Investment Team

Joseph Manzinger
Chairman of the Board,
Chief Executive Officer

Joe Manzinger joined The Hillman Company in 1990. He was elected Vice President in 1998, to the Board of Directors in 2000 and President/Chief Operating Officer in 2004. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2005 and in 2020 became Chairman of the Board.

Kevin Lavelle
President and Chief Investment Officer

Kevin Lavelle joined The Hillman Company in 2008 as an Investment Manager and was appointed Managing Director in 2012. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 2018 and in 2020 became President and Chief Investment Officer.

Chelsea Berger
Investment Associate

Chelsea Berger joined The Hillman Company in 2018 as an Investment Associate. Chelsea was previously an Investment Analyst in the Private Markets area with the University of Pittsburgh Endowment, where she performed diligence and monitoring of private equity and real asset investment opportunities.

Michael Haggerty
Managing Director

Mike Haggerty joined The Hillman Company in 1996 as a Financial Analyst with responsibilities for developing financial analytics across all asset classes in the portfolio. He also worked extensively with Hillman's Treasury and Investment Departments to forecast future cash flows for Hillman's aggregate investment portfolio.

William Hallett
Managing Director

Bill Hallett joined The Hillman Company in 1996 as Director, Investments, and was appointed Managing Director in 2006. He is responsible for managing many of The Hillman Company's private equity fund relationships and for sourcing new investment opportunities.

Duane Sayre
Investment Manager

Duane Sayre joined The Hillman Company in 2016 as an Investment Associate and was appointed Investment Manager in 2020. Prior to joining the Company, he was an Associate on the Fund Investment Team with Hamilton Lane in Philadelphia and an Investment Associate with Cambridge Associates.

Andrew Sencindiver
Investment Associate

Andy Sencindiver joined the Company in 2012 as a Financial Analyst for Wilmington Equities, Inc. in Delaware and relocated to Pittsburgh in 2013. He was named Investment Analyst in 2017, then Investment Associate in 2018 with responsibilities for developing financial analytics across all asset classes in the portfolio.

Talbott Simonds
Managing Director - Tondern Capital, Inc.

Talbott Simonds is a Managing Director for Investments at Tondern Capital, which he joined in 2004. He was elected to the Board of Directors of The Hillman Company in 2018. Prior to Tondern, Mr. Simonds was a Vice President at Trident Capital, a venture capital firm, and previously worked in Investment Banking at Robertson Stephens. He has served on numerous private company and non-profit organization boards.

Amanda Upton
Managing Director

Amanda Upton joined The Hillman Company in 2013 as an Investment Manager, and was appointed Managing Director in 2018. Before joining Hillman, she was an Associate with the private equity investment team at Morgan Creek Capital Management in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was an Analyst in the leveraged finance group of Wachovia Securities.

Joseph Zunic
Managing Director

Joe Zunic joined The Hillman Company in 1988. In 1995, he relocated to Houston, Texas as one of the energy investment staff. He returned to Pittsburgh three years later and continued to oversee investments in the energy area. Mr. Zunic was named Managing Director in 2005 and is currently responsible for the Real Asset Investment Portfolio.

Jeffrey Robinson
Vice President and General Counsel

Jeff Robinson joined The Hillman Company in 2015 as Associate General Counsel, was elected Vice President in 2017 and in 2020 became General Counsel.

Mark Poljak
Vice President, Client Services

Mark Poljak joined The Hillman Company in 1989 as Manager, Tax Information. He was appointed Director, Taxes in 2004, Vice President, Taxes in 2008 then Vice President, Client Services in 2014.

Bryan Battaglia
Vice President, Finance and Treasurer

Bryan Battaglia joined The Hillman Company in 2000. In 2020, he was appointed Vice President, Finance and Treasurer, having previously been Director, Finance since 2014. He serves as the relationship manager for financial and lending institutions and plays a critical role in financial reporting, system design, and implementation.

Vicky Brilmyer
Vice President, Human Resources

Vicky Brilmyer joined The Hillman Company in 1988 as Manager, Employee Relations. She was named Director, Human Resources in 2005 and Vice President, Human Resources in 2008. Prior to joining The Hillman Company, she held HR Management positions with Giant Eagle, Inc. and Ingersoll-Rand Company.

Anthony Strazisar
Director, Reporting and Investment Analysis

Tony Strazisar joined The Hillman Company in 1995 as a Corporate Accountant. In 2008, he was appointed Director, Reporting and Investment Analysis, having previously been Controller, Reporting and Analysis since 2001.