. He was soon after asked to join Affiliated Managers Group as its chief financial officer–a position he held from 1998 until 2011.

Early life and education

Crate was born in New York City in 1967. Crate received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Bates College in 1989 and his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1995.

Investment career

Chase bank

Crate began his career in the investment banking division at Chase Manhattan in New York. He departed as the managing director of the Financial Institutions Group based in London and New York, focusing exclusively on investment management firms.

Affiliated Managers Group

As chief financial officer

From 1998 to 2011, he served as the chief financial officer of Affiliated Managers Group a publicly traded asset management holding company. During his tenure at AMG, assets under management grew from $50 billion to over $340 billion through mutual fund, pension, and high-net-worth accounts globally, with over half of its clients domiciled outside the United States. Over this same period, the company’s valuation increased materially, from $450 million to $6 billion.

Easterly

As founder

In 2009, Crate founded Easterly Capital, LLC, a firm based in Beverly, Massachusetts, that builds operating businesses to gain exposure to the growth in both asset management and non-bank finance sectors. He joined the firm full-time in 2011.

As chairman

In February 2015, Crate became the chairman of Easterly Government Properties, Inc., a publicly traded REIT on the New York Stock Exchange that is focused primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to U.S. Government agencies that serve essential functions. According to Business Wire, Crate became the chairman of Easterly Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded blank check company in July 2015.

Personal life

Crate currently lives in Hamilton, Massachusetts.
Crate is involved with a number of non-profit, political, and charitable organizations. He has been a trustee of Bates College since 2003 and served on the college's advancement and investment committees. On February 8, 2016, the college announced that Crate was among seven families to donate $19 million to endow professorships and launch the college’s new digital and computational studies program. Crate also serves as a trustee of Think of Us, a not-for-profit technology platform with the ultimate goal of helping foster youth successfully transition into a prosperous adulthood.
Crate has also been a trustee of Islesboro Island Trust, AOPA, IYRS, Adams Memorial Foundation, Ethel Walker School, and an advisor to The Trustees of Reservations and RFK Children's Action Corp. In 2015, he was appointed the vice president of the Westminster Kennel Club.

Political involvement

According to Boston.com, Crate served as treasurer and a member of the executive committee of the Romney for President campaign in 2012, a role that he also held during the 2008 cycle. From 2003 to 2007, Crate served as the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.