Raymond Abbott is Head of Private Equity for Alliance Trust and the Managing Director of Alliance Trust’s private equity division, Alliance Trust Equity Partners Ltd. After building up a portfolio of venture investments with British Linen Bank in 1999 he then founded Albany Venture Managers in 2000 and raised a fund in 2002 focused on Healthcare and IT. Alliance Trust acquired Albany Ventures in 2006 in order to add private equity experience and Raymond is now implementing a long term private equity investment program for the Trust.
Jonas joined LGT Capital Partners in 2001 and is based in the Pfäffikon office, near Zürich. He currently serves on the advisory boards of a number of buyout and venture partnerships in Europe.
Hannes Ambacher has nineteen years professional experience, nine of which are in private equity direct investments and investment management. His current focus is in on private equity investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Bank Gutmann, Hannes co-founded Gamma Capital Partners (Vienna), a technology investments group, where he originated and executed direct investments.
As Head of Private Equity, Frank Amberg is responsible for the Private Equity and Infrastructure investments of Munich Re Group. Prior to joining MEAG, Mr. Amberg spent eight years in the execution of direct investments in Venture Capital, Buyout and mezzanine financings and worked several years in Private Equity Fundraising. Previously, he was responsible for M&A with a Germany based industrial company.
Prior to joining LGT CP in 2005, Mr. Aubert was a Principal at Index Ventures, a pan-European venture capital firm, which he joined in 1999. At Index Mr. Aubert focused on investment opportunities in the communications, semiconductor and embedded software sectors.
David joined Celerant Consulting in 2008 as the Head of Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions. He has worked in operational line management in industry in a number of roles. Previously, David was a Director at PWC, and a Partner at Grant Thornton, where he set up and ran a national operational due diligence, post-deal services and operational restructuring team.
Dan Aylott is part of a small team managing the Private Equity allocation for the BP Pension Fund which is a £2bn program focussed primarily on US and European Buyout and Venture. He joined BP in August 2008, and prior to that was a Senior Associate with AIG Investments in London. Dan has more than eight years Private Equity experience, starting his Private Equity career in 2000 with Morley Fund Management.
Before joining KKR, Ludo was the Director of European Public Affairs at Coca-Cola Company Europe Group. Prior to taking this role he was Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications for the Europe Group of Coca-Cola Enterprises, the largest bottler in the Coca-Cola system.
John Barber was previously a managing director at Helix Associates. Before joining Helix in 1997, John co-founded Yucatan Foods in Santa Monica, California. He previously worked at WSGP Partners, and at Morgan Stanley. He is a member of the Investor Relations Committee of the EVCA.
Beat Buehlman is a partner at Horizon21. Previous to this he was Founding Partner and Chairman at Tendo Corporate Finance AG, Zürich, where he established a corporate finance advisory boutique in the fields of Private Equity and M&A for SME in Switzerland, Germany and US.
Jerome Bouix joined CapMan in 2000. He is responsible for CapMan's Investor Services, which includes fundraising, fund administration, investor relations, communications and product development. Jerome is also a member of the Buyout team. Jerome is Member of the Board in European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
Tom is a co-founder and managing partner of Capvent AG and Capvent India Advisors Private Ltd as well as a member of the firm’s investment committee. He has more than 16 years of direct and fund investment experience with growth companies in the US, private equity transactions in Europe and fund investments in Asia. Tom helped to develop the firm’s investment and due diligence process and has advised on all fund investment opportunities
Ian joined Stock Spirits Group in December 2007. He has worked in the industry since 1996, when he joined United Distillers & Vintners (a subsidiary of Diageo PLC) as Packaging Director, Global Operations and Operations Director, Packaging, UK Operations. He was most recently CEO of Inter Link Foods Ltd.
Before taking part in the launch of OFI AM's Private Equity fund of funds unit, he launched the OFI Group's direct Private Equity business in the LBO segment in 2000 and developed multi-management expertise through the OFI Private Equity subsidiary, where he was Managing Director.
Wolf previously worked for Franz Haniel & Cie. where he headed the M&A department. Subsequently he held positions at Allianz Capital Partners as well as at CAM Private Equity. He was involved in numerous national and international private equity transactions and sat on the advisory board of Autobahn Tank & Rast Holding.
Philip is responsible for Sun European Partners, LLP which identifies European leveraged buyout and investment opportunities for affiliates of Sun Capital Partners. Mr. Dougall spent twelve years, from 1991 to 2003, with Lehman Brothers where, most recently, he was Managing Director and Co–Head of the firm’s European telecommunications practice.
