Executive moves, week of June 30, 2008

Walden International renews India focus

Rajesh Subramaniam has joined Walden International as managing director and head of Indian operations. He previously was CFO of Firstsource Solutions. Walden has not had a managing director in India since 2004, when Dinesh Vaswani left to join Bessemer Venture Partners as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Walden also had Danial Faizullabhoy, a general partner based in San Francisco, who focused on India-U.S. investments. Faizullabhoy left Walden in 2006 to join BroadLogic as CEO.

“The growing pace of domestic consumption of products and services in India is prompting Walden to commit serious capital and time to India,” Subramaniam told the online news site Business Line.

Morgan Stanley beefs up Japan PE presence

Investment bank Morgan Stanley appointed Yoshihiko Shigenari head of its private equity unit in Japan. Shigenari, who joined Morgan Stanley in 1989 and is currently co-head of the bank’s investment banking division in Tokyo, will assume the new position at Morgan Stanley Capital on July 1. Morgan Stanley’s private equity business, which has invested in various companies in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, has not made any investments in Japan since 2000 when it bought a stake in internet access provider eAccess Ltd.

“This appointment clearly underscores our commitment to expanding our private equity franchise,” Stephen Trevor, co-head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity said in a statement.

JMI adds principal

Mohit Daswani has joined JMI Equity as a San Diego-based principal. He previously was a principal with FT Ventures and, before that, an associate with JPMorgan Partners.

Heller joins Bertram

David Hellier has joined Palo Alto, Calif,-based private equity firm Bertram Capital as head of national business development. He previously was president and CEO of The Gemisis Corp., a developer of diamond growth technology. He also has held senior management positions at Ask.com and Iomega.

Triathlon collars Collar

Mark Collar has been named venture partner of Triathlon Medical Ventures, a Midwest-based venture capital firm that invests exclusively in the life sciences. Collar retired last year as president of Procter & Gamble’s Global Pharmaceuticals and Personal Health division.

Russell named group chairman

Jonathan Russell, a managing partner with 3i, has been elected chairman of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. He succeeds Helmut Schüsler, chairman of TVM Capital. Russell has been with 3i since 1986.

Thomas Weisel hires three

Thomas Weisel Partners Group has named three new managing directors. Jason Moran and Ralph Sutton will focus on the health care sector and Robert Nabholz will focus on telecom services for investment banking.

Moran, who wiill be based in San Francisco, previously was a managing director with Piper Jaffray & Co. Sutton and Nabholz will be based in New York, and previously were managing directors with Bear Stearns.

Sigma adds venture partner

Sigma Partners has named Paul Flanagan as a venture partner. He previously was an executive-in-residence with the firm and, before that, was an executive vice president and CFO with VistaPrint. Flanagan works out of Sigma’s Boston-based office.