Mr. Cerminara co-founded Fundamental Global (FG) in 2012 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cerminara has over 20 years’ experience as an institutional investor, asset manager, director, chief executive, founder and operator of multiple financial services and technology businesses.
Mr. Cerminara is a member of the board of directors of a number of companies focused in the reinsurance, investment management, technology, entertainment and communication sectors, including FG Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: FGH) (formerly Ballantyne Strong, Inc.), a holding company with diverse business activities focused on serving the entertainment and retail markets, since February 2015; FG Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGF) (formerly known as 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc.), which operates as a reinsurance and asset management company, since December 2016; BK Technologies Corporation (NYSE American: BKTI), a provider of two-way radio communications equipment, since July 2015; Strong Global Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE American: SGE), a leader in the entertainment industry providing mission critical products and services to cinema exhibitors and entertainment venues, since March 2022; and Firefly Systems Inc., a venture-backed digital advertising company, since August 2020. Mr. Cerminara has served as the Chairman, President, Secretary and Treasurer since the founding of FG Communities, Inc. in July 2022. FG Communities is a corporation created to preserve and improve affordable housing through ownership and management of manufactured housing communities. Mr. Cerminara is also the chairperson of the board of directors of FG Acquisition Corp. (TSX:FGAA.U), a Canadian special purpose acquisition company that has completed its initial public offering and is focused on searching for a target company in the financial services sector.
In addition, Mr. Cerminara has served as Senior Advisor of FG Merger Corp. (Nasdaq: FGMC), a special purpose acquisition company that recently entered into a business combination agreement with iCoreConnect, Inc., a cloud-based software and technology company focused on increasing healthcare workflow productivity and customer profitability, since February 2022. Mr. Cerminara serves as the Chairman of FG Merger II Corp. since October 2023. FG Merger II Corp. is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Mr. Cerminara has served as the Chairman of FG Group Holdings, Inc. since May 2015 and previously served as its Chief Executive Officer from November 2015 through April 2020. Mr. Cerminara has served as the Chairman of Strong Global Entertainment, Inc. since March 2022. Mr. Cerminara was appointed Chairman of FG Financial Group, Inc. in May 2018 and served as its Principal Executive Officer from March 2020 to June 2020. Mr. Cerminara has served as the Chairman of BK Technologies Corporation since July 2022 and previously from March 2017 until April 2020. From April 2021 to December 2021, Mr. Cerminara served as a director of Aldel Financial Inc. (NYSE: ADF), a special purpose acquisition company co-sponsored by Fundamental Global, which merged with Hagerty, a leading specialty insurance provider focused on the global automotive enthusiast market. From July 2020 to July 2021, Mr. Cerminara served as Director and President of FG New America Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FGNA), a special purpose acquisition company, which merged with OppFi Inc. (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help everyday consumers gain access to credit. He served on the board of directors of GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSXV: GFP) (formerly Itasca Capital Ltd.), a public company focused on investments in the forest products industry, from June 2016 to October 2021 and was appointed Chairman from June 2018 to June 2021; Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LMB), a company which provides building infrastructure services, from March 2019 to March 2020; Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITI), a publicly-traded, applied informatics company, from August 2016 to November 2017; Magnetek, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer, in 2015; and blueharbor bank, a community bank, from October 2013 to January 2020. He served as a Trustee and President of StrongVest ETF Trust, which was an open-end management investment company, from July 2016 to March 2021. Previously, Mr. Cerminara served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CWA Asset Management Group, LLC, a position he held from January 2013 to December 2020. Prior to these roles, Mr. Cerminara was a Portfolio Manager at Sigma Capital Management, an independent financial adviser, from 2011 to 2012, a Director and Sector Head of the Financials Industry at Highside Capital Management from 2009 to 2011, and a Portfolio Manager and Director at CR Intrinsic Investors from 2007 to 2009. Before joining CR Intrinsic Investors, Mr. Cerminara was a Vice President, Associate Portfolio Manager and Analyst at T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) from 2001 to 2007, where he was named amongst Institutional Investor’s Best of the Buy Side Analysts in November 2006, and an Analyst at Legg Mason from 2000 to 2001.
Mr. Cerminara received an MBA degree from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, an NCAA Academic All American and Co-Captain of the men’s varsity tennis team. He also completed a China Executive Residency at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing, China. Mr. Cerminara holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
