Jason Merrill
Co-Founder | Eden Gardens
Owner, Founder & Senior Partner | Pelican Partners LLC
Jason Merrill has over 22 years in Capital Markets, Financial Analysis, Marketing, Arbitrage,
Private Equity, & Institutional Experience. Utilizing his extensive experience working at 3 Global
Fortune 250 Financial Companies, he seeks to crunch the numbers/analysis to find projects that offer
the best risk adjusted returns for investors. Applying worst case scenarios to find projects that
offer a potential to double equity investments within shortened efficient timelines.
Graduating from Texas State University, BA Finance 2002, Merrill immediately began his career in
finance with Morgan Stanley in Houston, TX. While at Morgan Stanley, he oversaw financial analysis
and modeling for the banking sector for a Private Equity & Mutual Fund that oversaw $40B in AUM.
Progressing through the ranks of Morgan Stanley, Merrill was promoted to the Chicago, IL office for
Morgan Stanley for Institutional Asset Mgmt. In this role, he consulted and ran financial analysis
for Merrill Lynch, LPL, Edward Jones, American Express, Wachovia, FINET, Hartford, and many more
financial organizations. (Morgan Stanley 2002-2005)
In 2005, Merrill was elevated to Regional Director for Hartford Funds. He relocated back to
Houston, TX, and oversaw all institutional and private equity sales for Texas and Louisiana for the
next 15 years. In this role, Merrill oversaw all sales and consulting for asset management and
oversaw $4.5B in AUM in funds and private equity. He would continue to consult to Merrill Lynch,
Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo, RBC, Ameriprise, & Oppenheimer. During his tenure at Hartford
Funds, he was promoted several times and became Managing Director. (Hartford Funds 2005-2020)
in 2021, Merrill started Pelican Partners and assembled a dream team of partners who share the same
vision and bring specific expertise to bring projects to life. (Ameriprise Financial 2020-Present |
Pelican Partners 2021-Present)
Merrill currently resides in Houston Heights with his wife and 4 little girls. He enjoys spear
fishing, golf, tennis, networking, history, the arts, travel, coaching kids’ sports, & finding the
next project!
Current projects underway:
Co-Developing with Urban Row Development
Laguna Isles, Port Aransas, TX – $62M Development Cost
300 Luxury Bayfront Lot Development
Ground up land development
Yacht Club
Recreational Facility & Club House
Commercial Development on site
Opportunity Zone Trust, Houston, TX – $7M Development Cost
University of Houston surrounding opportunity zone development
180 Multi-family development
