Team
Nate Burns

Biography
Nate Burns joined HealthQuest in 2026 as a Partner focused on the Tactical Opportunities Fund. He brings more than 20 years of growth‑oriented investment experience across the healthcare, consumer, and technology sectors, with deep expertise spanning growth equity and debt financings, control‑oriented leveraged buyouts, distressed recapitalizations, IPOs, and M&A. Over the course of his career, Nate has led successful structured investments in numerous healthcare companies including Caris Life Sciences (Nasdaq IPO: CAI), Castle Biosciences (Nasdaq IPO: CSTL) and CareDx (Nasdaq: CDNA). He also brings meaningful operating experience, having led comprehensive operational restructurings at Hostess Brands and Tandem Hospital Partners.
Prior to joining HealthQuest, Nate served as Managing Director and Healthcare Portfolio Manager at Highland Capital Management, a global alternative investment manager. In this role, he was responsible for all healthcare public and private debt and equity investments across the Highland platform. His responsibilities included serving as Portfolio Manager of the NexPoint Capital Healthcare BDC and the Highland Long‑Short Healthcare Fund, as well as Key Man of the Stonebridge‑Highland Healthcare Private Equity Fund.
Earlier in his career, Nate was a member of the investment team at Ripplewood Holdings, where he led control‑oriented leveraged recapitalizations and growth equity investments across the healthcare, consumer, and technology industries. He began his career as an Analyst in the Global Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Lehman Brothers.
Nate holds a B.S. in Analytical Finance and Economics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Wake Forest University, and an MBA with Dean’s Honors and Distinction from Columbia Business School. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Outside of work, Nate enjoys spending time with his wife and their two children and is an avid golfer.

