Latest News
KPMG, the US audit, tax and advisory firm, is adding more depth to its alternative investments practice by hiring Constance Hunter, an economic thought leader and former portfolio manager, as its chief economist, alternative investments.
In this newly created position, Hunter (pictured), who is based in New York, will work with the firm’s global alternative investments leadership team to play a key role in economic forecasting, planning and strategy, and client relationship development.
"Many financial services companies are struggling to understand the impact that current economic and geo-political developments will have on their businesses and their customers," says
BaltCap has signed a EUR1.5m investment in PostService Group, a Latvian private postal operator and developer of automated last mile delivery solutions.
PostService Group is the largest privately-owned postal operator in Latvia and the market leader of unaddressed mail. With forty “Mana Pasta Stacija” parcel delivery and shipment terminals in all largest cities, PostService Group is the leading operator of automated parcel delivery and shipment terminals. In addition, the group develops and exports automated parcel terminals to satisfy the needs of other postal operators and courier companies as well as companies from other industries where parcel deliveries are crucial.
MIR Capital, a private equity fund formed by Gazprombank and Intesa Sanpaolo, has made its first investment by acquiring a non-controlling stake in Packer Service Group.
Packer Service Group is a Russian company specialising in hi-tech services and solutions for some of the largest oil and gas companies. The investment will be used towards developing Packer Service Group, and particularly for the acquisition of new, advanced technology equipment which will enable the company to expand its range of services.
The investment, made within one of the most strategic sectors of the Russian economy, is the first result of the
Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, has completed an investment in BioAgilytix Labs, a contract bioanalytical laboratory specialising in large molecule biologic drugs.
Riverside Partners’ investment was completed in partnership with the BioAgilytix founders and management team.
Headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, BioAgilytix provides outsourced laboratory services to customers within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agriculture industries. By developing, optimising and conducting bioanalytic testing, the company offers its customers a high-quality outsourcing option, which supports drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development, and manufacturing.
"The BioAgilytix team is very excited work with Riverside Partners. The Riverside
Middle Eastern private equity group Foursan Group has exited its investment in Al-Isra Education & Investment, a holding company that operates Al-Isra Private University, a Jordanian private university that provides graduate and undergraduate degrees to nearly 6,500 Jordanian and foreign students.
Since Foursan invested in Al-Isra, the company grew its annual profitability seven-fold from JD1.2m to JD7.2m, increased its net income margin from 11 per cent to 43 per cent, and the company recently paid a dividend representing a nine per cent yield.
Nashat T. Masri, a partner with Foursan Group, says: “We are pleased with this transaction and
The Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) believes that plan sponsors should consider the use of “alternative” investment structures that provide better risk balance in an attempt to reduce the volatility experienced by the typical plan participant.
A newly released DCIIA paper, “Is It Time to Diversify DC Risk with Alternative Investments?” explores the potential for greater inclusion of alternative investments in DC plans.
Lew Minsky (pictured), DCIIA’s executive director, says: “DCIIA’s interest in exploring this topic stems from the potential diversification and performance benefits offered by non-traditional asset classes and alternative strategies to a participant’s asset allocation.”
Private equity house WestBridge Capital has appointed Pascal Wittet as senior investment manager.
The announcement follows the firm’s recent move to new offices in London to accommodate its growing team.
An economics graduate, Chartered Accountant and MBA, Wittet will be based in WestBridge Capital’s London office.
Managing partner Guy Davies, says: “We’re delighted Pascal has joined us. He’s got a great track record of introducing and executing successful transactions. Like the rest of the team, he also has all round experience which is invaluable in our sector. As well as spending several years at PWC and other
MIOX Corporation has secured a strategic investment from TEL Venture Capital, the corporate investment arm of Japanese semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron.
This marks the first investment by an Asia-based investor in MIOX.
The TEL investment complements grants awarded to MIOX by the National Science Foundation (NSF) targeted toward the pursuit of coupling MIOX’s core on-site oxidant generation technology with ultraviolet photolysis in an effort to provide a powerful and cost-effective water remediation process. MIOX is a venture capital-backed water technology company focused on on-site chemical generation whose current investors include DCM, Sierra Ventures, Flywheel Ventures, and
InsightSquared has secured USD8m in series B funding from new investor DFJ and existing investor Atlas Venture, which seed-funded the company and led its series A.
Combined with previous funding rounds, InsightSquared has now raised a total of USD13.5m. The additional financing will allow InsightSquared to accelerate further development and reach of its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sales and marketing analytics product.
InsightSquared has added Court Cunningham, chief executive of Yodle, to its board of directors, and Mark Roberge, senior vice president of sales and services from HubSpot, to its board of advisors.
Within the last year, InsightSquared has
The long-awaited policy decision by the Financial Conduct Authority on the controversial CP 12/19 consultation paper could open the doors to up to GBP2.5bn worth of investment into Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) each year, according to investment specialist Kuber Ventures.
The paper, which was created in August 2012 and proposed a ban on the promotion of Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS) to retail investors, came off the back of FSA research which showed that some investors were being exposed to unreasonable levels of risk. However, the paper caused much confusion in the market as there was a severe lack of
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