Jean-Charles Douin joined the London team at Teachers’ in 2008 with international experience in private equity. Previously, he worked at CapVest Ltd., a mid-cap private equity fund based in London, and UBS Investment, where he focused on the consumer and retail sector
Olivier has more than ten years of experience in the private equity industry advising clients on structuring and operations of private equity funds. He also has extensive experience practicing in both legal and judicial aspects of general Business Law.
Mr. van Eesteren is responsible for origination, due diligence, and monitoring of buyout and venture capital investments in Europe. He has 14 years of investment experience. Prior to joining WPM, he worked in investment banking, most recently as Vice President with ING Barings. Mr. van Eesteren was also previously with NationsBank and Bank of America in London. Mr. van Eesteren serves on several buyout and venture capital partnership advisory boards in Europe. Mr. van Eesteren received a MSc degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Geoffrey Geiger joined the University Superannuation Scheme in 2007 in charge of private equity co-investments. He focuses on evaluating co-investment opportunities and assists the private equity team with manager selection and due diligence.
William is an investment director in the private equity team, which he heads up, and is responsible for making investments in private equity funds globally. The private equity team manages more than €1.5bn in private equity commitments in over 60 fund investments. William is also a member of the advisory committees of a number of private equity funds, a director of the Private Equity Association and is regularly invited to speak at private equity conferences.
Since 1999 he has grown Golding Capital Partners to become one of Germany’s leading investment managers for private equity fund investments. Jeremy Golding looks back on a 20-year international career with leading multinational companies. Mr. Golding has lived and worked in Germany, US, France, UK and the Middle East, holding management positions with General Electric, GE International, GE Capital, and the Boston Consulting Group. He holds an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
Marleen Groen is principal founder and CEO of Greenpark, an independent global private equity secondaries investment group, currently advising funds of €1.3 billion. Marleen has extensive global private equity secondaries experience having spent the last thirteen years investing in this market.
Graeme Gunn is responsible for European private equity investment activity. He currently sits on a number of European private equity fund advisory boards and has responsibility for a portfolio of direct co-investments.
Gordon Hargraves has been actively investing private equity since 1993. He is a Partner with Rho Fund Investors ("RFI") and has overall responsibility for its activities. RFI is the division of Rho Capital Partners that commits to venture capital and other specialized private equity funds whose strategies afford unique advantages, such as domain expertise, operational expertise or focus on a particularly attractive sector.
Alternative Investment Partners Neil leads European primary fund investment and co-investment activities for Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, the Private Equity Fund of Funds group within Morgan Stanley, and is a Portfolio Manager and member of the Investment Committee. He has 18 years of relevant industry experience. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley AIP, he was a Partner at McKinsey & Company in Europe, North America and Asia providing consulting services to corporate and private equity clients.
Erin Harrell joined 3i in February 2005 as Director, Investor Relations. 3i has since raised the largest mid-market buyout fund in Europe, and one of the pioneering infrastructure funds for India.
John A. Hess is a founder of Altius and has been Chief Executive Officer since the firm’s foundation, which now manages and advises on over $17 billion with offices in London and Richmond VA. John is recognized as a thought-leader in private equity and contributes regularly to industry panels and periodicals. He has been involved in the financial services sector for 33 years, focusing on private equity for 24.
Head of Investor Relations, Terra Firma and Investor Relations Director for Europe, Middle East and Australia. Prior to joining Terra Firma in 2004, Michael was Principal and Director at Atlantic Pacific Capital. He was previously Vice President, Private Equity Group at Morgan Stanley. Michael has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. Michael is married with two sons and a daughter.
Ben Hewetson, Director, Teachers’ Private Capital. Ben Hewetson joined Teachers’ Private Capital in 2008 with 15 years experience in private equity, mergers and acquisitions and banking. He is responsible for sourcing, negotiating and executing private equity investments across Europe.
A. Michael Hoffman co-founded Palamon Capital Partners in 1999 and is Chairman. He has extensive experience in private equity having established the London Office of Warburg Pincus in 1987.
Greg is a Partner who primarily specializes in the sourcing and execution of secondary investments. He actively participates in all fund investment decisions at Adams Street. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Adams Street Partners Secondary Partnership Sub-Committee.
