Shearson Sports Opportunity Fund

Managing Partner Jed Kaplan leads investment decisions, drawing on over 30 years of institutional fixed-income trading at Lehman Brothers, Prudential Securities, and JP Morgan. He is joined by Managing Partner Steve Demetriou, Executive Chair of Jacobs and a minority owner of the Lakeland Magic, and Business Development Partner Steven Grossman, a co-owner of Swansea City. The firm has not publicly detailed an independent investment committee.

Deal flow originates primarily through the principals' existing minority-ownership positions and board seats — Jed Kaplan sits on the board of the Memphis Grizzlies and holds stakes in Swansea City and previously Orlando City; Steve Demetriou owns a piece of the Lakeland Magic; Steven Grossman co-owns Swansea City. Rachel Link, a former NFL executive with The Audible Group, contributes league-level relationships. The firm does not appear to operate a traditional GP-led origination team.

It is structured as a private-equity vehicle housed within Shearson Financial, a full-service broker-dealer. The fund syndicates minority sports-franchise stakes, leveraging the broker-dealer's 1,500-client base and placement-agent capabilities for capital formation. The Demetriou Family Office, managed by Alex Demetriou, operates as a separate entity, though Steve Demetriou serves as a managing partner of the sports fund.

The firm's disclosed strategy focuses on direct minority equity positions in professional sports teams. There is no public indication of fund-of-funds commitments or allocations to third-party sports private-equity funds. The principals' track record consists entirely of direct team-ownership stakes across the NBA, MLS, English Championship League, USL, and NBA G League.

The principals have owned or been affiliated with teams in the NBA, MLS, English Championship League, USL Championship, and NBA G League, indicating a multi-league, cross-border mandate. The disclosed portfolio spans the United States and the United Kingdom. The fund has not published a formal geographic or league-tier restriction policy.

Alex Demetriou — son of Managing Partner Steve Demetriou — runs Scythe LLC, the Demetriou Family Office, which invests in venture capital, private equity, and real estate, including the Osceola Magic (formerly Erie Bayhawks) of the NBA G League. Steve Demetriou's role at the sports fund creates an overlap in sports-franchise holdings, but the family office and the fund are presented as separate legal structures.

The fund has not publicly detailed co-investment terms. Given its brokerage-placement-agent capability and principals' personal franchise holdings, it is more likely to originate and syndicate its own deals than to co-invest passively alongside unrelated sponsors. No LP co-investment rights or club-deal structures have been disclosed.