Holly is a Co-Founder and CEO of Lion Cao Asset Management (“Lion Cao”), a private equity firm with investments across a variety of broad sectors, including maritime, media and financial services, and with investors primarily from South and Central America. 

Prior to Lion Cao, Holly was a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Icon Group LLC, an alternative investment firm focused primarily in hedge funds, private equity funds and direct investments for a group of families in Central America.  The Icon Group was a seed investor and GP in a venture capital fund called Point Judith Capital (affiliated with Village Ventures and Bain Capital), and an SBIC debt fund called Banyan Mezzanine.  Holly was a Venture Partner of Point Judith Capital and is currently on the Valuation Committee.

Prior to co-founding Icon, Holly was also a key member of the investment team at Capital Guidance, an international private investment firm in Washington, D.C.  At Capital Guidance, Holly was a key member of the U.S. team investing in and managing operating companies focused on distribution, manufacturing and real estate businesses, among other industries.  Holly’s primary initiatives included buying, building and managing two portfolio companies at Capital Guidance – MasterTile, a ceramic tile distribution company, and Madison Realty, an upscale retail real estate development, acquisition, and property management company that owns and manages upscale retail real estate properties.  In addition, Holly also was part of the team that managed a large pool of investments in LBO and venture capital funds.  Prior to Capital Guidance, 

Prior, Holly spent two years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she worked with the Fixed Income Portfolio Management team to manage institutional client portfolios and relationships with the largest public and private pension funds, endowments, insurance companies and Sovereign Wealth Funds. 

 Holly started her career at Salomon Smith Barney in the Municipal Derivatives and Finance Division, where she worked with Municipalities to help structure and execute over $1 billion of derivative securities and debt financings to build infrastructure, toll roads, stadiums, power plants and others.

 Holly’s prior experience also includes summer positions at McCown De Leeuw & Co. and Village Ventures.  Holly was also a partner with AmViet Development Corporation, a company that invests and develops projects in Central Vietnam.  She had also served on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit organizations Project W.O.R.D. and Communities in Action, Inc. in Washington, DC. 

 Holly is currently on the Board of the Stan Lee Foundation, and she has also co-written the song “That’s L.A.” with Stan Lee.

 Holly received an AB from the University of Chicago in Economics and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.