Longtime LP advisor Smolens retires from Portfolio Advisors

Donna Smolens, managing director and co-head of the North America due diligence group, retired from Portfolio Advisors on June 30, Managing Director Brian Murphy confirmed. The Women’s PE Brief newsletter first reported on Smolens’ retirement.

Smolens had been planning to transition out for about a year, Murphy said. Gregory Garrett, managing director, who co-led the group with Smolens, has assumed the sole title of head of U.S. fund due diligence, Murphy said.

Smolens did not respond to requests for comment.

Smolens joined Portfolio Advisors in 2003, according to her bio on Portfolio Advisors’ website. She was a voting member of the investment committee for several Portfolio Advisor funds. She joined the firm from Technology Crossover Ventures, where she worked on investor relations, according to her biography.

Earlier in her career, Smolens worked as a vice president at DLJ Securities’ Private Fund Group, and was a portfolio manager with General Motors Investment Management, as well as an investment vice president at New York Life, where she managed private equity portfolios.

The team Smolens led is responsible for performing due diligence on North American partnerships, along with sourcing deals, attending annual meetings and sitting on advisory boards, Murphy said. “That’s an important unit for us,” he said.

Portfolio Advisors, with $34 billion in assets under management, provides discretionary and non-discretionary advisory services for clients and manages 25 funds representing more than $13 billion in investor commitments.