Corporate Governance

The Board of Directors of Saratoga Investment Corp sets high standards for the Company's employees, officers and directors. Implicit in this philosophy is the importance of sound corporate governance.

It is the duty of the Board of Directors to serve as a prudent fiduciary for shareholders and to oversee the management of the Company's business. To fulfill its responsibilities and to discharge its duty, the Board of Directors follows the procedures and standards that are set forth in these guidelines. These guidelines are subject to modification from time to time as the Board of Directors deems appropriate in the best interests of the Company or as required by applicable laws and regulations. To promote open discussion among the non-management directors, the non-management directors of the Company will meet at regularly scheduled executive sessions without management. The non-management directors that chair committees of the Board of Directors will alternate acting as presiding director at such meetings, in alphabetical order based on the names of the committees they chair.

Corporate Governance

Board of Directors

  • Christian L. Oberbeck
    Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer & President

    Chris Oberbeck has over 25 years of experience in leveraged finance, from distressed debt to private equity, and has originated, structured, negotiated, consummated, managed and monitored investments in a wide variety of middle-market businesses. Mr. Oberbeck is the Managing Member of Saratoga Investment Advisors, LLC, the Company’s investment adviser, and the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company. Mr. Oberbeck is the Managing Partner of Saratoga Partners, a middle market private equity investment firm, and has served on its investment committee since 1995.

    Chris Oberbeck assumed management responsibility for Saratoga Partners in 2008, having co-managed the firm since 1995 when he joined Dillon Read and Saratoga Partners from Castle Harlan, Inc., a corporate buyout firm. Mr. Oberbeck had joined Castle Harlan at its founding in 1987 and was a Managing Director, leading successful investments in manufacturing and financial services companies. Prior to joining Castle Harlan, he worked in the Corporate Development Group of Arthur Young and in corporate finance at Blyth Eastman Paine Webber. Mr. Oberbeck has been a director of numerous middle market companies while at Saratoga Partners and Castle Harlan.

    Chris Oberbeck graduated from Brown University with a BS in Physics and a BA in Mathematics, and he earned an MBA from Columbia University.

    • Henri J. Steenkamp
      Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Treasurer & Secretary

      Henri Steenkamp is the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of Saratoga Investment Corp as well as Saratoga Investment Advisors, LLC, the Company’s investment adviser. He is also a Director of the Company. Prior to joining Saratoga, Mr. Steenkamp served as the Chief Financial Officer of MF Global from April 2011 to January 2013. Mr. Steenkamp held the position of Chief Accounting Officer and Global Controller at MF Global for four years prior to that. Before joining MF Global, Henri Steenkamp spent eight years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, including four years in Transaction Services in its New York office, managing a variety of capital-raising transactions and SEC public company reporting processes on a global basis.

      Henri Steenkamp is a Chartered Accountant and graduated with an honors degree in Finance from the University of Johannesburg.

      Henri Steenkamp is also on the Board of Directors of various non-profit organizations.

      • Mr. Steven M. Looney
        Independent Director

        Steve Looney is a Managing Director of Peale Davies & Co. Inc., a consulting firm with particular expertise in financial process and IT outsourcing, and is a CPA and an attorney. Mr. Looney also serves as a consultant and director to numerous companies in the healthcare, manufacturing and technology services industries, including WH Industries Inc. Between 2000 and 2005, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PCCI, Inc., a private IT staffing and outsourcing firm. Between 1992 and 2000, Mr. Looney worked at WH Industries as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. Mr. Looney also serves as a director of Excellent Education for Everyone, a nonprofit organization.

        Mr. Looney graduated summa cum laude from the University of Washington with a B.A. degree in Accounting and received a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law where he was a member of the law review. Pursuant to Saratoga’s corporate governance guidelines, Mr. Looney also presides over the executive sessions of the non-employee and independent directors of the Company.

      • Mr. Charles S. Whitman III
        Independent Director
        Sandy Whitman is senior counsel (retired) at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Mr. Whitman was a partner in Davis Polk's Corporate Department for 28 years, representing clients including AT&T, Exxon Mobil, General Motors and BP in a broad range of corporate finance matters, such as shelf registrations, securities compliance for financial institutions, foreign asset privatizations, and mergers and acquisitions. From 1971 to 1973, Mr. Whitman served as Executive Assistant to three successive Chairmen of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Whitman serves on the Legal Advisory Board of the National Association of Securities Dealers.

        Mr. Whitman graduated from Harvard College and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School with a LL.B. Mr. Whitman also received an LL.M. from Cambridge University in England.
      • Mr. G. Cabell Williams
        Independent Director
        Cabell Williams has served as the Managing General Partner of Williams and Gallagher, a private equity partnership located in Chevy Chase, Maryland since 2004; since 2011, Mr. Williams has also served as a partner of Farragut Capital Partners, an investment firm based in Fairfax, VA. In 2004, Mr. Williams concluded a 23-year career at Allied Capital Corporation, a business development company based in Washington, DC, which was acquired by Ares Capital Corporation in 2010. While at Allied, Mr. Williams held a variety of positions, including President, COO and finally Managing Director following Allied's merger with its affiliates in 1998. From 1991 to 2004, Mr. Williams either led or co-managed the firm's Private Equity Group. For the nine years prior to 1999, Mr. Williams led Allied's Mezzanine investment activities. For 15 years, Mr. Williams served on Allied's Investment Committee where he was responsible for reviewing and approving all of the firm's investments. Prior to 1991, Mr. Williams ran Allied's Minority Small Business Investment Company. He also founded Allied Capital Commercial Corporation, a real estate investment vehicle. Mr. Williams has served on the Board of various public and private companies.

        Mr. Williams attended The Landon School, and graduated from Mercersburg Academy and Rollins College, receiving a B.S. in Business from the latter.

      Contact the Board

      You can contact Saratoga Investment Corp.'s Board of Directors to provide comments, to report concerns, or to ask a question, at the following address.

      Corporate Secretary
      Saratoga Investment Corp.
      535 Madison Avenue
      FOURTH FLOOR
      New York, NY 10022
      United States

      You may submit your concern anonymously or confidentially by postal mail. You may also indicate whether you are a shareholder, customer, supplier, or other interested party.

      Communications are distributed to the Board, or to any individual directors as appropriate, depending on the facts and circumstances outlined in the communication. In that regard, the Saratoga Investment Corp. board of directors has requested that certain items which are unrelated to the duties and responsibilities of the board should be excluded, such as:

      • Product complaints
      • Product inquiries
      • New product suggestions
      • Resumes and other forms of job inquiries
      • Surveys
      • Business solicitations or advertisements

      In addition, material that is unduly hostile, threatening, illegal or similarly unsuitable will be excluded, with the provision that any communication that is filtered out must be made available to any non-management director upon request.

      You may also communicate online with our Board of Directors as a group.

      Please submit your question using the form below. Fields marked with an * are required.

      Documents