March 23, 2025

Martin Sumichrast at Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc.

A decade as Trustee and Governance Chairman — and, before that, a global investment bank and a subdivision in Czechoslovakia.

Barings

Martin Sumichrast served as a Trustee and Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committees of the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc. (NYSE: BGH) and the Barings Funds Trust, Inc., from 2012 to 2022.

Global Capital Partners

From 1993 to 2002 he founded Global Capital Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: GCAP) — his first public company — and served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. During that period he built the company from a start-up into a global investment bank with over 500 employees, 27 offices worldwide, and several billion dollars in assets under management.

Czechoslovakia, 1992

Before Global Capital Partners, Martin Sumichrast helped finance new ventures in Czechoslovakia, the country his late father Michael emigrated from. In 1992, his company USA Builders broke ground on a subdivision called Na Visluni.

The first of its kind, USA Builders partnered with the home-building giant Trammell Crow to offer American-style homes — wood construction, American-made materials. The USA Builders model home was selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce as “Model Home of the Year” for Eastern Europe. Martin Sumichrast was twenty-six years old.

Books and family

Martin Sumichrast has co-authored two books with his father: Opportunities in Financial Careers and The New Complete Book of Home Buying, both published by Dow Jones Irwin. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Cindy. They have four children: Isabelle, Martin II, Andrew, and Caroline.