Eppler Capital

Craig Eppler

Founder & CEO

While working as a Senior Portfolio Manager in the investment advisory space, Craig identified a significant unmet need among retirees, pre-retirees, and other investors seeking reliable solutions for generating consistent income in traditional markets. Drawing on his successful personal experience investing in private markets and real estate, Craig envisioned combining these two areas with a new offering.

Michael Rattigan

Managing Director

Michael is a finance and fintech professional with deep experience across asset management, direct indexing, and private markets. At J.P. Morgan’s 55ip platform, he managed relationships with top-tier wealth management firms and was responsible for growing the model portfolio and direct indexing strategies. His prior roles include business development and advisory positions at Refinitiv, Columbia Threadneedle, and BlackRock. Michael holds a BA from Saint Anselm College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Russ Frazier

Managing Director

Russ Frazier has nearly twenty years of real estate development experience with a particular expertise in sourcing debt and equity for various residential, commercial and hospitality related projects in multiple states across the Midwest and West. Prior to his real estate work, Russ’s career focused on the health care industry, including co-founding a company which developed a chain of retail-based medical clinics. Russ has been active in legislative advocacy and public policy work at both the state & federal level. He has served on the Board of Directors of several housing, healthcare and youth focused organizations. A Des Moines, Iowa native, Russ attended Morningside College in Sioux City where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications.

Stephen Gibson

Managing Director

Stephen Gibson is a recognized leader in asset management, with a career spanning four decades. In the late 1980s, Stephen led Chicago’s Kemper Financial product group into the top ten for mutual fund managers, variable annuities, and unit investment trusts. In the 90s, he was the number two executive at Putnam Mutual Funds, which, with $100 billion in assets, became the nation’s leading growth fund manager. Based on that success, Stephen became president of Liberty Mutual’s financial division, including more than $60 billion in assets. Colonial Funds, a Liberty subsidiary, won Barron’s “Fund Group of the Year” in 1996. Stephen became an advisor to the SEC product committee and FINRA in 2000. In 2007, he joined the Registered Investment Advisory business of Gladstone Associates as an investment banker consultant. This led to Stephen joining Affinity Wealth Management as Chairman of the Investment Committee in 2013. In 2020, Stephen joined Hoover Financial Advisors (later merged with Wealth Enhancement Group) as Chief Investment Officer. He joined Eppler Capital Funds in April of 2024. Stephen has led investment teams that outpaced industry results at five successive firms. He is recognized for innovation in tax-managed funds, high-yield investing, international fixed income, and option strategies for market declines. At Affinity and Wealth Enhancement Group, Stephen expanded the use of private investments. These proved crucial in avoiding the market declines of 2022. Stephen is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and has an MBA in Finance and Banking from Duke University. He is the co-author of Management Science in Banking, a graduate level textbook.

Clayton Buescher

Managing Director

Clayton Buescher has experience across annuities, alternative investments, and private markets, working with high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). He began his career at Jackson National, partnering with advisors at major wirehouses including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, and RBC on annuity-based income strategies. He later joined Cantor Fitzgerald’s Private Markets group, focusing on alternative investments such as 1031 exchanges and non-traded REITs for RIAs and family offices. Most recently, Clayton served as a Regional Vice President at MassMutual, supporting independent broker-dealers and financial advisors in implementing variable annuity and retirement income strategies. At Eppler Capital Funds, he works with investors and advisors to access private market opportunities focused on consistent income and capital preservation. Clayton earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Susquehanna University.