Matthew Hudson is a partner in the Corporate Department of Proskauer Rose LLP and head of the London Office. His practice focuses on private equity, corporate finance and M&A, including advising private equity houses on fund formation, carried interest structures, LBOs, MBOs and venture capital. In addition, he has represented management teams, as well as portfolio companies, throughout their financing and M&A activity.
Mr. Jeffrey is a Managing Partner of Parish Capital and is based in London managing a team of investment professionals focusing on primary, secondary and direct investments throughout Europe.
Michael Joseph is a senior vice president of D.E. Shaw & Co. (U.K), Ltd. operating from the D.E. Shaw group’s London office and a director of D.E Shaw Direct Capital, L.L.C., which provides debt and equity capital to businesses across all industry sectors in a number of geographic regions. Prior to joining D.E Shaw group in 2007, Mr. Joseph worked at Lloyds TSB Bank plc in London, where he last served as managing director of structured finance.
Martin Källström is a Senior Portfolio Manager for Alternative Investments at AP1. In his role as co-responsible manager for Alternative Investments he has a specific focus to build and manage AP1´s Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund and opportunistic investment portfolios. Prior to AP1, Martin was Head of Investment Consulting at Aon in the Nordic countries and a member of the Global Investment Practice Committee.
Carol is Senior Partner at Pantheon, a leading global private equity fund-of-funds with US$23.0 billion under management. Carol has 26 years of private equity experience and currently chairs the EVCA Large Buyout Steering Platform, and is a member of the BVCA Research Advisory Board and a board member of the UK CFA Society.
Jesper Knutsson has 18 years of experience from private equity and investment banking, hereof 11 years internationally. Jesper joined Danske Private Equity as Investment Manager in 2006, where has been involved in the due diligence on several funds in Danske PEP III and Danske PEP IV, as well as being responsible for fundraising.
Prior to joining Oaktree in 2007, Mr. Krens was CFO and Financial Controller of GROHE, a leading provider of Water Technology solutions in Germany. Before that, he spent four years at Black & Decker Europe, most recently as a Vice-President in the Lean Six Sigma group. Prior experience includes work at Stanley Works Inc., GE Capital and GE Plastics.
Axel Kuehn is Head of Private Equity Funds Group Zurich at AIG INVESTMENTS. The Private Equity Funds Group is a global advisor for private equity fund investments. Axel Kuehn's current responsibilities include overseeing investments in European geographies out of Zurich, as well as sourcing, due diligence, monitoring and product marketing. He has been in private equity funds business for more than a decade and joined from Allianz Private Equity in 2005.
Mary Kuusisto is a partner in the Private Investment Funds Group of Proskauer Rose LLP in London. She has over fifteen years of experience in the private equity industry and has advised hundreds of GPs and LPs on fund formation and operational matters involving private investment funds globally, with particular experience in tax-related matters.
Peter joined the company in 1999 as Managing Director. From 1995 to 1999, he was at A.T. Kearney Management Consultants in Germany, focusing on corporate restructuring and new business strategies. Prior, he worked in strategic planning, sales and marketing at Robert Bosch, Stuttgart. Peter started his professional career in the Data and Information Technology Division of Siemens in Germany and in the US.
Elly leads Pantheon’s global secondary investment funds and is a member of the firm’s Investment Management Committee and European Investment Committee. He joined Pantheon in 2001. Prior to joining Pantheon, Elly was an investment manager focusing on structuring and execution of direct investments at Actis Capital, an emerging markets private equity fund.
Chairman of Mercapital, firm which he joined in 1991. He previously worked as Investment Director at the Compagnie de Suez in Paris and before he held a position as Senior Consultant at the Information and Management Consultancy Division of Arthur Andersen & Co. in Madrid. Javier Loizaga has held relevant positions in EVCA (European Venture Capital Association) becoming Chairman in 2006-2007 as well as in the Spanish Association of Venture Capital (ASCRI in its Spanish acronym) being appointed President in 1995.
Adrian is an Investment Director of Indigo, focusing upon investments in the UK, Germany, CEE and the Netherlands. Prior to joining Indigo in 1999, Adrian was a member of the mezzanine capital team of Kleinwort Benson, which he joined in 1997. Before that, he worked in the acquisition finance team at NatWest Markets, the investment banking arm of NatWest.
Ross Marshall joined Dunedin in 1994 after ten years with 3i. He has 25 years private equity experience, including leading the negotiations for the MBO of Dunedin in 1996. He chairs Dunedin's investment committee and heads Dunedin’s investor relations activities. He raised the £250m Dunedin Buyout Fund II in 2006.
