Bel45 Capital Partners

Thomas Belesis is the founder and primary investment decision-maker. He previously ran John Thomas Financial, a FINRA-regulated broker-dealer based near the New York Stock Exchange. There is no published investment committee or outside board, and deal sourcing appears to originate through Belesis's own network rather than a formalized institutional process.

The firm emerged after the closure of John Thomas Financial, where Belesis served as CEO and majority owner. That prior brokerage had a high-volume retail focus and ran into regulatory trouble, including an SEC enforcement action and FINRA suspensions. Bel45 reflects a pivot toward proprietary, private investing using personal rather than customer capital.

Bel45 functions as a principal-investing entity, not a traditional fund manager. There is no evidence of ongoing LP fundraising, named institutional limited partners, or a blind-pool fund structure. The firm's public-facing disclosures suggest capital is internally sourced, likely from Belesis and a small circle of co-investors. The vehicle sits somewhere between a single-family office and a personal holding company.

Bel45 invests across financial services, technology, consumer products, and distressed credit. The typical check goes into early-stage direct equity or distressed-debt purchases where the principal can take an active operating role. A registered affiliate, Paramount Stories, extended the mandate into multimedia and film development in 2020, making Bel45 one of the few investment firms to pursue content-production equity directly.

As of the most recent available SEC and state filings, Bel45 does not appear to be registered as an investment adviser. Given the firm's described use of internal capital and lack of marketed fund products, it would generally fall outside the standard registration requirements. The founder's prior firm, John Thomas Financial, was regulated by FINRA and the SEC, so the principal has direct experience operating inside — and navigating — a regulated investment entity.

Bel45 tends toward direct, proprietary deal structures rather than passive co-investment alongside larger sponsors. The lack of fund-of-funds activity or LP commitments in public databases suggests Belesis prefers to own the whole negotiation, not fill out a syndicate. Some transactions may involve a small number of aligned co-investors from the founder's network, but no regular co-underwriting partners are identified.

No philanthropic foundation or impact-investing mandate is publicly linked to Bel45. The firm's investments appear driven entirely by financial return and the principal's sector interests. The Paramount Stories sidecar does not carry a stated social mission.