People
Jody Staggs, President & CEO
Mr. Staggs joined SWK Holdings as a Senior Analyst in August 2015. He was promoted to Managing Director in January 2020 before being named President and Interim CEO in September 2022. Mr. Staggs was named CEO in January 2023. Prior to joining SWK, he was Vice President of Investments at Annandale Capital. Prior to joining Annandale, he was the first employee at Alistair Capital, a Dallas-based hedge fund. He previously co-founded PBS Capital, an investment management business investing in pharmaceutical royalties and healthcare equities. Prior to joining PBS, he was a Senior Portfolio Analyst at Highland Capital where he worked on the firm’s healthcare multi-strategy and public equity groups. While at Highland, Mr. Staggs was ranked first out of a class of eight analysts. Mr. Staggs began his career at Raymond James where he was a Senior Equity Research Associate covering healthcare companies and was ranked in the top quartile of all research associates. He was a Walton Scholar and on the Dean’s List at the University of Arkansas where he graduated with a B.A. in Finance. Mr. Staggs has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Adam C. Rice, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Rice joins SWK Holdings as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has over 18 years of senior-level finance and accounting leadership experience, including financial operations management, corporate financial planning and analysis, strategic planning and financial statement reporting. He previously worked at Park Cities Asset Management, a SEC registered alternative investment advisory firm. During his career Mr. Rice has held a variety of finance leadership positions with both public and private companies in the real estate sector. He began his career as a staff accountant at Ernst & Young. Mr. Rice has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Science in Accounting, both from Texas Tech University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) registered in the state of Texas.
John David Tamas, Director of Underwriting
Mr. Tamas joined SWK Holdings as a Director in February 2022 and was promoted to Director of Underwriting in October 2022. Prior to joining SWK, he was a Vice President at NXT Capital / ORIX Leveraged Finance, where he focused principally on providing stretch and unitranche credit to private equity sponsors in the lower- and middle- markets. Prior to that, Mr. Tamas worked for Cotton Creek Capital, a middle-market private equity firm. He began his career at Wachovia / Wells Fargo Securities within the Leveraged Finance division. Mr. Tamas earned a B.S. degree in Finance, with Honors, from the University of Arkansas and an MBA in Finance, with Honors, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Miner, Vice President
Mr. Miner joined SWK Holdings as a Vice President in April 2023. Prior to joining SWK, he was a Manager of Mergers & Acquisitions at AmSurg, where he focused on evaluating and executing acquisitions, mergers, and JV transactions in the outpatient surgery center space. Mr. Miner was previously a Senior Analyst at SWK Holdings, where he was responsible for due diligence, underwriting, and negotiating structured credit and royalty transactions across a variety of healthcare subsectors. He began his career at VMG Health, a healthcare-focused valuation and transaction advisory firm. Mr. Miner holds a M.S. in Finance and B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University.
Peter Blumberg, Vice President
Mr. Blumberg Joined SWK Holdings as Vice President of Originations in March 2023. Prior to joining SWK, he was an Associate at H.I.G. Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm, where he was responsible for originating investment opportunities across all H.I.G. funds and verticals. Prior to that, Mr. Blumberg worked at his family company, Blumberg Partners, and its subsidiary Blumberg Grain, where he was primarily responsible for business development and project management in North Africa. Mr. Blumberg began his career at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and earned a B.S. in Business Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Courtney Baker, Controller
Ms. Baker joined SWK Holdings as Assistant Controller in July 2023 and was promoted to Controller in June 2024. Prior to SWK, she worked for a leading government services contractors in the defense and aerospace industry, specializing in revenue recognition. Her background includes technical accounting, SEC reporting, M&A activity, due diligence, purchase price allocation, and system integration. Prior to that, she worked in the financial services industry where she specialized in system upgrades and process improvements. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Tarleton State University where she became a member of the Delta Mu Delta International Business Honor Society and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) registered in the state of Texas.
Agha Abbas, Associate
Mr. Abbas joined SWK Holdings as an Associate in November of 2022. Prior to joining SWK, he was a Senior Analyst in JP Morgan’s Investment Banking Credit group. During his time at JP Morgan, Mr. Abbas was responsible for underwriting, structuring, and negotiating leveraged finance and investment-grade transactions in the Consumer, Healthcare, and Retail sectors. Prior thereto, Mr. Abbas was an Analyst for Wells Fargo’s Middle Market Banking group where he focused on direct lending to middle-market borrowers. Mr. Abbas graduated with high honors with a BS in Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018 and completed his MBA from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2023.
Kendall Papathanasiou, Director of HR
Ms. Papathanasiou joined SWK as an Executive Assistant in May 2022 and was promoted to Director of HR in July 2024. She is both SCRUM and SHRM-CP certified.
During her tenure as Executive Assistant, Ms. Papathanasiou played a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of the firm by managing SWK’s human resources department, handling administrative duties, and maintaining strong client and vendor relations. Additionally, she coordinated and executed projects in investor relations, marketing, social media outreach, and fostering a positive company culture.
In her current role as Director of HR, Ms. Papathanasiou continues to leverage her extensive experience and certifications to lead SWK’s human resources initiatives, contributing to the company’s ongoing success and growth.