On the Move, 7.9.2018 – CalSTRS hires new deputy CIO

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Abraaj Holdings: Chairman Sean Cleary resigned as the PE group is undergoing a court-supervised restructuring, Bloomberg reported.

Altamont Capital Partners named Jennifer Mello general counsel and chief compliance officer. Mello previously was a managing director on TPG‘s legal team in San Francisco.

Blackstone hired Erich Schram and Kevin Relihan for its new insurance solutions business. Schram will serve as senior managing director, head of credit origination and trading while Relihan will be managing director and head of relationship management. Schram is former chief investment officer at Guggenheim Life and Annuity while Relihan was a managing director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s insurance business.

Grain Management, a Washington and Sarasota, Florida, private equity firm focused on the communications sector, named Edith Cooper and Virgis Colbert senior advisers. Previously, Cooper was global head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs while Colbert is former executive vice president for Miller Brewing.

Gurnet Point Capital, a healthcare-focused fund, named Sophie Kornowski senior partner. Currently, she’s executive vice president of Roche Partnering.

Leerink Capital Partners hired Karl Beinkampen as president. Beinkampen was president and chief investment officer of Wilshire Private Markets from 2010 to 2018. Prior to Wilshire, Beinkampen worked at Morgan Stanley for 15 years. Leerink Capital was formed in 2013 as a multistrategy healthcare-focused principal investing business.

Maven Capital Partners named Chris Rogers, Richard Altoft and Graham Hall senior investment specialists.

North Sky Capital: Andrew Harris joined as a principal. Harris was previously a senior vice president at Threadmark.

Star Mountain Capital named Salem Shuchman a strategic personal investor and operating partner. He is founder and managing partner at Entrepreneur Partners, a Philadelphia lower-middle-market PE firm.

3i added Rupert Howard as a director on its U.K. team. Howard previously was a director in the consumer, retail and leisure sector team at Rothschild.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Hicor Technologies Inc, the Houston compression-technology company that develops products for the oil and gas sector, named Rob Perry CEO. Perry most recently was global systems engineering director at TechnipFMC. Hicor is backed by EV Private Equity.

Perforce Software, a Clearlake Capital portfolio company, named Mark Ties CEO. He succeeds Janet Dryer, who continues as chairwoman.

Petco appointed Ron Coughlin CEO of the specialty retail chain. Coughlin previously was president of personal systems at HP. Petco is owned by CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Riskonnect, a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, named Andrea Brody chief marketing officer. Brody had been CMO of BravoSolution. Riskonnect is the Kennesaw, Georgia, provider of integrated risk management solutions.

TPG hired Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri for the new post of chief human resources officer, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The move is part of an effort to promote diversity and gender balance. Vazquez-Ubarri joins the PE firm from Goldman Sachs, where she had been chief diversity officer and global head of talent.

WaterBridge Resources, focused on the water-management requirements of oil and gas producers, named Steve Jones executive vice president and chief financial officer; Dan Montgomery senior vice president of operations strategy and development and Bryan Smith senior vice president of engineering and construction. Among promotions, Jason Long becomes executive vice president and chief commercial officer. WaterBridge is backed by Five Point Energy.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

DLA Piper: Craig Lang joined the law firm’s corporate practice as a partner. Lang previously was vice president of legal affairs, and closed hundreds of VC deals, at Oak Investment Partners.

Eaton Partners, a placement agent subsidiary of Stifel Financial, hired Laura Hegarty as a managing director. Hegarty had headed marketing and investor relations at Endurant Capital Management.

EnterWorks, a provider of master data management and product information management for digital commerce, appointed Louis Hernandez Jr. to the board. Hernandez is founder and managing director of Black Dragon Capital.

FIS, a financial services technology company, named Alexander Navab and Brian T. Shea to the board. Navab is former head of KKR’s Americas private equity business while Shea is the ex-vice chairman and CEO of investment services of Bank of New York Mellon.

JMP Securities appointed Carin Fradin a managing director for its investment banking unit. Fradin had been a managing director at Four Oaks Partners.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group hired Matt Maley as a managing director and head of the bank’s PE sponsor coverage group, starting in September. Maley was most recently a senior member of the financial sponsors group at Deutsche Bank.

Ropes & Gray: Chune Loong Lum rejoined the law firm’s private investment funds practice as counsel in Hong Kong. Lum previously worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Sidley Austin: Jared Jensen joined the law firm as a partner in its global private equity practice. Jensen had been a partner at Goodwin Procter.

LIMITED PARTNERS

California State Teachers’ Retirement System hired Scott Chan as deputy chief investment officer. Chan joins CalSTRS from the University of California Regents, where he was senior managing director of its global equities portfolio.

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System named Paul Greff chief investment officer. Greff succeeds Rick Shafer, who served as CIO at OPERS since September 2015 and who is retiring.

PROMOTIONS

3i has made six senior promotions, including Jonathan Crane, who is now a partner, and George Archer, who is now a senior director.

Catalyst Investors: Kapil Desai was promoted to vice president from senior associate.

Incline Equity Partners promoted Deanna Barry to managing director and CFO and Joe Choorapuzha to managing director. Barry joined the Pittsburgh lower-middle-market private equity firm in April 2012 while Choorapuzha came on board in October 2015.

Sorenson Capital promoted Matt Marsh to managing director. Marsh joined the Salt Lake City middle-market private equity firm in 2011.

Standish Management, a provider of fund administration to managers of private equity, venture capital, real estate and fund of funds, promoted Susan Gillick to president of U.S. operations. Gillick joined Standish in 2009 to launch the Boston office. Standish will be relocating its U.S. headquarters from San Francisco to Boston where Gillick is based.