On the move, 10.09.17 – Eaton Partners makes five new hires

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Abraaj Group: Kito de Boer joined as a managing partner. In 2014, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appointed de Boer head of mission of the Office of the Quartet in Jerusalem. Prior to this diplomatic posting, de Boer worked at McKinsey & Co.

Angel Island Capital named Dev Gopalan CEO. Previously, he was head of U.S. private credit at KKR. AIC was launched in 2008 as a specialty-finance portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital.

Adams Street Partners hired Alicia Pando as a partner and chief technology officer. Pando previously was CTO and, most recently, chief operating officer of the fundamental-strategies business at Magnetar Capital.

Carlyle Group: Mathew Feldman joined as a managing director on the credit-opportunities team within the global-credit business. He reports to Alex Popov, head of credit opportunities. Feldman spent six years with Davidson Kempner, where he was a senior member of the special-situations group.

Enlightenment Capital named Bob Work to the advisory board. Work served as deputy secretary of defense under President Barack Obama. He is also former under secretary of the Navy and was a colonel in the Marine Corps, where he served for 27 years.

Harvest Global Investments: Joining are Winnie Wong as fixed-income-portfolio manager, Kathy Zhang as China equity strategist and Kenn An as head of product.

Highland Europe named Gajan Rajanathan a principal. His background includes stints at Qatalyst Partners and at Credit Suisse’s M&A group in New York.

Hilltop Private Capital named Ed Moss a partner. Moss had been a managing director at Lincolnshire Management.

Maranon Capital: Joining are Shawn Meador as an investment analyst and Matt de Frank and Greg Singer as fund accountants.

McCourt Global, the New York alternative-asset manager, hired Christopher Keber as head of investments and strategy. Keber previously was senior managing director at Hines Interests.

Medicxi: Moncef Slaoui joined as a partner. Slaoui was formerly GSK’s chairman of pharmaceutical R&D and of its vaccines division.

Norwest Equity Partners named Michael Gerend and Mark Thom operating partners. Gerend previously was CEO at Edge Fitness while Thom was chief operating officer at Movati Athletic, an NEP portfolio company.

Pantheon: Richard Sem was named a partner within the global infrastructure and real assets investment team, while Tatjana Van Vloten joins as vice president and Radhika Patel as an analyst.

ParkerGale Capital: Cici Zheng joined the firm as a principal. Zheng was previously a case team leader with Bain & Co.

Revelstoke Capital Partners: Russell J. Cassella joined as a partner. Cassella was previously a partner with GCM Grosvenor.

SFW Capital Partners hired Andrew Cialino as a vice president and head of business development. Cialino was previously head of sales with Axial.

Sycamore Partners named John A. Lederer a senior adviser. Lederer is former president and CEO of US Foods.

WestBridge Capital: Tim Whittard joined as investment director. Whittard spent the past five years at BGF plc.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Ansira, a marketing solutions provider, named Daina Middleton CEO.  She is former global CEO of Performics. Ansira is backed by Advent International.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, backed by Oak Hill Capital Partners, hired Anthony Gerrato as a principal at its New York City office. Gerrato had worked at Whitmore Group. EPIC is a retail property, casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant.

Geritrex Holdings, a maker of generic drugs, named Tim Sawyer CEO. He will retain his role as executive chairman. Prior to joining the firm, Sawyer was president of 1-800-Doctors. Geritrex is a portfolio company of BelHealth Investment Partners.

Global ID Group, a portfolio company of Paine Schwartz Partners, named Brad Riemenapp CEO.  Previously, Riemenapp was global vice president and general manager in Covance‘s food solutions unit. Global ID provides food-safety and -quality solutions.

Marquis Software Solutions, a portfolio company of Falfurrias Capital Partners, hired Leslie Watson-Stracener as vice president of compliance client relationships. Watson-Stracener is former director of regulatory compliance for Grant Thornton. Marquis is the Plano, Texas, data-analytics provider.

