Ex-Merrill chair joins Advent

Global private equity firm Advent International has recruited former chairman of Merrill Lynch Bob Wigley as an operating partner advising on opportunities in financial services in Europe.

Having spent more than 10 years at Merrill Lynch, Wigley has extensive experience in the financial services sector. He was a former member of the Court of the Bank of England and has held a number of non-executive roles including sitting on the boards of Euroclear and LCH Clearnet.

He is currently deputy chairman of the UK corporate social responsibility organisation, Business in the Community and is co-chairman of the National Education Employer Taskforce.

Wigley is the first recruit Advent has made to the operating partner programme in 2009. In November 2008, the firm announced that Paolo Cantarella had joined the programme with a particular focus on investment opportunities in the industrial sector.