Private equity firms

AllianceBernstein, an investment management firm with $445 billion under management, has hired Michael Conn as a managing director of strategy, operations and development in the firm’s alternative fund of funds business. Conn joins from The TCW Group, where he was managing director and head of corporate strategy and development.

Blackstone Advisory Partners, a unit of The Blackstone Group, has hired Keith Lord and Dayan Abeyaratne as managing directors for its energy practice. Previously, both worked at UBS.

Brookwood Financial Partners, a Massachusetts-based private equity firm that acquires real estate and invests in private companies, has hired William Adams as an assistant vice president and analyst in the real estate acquisition group. Prior to Brookwood, Adams worked at Admirals Bank in Boston as a commercial real estate analyst. He also worked at State Street Bank as a member of the derivatives team.

Gaw Capital Partners USA has hired Roman Nemtsov as senior vice president of investments. Nemtsov will be based in the firm’s anticipated Chicago office and is responsible for U.S. investments, focusing on Gaw’s hospitality venture, as well as development of new joint ventures in the U.S. Prior to Gaw, Nemtsov was a consultant and founding member of R.V. Kuhn’s and Associates real estate consulting group.

GenNx360 Capital Partners has hired Latasha Akoma as an operating partner to focus on performance, operational efficiency and profitability across the firm’s portfolio companies as well as working with the deal team to identify new opportunities. Most recently, Akoma held several management positions at Harley-Davidson Motor Co.

Genstar Capital Management, a mid-market private equity firm in San Francisco, has hired Tom Hutton and Mitch Vernick to its Strategic Advisory Board. Hutton and Vernick will work closely with the firm’s financial services group to identify investment opportunities. Hutton formerly worked as chief executive officer of White Mountains Re, while Vernick was formerly president and chief operating officer of Transamerica Finance Corp.

Insignia Capital Group has hired former Lake Capital principal Tiffany Obenchain as a principal. During her time at Lake Capital, Obenchain played an active role in several Lake investments and worked as director at four of Lake’s portfolio companies. Immediately prior to joining Insignia, Obenchain spent a year working at HarbourVest’s direct investment team.

NVM Private Equity has appointed Karl Cockwill to its investment team as portfolio manager. He will help manage NVM’s portfolio across the United Kingdom and will be based at the Manchester office. 

Private Ocean, a wealth management firm in San Rafael, California, is expanding its team by hiring Frederick E. Dopfel as an owner. Dopfel will also serve as co-chair of the firm’s investment committee with Frank Jones. Dopfel previously was managing director and head of client advisory at BlackRock.

Spindletop Capital Management, a healthcare focused private equity firm in Austin, Texas, has hired Kelly Huang as an operating partner. Huang was most recently on the executive committee of Endo Health Solutions and president of HealthTonics, a urology-focused subsidiary of Endo Health Solutions.

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