Orchid Underwriters Agency: Timothy Byrne Sr, executive vice president of regional operations for the Vero Beach, Florida, specialty underwriter of catastrophic coastal insurance, left his position. Byrne had joined Orchid in May 2015. Orchid is backed by Gryphon Investors.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Eaton Partners: Joining the placement-agent subsidiary of Stifel Financial are Craig White as a managing director to the distribution team based in the Rowayton, Connecticut, office; Daniel Rosenthal Ayash as a vice president in the London office within the distribution team; Aki Islam as a vice president in the London office within the project-management team; Nina Yang as a director in the Hong Kong office within the origination/project management team; and Ryan Haselden as a senior associate in the Houston office within the origination/project management team.

Financial Technology Partners: Melissa Wasser joined the firm as a director and head of private capital markets. Wasser spent a decade at Goldman Sachs, where she most recently was a senior banker in the global private placements group, helping source private capital across fintech/tech in Goldman’s investment banking division.

Matrix Capital Markets Group, a middle-market investment bank, hired Martin C. P. McElroy Jr and Kyle B. Tipping as analysts.

Metropolitan Partners Group Management: The New York investment adviser appointed John Ioannou president. He had been an operating partner focused on the firm’s portfolio companies.

Muzinich & Co: Simon Males joined as managing director and head of institutional business. He will be responsible for the growth and development of the firm’s U.K. institutional client base and consultant relationships. Males previously was head of global fixed-income distribution with Legal & General Investment Management.

Perkins Coie: The law firm appointed Christopher J. Hagan a partner at its Washington office. Hagan will focus on private equity matters as well as mergers and acquisitions. Previously, Hagan was a partner at Brown Rudnick.

Pi Capital hired Roberto Guimarães as a managing director in the financial adviser’s power and energy group. He is former project-development head at GE Latam.

ROTH Capital Partners added Jotin Marango and Yasmeen Rahimi to its healthcare research team. Marango, a physician, will serve as managing director and senior research analyst. Rahimi will be a director and research analyst. Marango previously was chief operating officer at Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. Rahimi worked at H.C. Wainwright.

SoFi named Executive Chairman Tom Hutton interim CEO of the online lender. SoFi’s board accepted the resignation of co-founder and CEO Mike Hagney following the disclosure of sexual-harassment allegations leveled against him. Hutton, managing director of XL Innovate, was appointed to SoFi’s board in June 2012. SoFi’s backers include SoftBank and Silver Lake Partners.

THL Credit Advisors hired Mike Backwell as Australia and New Zealand representative to build relationships for funds and separate accounts in THL Credit’s Direct Lending and tradeable credit strategies. Backwell previously was a director at Credit Suisse responsible for fixed-income sales in Australia and New Zealand.

PROMOTIONS

Abernathy MacGregor: Patrick Clifford, Dana Gorman, Kate Murray and Pat Tucker were promoted to managing director. Abernathy is a strategic communications advisory firm.

Baird Capital promoted Nicole Walker to partner, Melissa Mounce to principal and Kathleen Schultze to global investor relations manager.

General Atlantic: Aaron Goldman was named head of financial services and software for the EMEA region. Goldman joined GA in 2007. He has spent the last 10 years focused on global financial technology investments, with a focus on payments, e-commerce, and data analytics software.

Gridiron Capital promoted Kevin Jackson to senior managing director. Jackson joined the New Canaan, Connecticut, middle-market PE firm in 2010 as a vice president and was promoted to managing director in 2012.

Matrix Capital Markets Group promoted Vance Saunders to managing director and principal, John J. Underwood to managing director and Carlton C. Zesch to senior analyst.

Oasis Outsourcing promoted Kerrin Jesson to senior vice president of operations and Barbara Drames to senior vice president of benefits. Jesson previously was the firm’s vice president of financial systems and strategy while Drames was vice president of benefits. Oasis Outsourcing is backed by Stone Point Capital and Kelso.

Silverfleet Capital: Mark Piasecki, Klaus Maurer and Jean Châtillon were promoted to partner.