Richard A. Strait

Richard Strait is a retired managing director of Northwestern Mutual Capital (NMC), a division of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. During his 37-year career, he led portfolios investing in private debt and equity of U.S. and European companies and in U.S. and European private equity funds.

Mr. Strait is an Investment Committee Partner for Avante Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based private credit and structured equity fund manager that invests in lower middle market companies. He also serves as a director of G&L Holdings, Inc. a privately-owned food ingredients company. G&L owns Grain Craft, the third largest flour miller in the U.S., and Southeastern Mills which offers a wide range of ingredient solutions for food manufacturers, restaurants, foodservice distributors, and retail consumers. Mr. Strait contributes his time as a director and investment committee chair of the Jewish Home & Care Center Foundation (Milwaukee) and is a former board member and officer of COA Youth and Family Centers (Milwaukee).

Mr. Strait earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He lives in suburban Milwaukee with his wife Sue, also a UW-Madison graduate. They have two daughters who are proud Big 10 alumni (one Badger, one Wildcat).