Jonny Maxwell is Global Head of Private Equity Fund of Funds at Allianz Private Equity Partners. Jonny has overall responsibility for Allianz’s indirect private equity activities, operating out of locations in Munich, New York and Singapore. Allianz, one of the world's largest insurance companies manages in excess of Euro 6.3 billion of private equity fund assets.
Mark McDonald is Principal of Pomona Capital’s London office and joined the firm in 2004. He focuses on the origination and execution of private equity secondary transactions as well as primary fund investments in Europe. Prior to Pomona, Mark spent four years with Barclays Capital in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region where he focused on M&A, leverage finance and private equity. He also spent three years with VCI, an investment firm backed by 3i, based in Milan and London.
Ryan T. McGovern joined Nomura in February 2005 to focus on the origination, execution and monitoring of mezzanine and other subordinated debt investments as one of the founding members of the Nomura-sponsored European mezzanine fund. As an Investment Director at Nomura Mezzanine, Ryan has been involved in making numerous second lien, mezzanine and PIK investments in companies across Europe and for monitoring those investments for the fund.
Peter McKellar, Chief Investment Officer, Standard Life Investments started his career in investment banking at JP Morgan and worked in corporate finance before moving into industry in 1995 as corporate development director and then group finance director of Clydeport plc, a London Stock Exchange listed company and a former Montagu Private Equity buyout. Peter joined Standard Life Investments’ private equity team in the autumn of 1999, as Investment Director, and was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in December 2006.
Stewart is an Associate Director for RBC Corporate Employee & Executive Services ('RBC cees'). Based in Guernsey, Stewart advises on a portfolio of private equity and property fund structures and is also part of the business development team.
Jon Moulton is Managing Partner of Alchemy, a UK-based private equity firm, which has invested £2.0 billion of equity with an emphasis on dealing with troubled companies. Alchemy also has a £300m European special opportunities fund investing principally in distressed debt.
Henry Owainati has sixteen years professional experience in investments management in the United States, Western Europe and Emerging Markets. His focus is on alternative asset classes. Since 2004 he has covered private equity investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Bank Gutmann, Henry was with the private banking unit of Bank Austria Creditanstalt Group (Vienna) and with Spectrum Capital Partners (New York) in various investment management positions.
Christina A. Pamberg joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) as a Director in 2005 and focuses on investor relations and capital raising activities for Europe. Prior to joining KKR, Ms. Pamberg was with HarbourVest Partners (U.K.) Ltd. In her five years at HarbourVest, Ms. Pamberg was involved in various aspects of fund-of-funds investing covering primary, secondary and direct co-investments, most recently serving as a Vice President in HarbourVest’s secondary group.
James Pitt is a Managing Director of Lexington Partners and head of European private equity co-investments. He is based in London. He joined Lexington in 2006 from AXA Private Equity where he was head of the firm’s London office. At AXA he was responsible for a range of private equity activities within the firm’s private equity programme.
Rod Richards, Managing Partner, Graphite Capital. Graphite is both a direct investor in mid-market UK buy-outs and manages an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange investing in funds managed by third parties. Rod joined Graphite in 1986 and has been Managing Partner for the last ten years, leading the Management Buy-Out of Graphite from F&C in 2001.
Pål Ristvedt is based in Lexington Partners’ London office where he is responsible for Lexington’s secondary activities outside the United States and leading a team focused on the sourcing, valuation and negotiation of secondary purchases of non-US buyout, venture and mezzanine private equity partnerships.
Ms. Ryan joined AIG Investments in 2006. In addition to heading the London private equity funds group, Ms. Ryan is responsible for evaluating and meeting with private equity fund managers, making investment recommendations and monitoring the performance of the private equity fund portfolio. Prior to joining AIG Investments, she was Head of Private Equity at Insight Investment (the asset manager of the Halifax Bank of Scotland group (HBOS)), where she joined in 2001.
Andrew joined Campbell Lutyens in 1990 and became the Managing Partner in 2003. He also leads the firm’s financial advisory activities which focus on secondary transactions and fund restructurings. Previously he was responsible for developing the firm’s activities in fund placement.
Before forming Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity Select in 2002, Mr. Seligman spent 25 years at SG Warburg and its successor firms, where he had formed the sponsor coverage group, which became a leading adviser to European private equity firms. Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity Select manages fund-of-funds targeting the Western European lower mid-market buy-out segment.
