Pergolis Swartz splits, with new offshoot

Ayush Kapahi, Jerry Swartz and Jonathan Harrington
From left: Ayush Kapahi, Jerry Swartz and Jonathan Harrington
Jerry Swartz, the cofounder of 35-year-old real estate financing company Pergolis Swartz Associates, has left the firm to start his own company, prompting a lawsuit filed by his former partner.

Swartz started the new real estate capital advisory firm, HKS Capital Partners, in March with former Pergolis Swartz colleagues Ayush Kapahi and Jonathan Harrington.

In April, Swartz’s longtime partner, Richard Pergolis, sued the three, claiming that the new business was a “conspiracy” to hurt his business and steal his clients, and that Swartz had violated his fiduciary duty to Pergolis Swartz, according to the complaint. The suit is ongoing.

Pergolis declined to comment, but 72-year-old Swartz said he decided to go out on his own because he wanted to bring new people into the firm, and Pergolis did not.

“Our philosophies grew apart,” Swartz said.

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“I began aligning myself with the younger guys at the firm and I was in sync with what they wanted to do.”

Those “younger guys” include Kapahi and Harrington, who will head HKS with Swartz. They wanted to do something Pergolis Swartz hadn’t done since it hired Kapahi six years ago, according to Swartz: grow.

“You have to keep hiring,” Swartz said. “You need new people, young blood and fresh ideas.”

Swartz said HKS has already closed five deals since opening, although Swartz declined to provide more details because of the litigation.