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AXA IM Alts, a specialist in alternative investments with over €186 billion of assets under management, has appointed Victoria Hall to the newly created role of Head of Funds, Infrastructure. Based in London, Hall will report directly to Mark Gilligan, AXA IM Alts’ Head of Infrastructure.
Hall will be responsible for supporting the growth of AXA IM Alts’ infrastructure platform, overseeing investment execution, portfolio management and the implementation of ESG and sustainable finance disclosure obligations. She will also work closely with new and existing clients seeking to invest in stable alternative assets that offer resilient inflation protection.
Hall was
Private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has expanded its ESG capabilities with the addition of Hannah-Polly Williams as a director and the head of ESG in Europe.
Williams will work closely with CD&R’s European investment teams and the US and Global ESG team to accelerate initiatives that create value for the firm’s portfolio companies in the UK and Europe.
Williams has significant experience across ESG, corporate governance and investor engagement. Most recently, she was a senior director at FTI Consulting, where she advised on corporate strategy projects and helped financial services, healthcare and industrials clients devise and implement
Braemont Capital, a private investment firm that partners with founders, families and ownership-minded management teams, has promoted two members of its investment team – Eliza Calihan, and Max Green – to principal and vice president, respectively.
IDR, a private markets onboarding hub, is strengthening its presence in North America with the appointment of Karina Fochtman as head of channel partnerships, based in the firm’s Chicago office.
Fochtman has over a decade of experience in the Alternative Asset Management industry working in senior roles across sales, consulting, relationship management, and customer success.
IDR offers investors a single global access token to the private markets and helps fund managers raise bigger funds faster as they gain access to a wider pool of pre-approved investors, all via one platform.
C5 Capital, a specialist venture capital firm that invests in cybersecurity, space, and advanced nuclear energy, has appointed Pete Cooper as managing partner and global head of partnerships. He will also head up C5 Capital’s London office.
Cooper brings nearly 30 years of national defence experience to the new role. He previously served as deputy director of cyber defence in the UK Cabinet Office, developing government cyber security policy and strategy. Prior to his role with the Cabinet Office, Cooper spent 24 years in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), where he started his military career as a fast jet
Activant Capital, a growth-stage private equity firm with $1.5 billion in AUM and a focus on emerging commerce companies, has promoted head of finance and chief compliance officer Adam Geisler to chief financial officer.
Since the firm’s inception in 2015, Activant has invested in more than 60 private and public companies building the future of commerce. The team has backed some of the market-leading companies in the space, including Deliverr (acquired by Shopify), Hybris (acquired by SAP), Celonis, Bolt, and Sardine, amongst others.
Geisler has over 15 years of experience helping financial organisations scale. His previous roles include senior vice
Channel Capital Cayman, an independent directorship service provider to global hedge and private equity funds and investment vehicles, has expanded its Cayman Islands team with the appointment of Martin Laufer as fund director.
Channel Capital Cayman, which serves investment funds domiciled primarily in the United States, Cayman Islands and other offshore financial centres, was established to assist with ongoing compliance with regulatory obligations through an ndependent director service.
As an experienced independent director, Laufer has been providing fund governance and related services to a variety of offshore investment funds since 2017. Prior to joining Channel Capital Cayman, he worked for
IQ-EQ, a global fund administrator with over $400 billion in AUA, has appointed Matt Okolita as the firm’s new regional CEO, Americas. Okolita previously held the role of Global Head of Outsourced Business Services, working closely with his predecessor Mark Fordyce for a number of years.
As part of this planned leadership transition, Fordyce will remain as non-executive chairman of IQ-EQ Americas.
Okolita previously led Greyline Partners LLC, a regulatory, compliance and governance consultancy that was acquired by IQ-EQ in November 2021.
Fordyce, joined IQ-EQ in 2020 with the acquisition of Blue River Partners and has steered the business
Mayer Brown has appointed Jason Friedman as a partner in the firm’s Banking & Finance practice, where he will represent borrowers, private equity sponsors, banks, hedge funds, alternative asset managers and other institutional investors on leveraged finance and private credit transactions.
Squire Patton Boggs has expanded its funds practice in London with the appointment of Rob Eke as partner in its Financial Services Practice Group. Eke, who joins from MJ Hudson where he had been a partner in its London office, specialises in private equity fund formation and investor representation. He works across several asset classes and his practice is split between GP and LP advisory work.
He advises GPs on the structuring, promotion and operation of private funds, with a focus on small to mid-market, as well as on ESG-related regulation, including SFDR and Taxonomy Regulations.
Eke’s particular focus on the fund formation side
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
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