Peter joined Celerant in 2008 as a Director of Celerant’s Private Equity and M&A practice. He has previously worked in consulting, industry and Private Equity, where he has held CEO positions with a number of PE backed companies, overseeing the doubling of revenue and profitability.
Charles Soulignac, Managing Partner and Founder of Fondinvest Capital, started in 1993 the fund-of-funds business (primary and secondary). He has been a member of the EVCA board of directors and investor relations committee.
Hans van Swaay has been more than twenty years in private equity as Head of Private Equity at Pictet & Cie, as Managing Director of UBS Capital, as Managing Director of Merifin and as partner of Lowe Finance. He has made direct investments in Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. He sat on numerous boards and ran companies as CEO when necessary.
Dr. Matthias Unser, Managing Director with responsibility for SOPEP’s mezzanine and distressed debt fund investments, has more than 8 years of experience in mezzanine and private equity. Prior to VCM he was a Senior Consultant in the Corporate Finance Practice of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers.
Michael Wand is a Managing Director focused on European technology opportunities in the software sector. Mr. Wand joined Carlyle in 2001 and his investment interests include enterprise and infrastructure software, wireless technology and IT security. He is based in London. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Wand worked for approximately 10 years in investment banking, the last seven years in the technology sector. As a Managing Director, he was responsible for the European software and internet research team at Deutsche Bank in London. Mr. Wand is currently a member of the Board of Directors of SmartTrust AB, UC4 GmbH and FRS Global. His previous investments include Personal & Informatik AG and Apama Inc (now part of Progress Software).
Stephen Welton is a Senior Member of CCMP Capital Advisors (UK), LLP, our London affiliate, and is a member of the Investment Committee. Mr. Welton focuses on making investments in the industrial, leisure, and consumer and retail sectors. He has been responsible for the firm's investments in Edwards Limited, IMO Car Wash and SafetyKleen Europe.
David Wilmot is Joint Head of Mezzanine and Private Equity at Babson Capital Europe which he joined in November 2000 from Société Générale (“SG”) where he was Head of the UK Leveraged Finance team. David has extensive experience in European leveraged debt origination, execution and portfolio management. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and holds a BSc (Hons) in Banking and Finance from Loughborough University and an MBA from City University Business School. He is a member of the Babson Capital Europe and the Mezzanine Credit Committees.
Annette Wilson is Investor Relations Director of Palamon Capital Partners. She joined Palamon in 1999 as the founding Chief Financial Officer and took on the investor relations role solely in 2005.
Nottingham University Business SchoolMike Wright is Professor of Financial Studies at Nottingham University Business School and Director of the Centre for Management Buyout Research, which he founded in 1986. He is a member of the BVCA Research Advisory Board.
Lorenzo joined Vision Capital as a Partner in 2008. Previously he was a Director at Change Capital Partners focusing on mid-market buyouts in the consumer and retail goods sector. Prior to Change Capital Lorenzo worked at Salomon Brothers, Nomura and TD Capital.
Peter Wilson joined the Firm’s London-based subsidiary in 1996 and focuses principally on secondary investments in Europe and European venture partnerships. He serves on the advisory committees for partnerships managed by Atlantic Bridge, Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Index Venture Management, Indigo Capital, Nordic Capital, Paragon Partners, and Pond Venture Partners. Prior to joining the Firm, he spent three years working for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he originated and managed two regional venture capital funds in Russia and worked on several other debt and equity transactions in the former Soviet Union. Peter also spent two years at The Monitor Company, a strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a BA (with honors) from McGill University in 1985 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. Peter speaks German and French.
Guy Semmens joined Argos Soditic in 1996 and heads the Swiss operations based in Geneva. Investments which he has led include cable machinery business Maillefer, and chocolate wafer brand Kagi in Switzerland, and flame retardant business Kermel, and fine chemicals group Axyntis in France. In addition to his primary investment role, he is also responsible for investor relations and fund raising for the Argos Soditic Group.
Before joining Argos Soditic, Guy Semmens was part of the management buy-out group at Clifford Chance, the international law firm. He was also a member the EVCA working committee that formulated the "Reporting and Valuation Guidelines" for private equity firms.
Guy Semmens holds a degree in law from Durham University and is a qualified solicitor in the U.K.
Argos Soditic
2008 Swiss Private Equity House of the Year (Acq Magazine)
2009 Western European Private Equity House of the Year (Acq Magazine)