Last man standing: Stephen Toy, head of WL Ross, leaves firm

Toy was the last remaining senior executive leading WL Ross after Carl Stanton left last year and Greg Stoeckle left earlier this year.

Stephen Toy, head of the WL Ross & Co. private equity team backed by Invesco, left the firm as part of a planned transition, according to an Invesco spokeswoman.

Toy was the last remaining senior executive leading WL Ross after Carl Stanton left last year and Greg Stoeckle left earlier this year. Nadim Qureshi, a managing director at the firm, also is stepping down alongside Toy.

Both Toy and Qureshi will help wind down legacy WL Ross funds as outside consultants with the group, the spokeswoman said. Hal Malone, Su Yeo and other team members who manage investments within legacy WL Ross funds will stay with Invesco, the spokeswoman said.

Toy did not respond to a comment request on LinkedIn. His profile shows he is managing partner and co-founder of a new firm called BroadPeak Global that invests in global industrials, materials and chemicals sectors. Toy worked at WL Ross since its founding in 2000, before which he worked in M&A and restructuring at Rothschild, his profile said.

Toy took over as co-leader of WL Ross in 2014 along with Stoeckle when Wilbur Ross stepped down from day-to-day management of the firm. Ross, who formed WL Ross in 2000, eventually became Commerce Secretary in the Trump administration.

Last year, the firm said the WL Ross business would shift its focus from domestic private equity to investments in Asia, credit/distressed and venture capital, Buyouts previously reported. It’s not clear if that is still the case with Toy stepping down, or if the brand is fully winding down.

Invesco brought on Stanton in 2018 to run the private equity business and expand its focus to opportunistic buyouts and special situations. WL Ross domestic private equity activities were rolled into Stanton’s team at the time, Buyouts previously reported.

The group also considered a liquidity process on WL Ross Fund IV, which closed on about $4 billion in 2008, and was working with Lazard on a potential secondaries process, we previously reported. It’s not clear if a transaction ever got done.