Executive moves, week of July 6, 2009

Ex-Apple exec joins Opus Capital

has joined early stage investor Opus Capital as a general partner. Borchers comes to Opus from Apple, where he served as senior director of worldwide product marketing for the iPhone.

Opus is currently investing from its $280 million third fund, raised in 2006.

Novo Growth boosts staffScott Beardsley and Michael Shalmi have been named senior partners of Novo Growth Equity, an affiliate of Denmark, Copenhagen-based private equity firm Novo AS. Novo Growth Equity expects to invest $200 million a year, and the first deal is expected to come within six months. Beardsley previously ran JPMorgan’s West Coast pharmaceutical practice in San Francisco. Shalmi previously was with Novo Nordisk, where he served as New York-based corporate vice president of global development and clinical operations. Christina Sylvester-Hvid has also joined Novo Growth Equity as a principal, after having been a partner with Wiborg Biotech Consulting.

CalPERS hires Kessler

has joined the California Public Employees’ Retirement System as deputy executive officer of operations. He previously served in a similar position with the California Department of Public Health. Kessler will oversee CalPERS’ support and operational functions, advising the board on policy and administration.

Dinur joins Greylock in Israel

has joined Greylock as a partner in the firm’s Israel office. He previously spent seven years with SanDisk, as a senior vice president leading mobile strategy.

Desjardins Venture COO quits

Montreal-based Desjardins Venture Capital’s president and COO, Louis Roquet, has stepped down, as first reported last week by AltAssets. He previously served as president and CEO of the Société des Alcohols du Québec.

Roquet has also been the secretary general of the City of Montreal and general manager of Montreal Urban Community. Desjardins Venture Capital is the venture capital fund management unit of Desjardins Group.

MDV adds partner

has joined Mohr Davidow Ventures as a partner, with a focus on life sciences, personalized medicine and biotech-based cleantech. He previously spent two years with Pacific Biosciences and, before that, worked at 454 Life Sciences, which was bought by Roche.

Blackstone lassos Levinson

has joined The Blackstone Group, where he will oversee capital-raising and other operations across the Asia-Pacific region. He previously was with RREEF, a unit of Deutsche Asset Management.

UBS names chairman

has named Chi-Won Yoon as chairman and head of its Asia-Pacific region. He succeeds Rory Tapner, who is leaving the bank after 25 years. Yoon previously served as head of equities and fixed income for Asia-Pacific.

Wilshire woos Nee

Kevin Nee has joined Wilshire Associates as president of its private markets group. He previously was a managing director with BlackRock Inc.