QED Investors, a global venture capital firm focused on investing in disruptive financial services companies, has appointed Victoria Zuo as a principal based in San Francisco where she will have a focus on investments in early stage fintech and commerce businesses.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has appointed Caleb Vesey as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office, where he is part of Willkie’s Private Equity Practice Group. Vesey’s arrival follows the addition of private equity partners Patrick Sandor, Ray LaSoya and Joe Kaczorowski, who joined Willkie in California this year. Earlier in his career, Vesey was an associate at Willkie. Vesey’s practice is focused on mergers & acquisitions, private equity and corporate finance. He represents buyers, sellers, private equity funds and their portfolio companies, and financial institutions in a variety of corporate transactions including leveraged buyouts and public and private

Daniel F Zimmerman has joined Kramer Levin’s New York office as a partner in the Corporate department. Zimmerman, who joins the firm from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, advises companies, private equity funds and other investors on securities regulation matters, mergers and acquisitions, tender and exchange offers, securities offerings, corporate finance, corporate governance, and restructurings.  He represents public and private buyers and sellers in a variety of negotiated and contested domestic and cross-border acquisitions, securities offerings, restructurings, and other financings. In advising his clients, Zimmerman draws on broad experience, including his service as an attorney in the US Securities

Music industry veteran Vincent Searcy has joined Sherrese Clarke Soares’ global alternative asset management company HarbourView Equity Partners (HarbourView) as a strategic advisor. Searcy will provide strategic advice and recommendations regarding acquisitions of or any other investment in music IP and related rights. Searcy’s diligence and respected connections greatly contribute to HarbourView’s industrialised and systematizsed sourcing effort. HarbourView Equity Partners is focused on investment opportunities in the media and entertainment space. Apollo Global Management is a strategic relationship and Apollo clients and funds serve as lead investors in HarbourView.

Mayfair Equity Partners (Mayfair), a dedicated technology and consumer investor, has appointed two new Partners – Paul Reading, from Managing Director, and Tushar Pabari, Chief Financial Officer who will also retain this role. Mayfair is also announcing five additional promotions and four new appointments, including a Chief Talent Officer.     Reading joined Mayfair from EY as a Specialist focused on post-merger integration planning, reflecting Mayfair’s track record of supporting M&A-led growth strategies. To date, the firm has supported 41 bolt-on acquisitions across 19 platform investments.   Pabari joined Mayfair in 2018 and is responsible for the financial affairs of

PE mammoth, Apollo, has hired Christine Moy, a former JPMorgan global head of Metaverse, to lead the firm’s digital assets strategy. Apollo plans to make investments between $50 million and $250 million in blockchain and Web3. Moy will lead the strategy and look to apply blockchain technologies to the business. Moy spent 18 years working at JPMorgan Chase and is known for being a crypto expert in the industry. 

MidOcean Partners (MidOcean) has added Bradley Belt to its private equity Executive Board as an Operating Partner. In his role on the Executive Board, Belt will work closely with the firm’s leadership and portfolio companies on corporate strategy and growth initiatives. Belt has over three decades of experience leading and growing high performing organisations in the private, public and non-profit sectors. He most recently served as Vice Chairman of Orchard Global Asset Management, having previously served as Executive Director and CEO of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in the Administration of President George W Bush, as Senior Managing Director of

Cinven, a UK buyout firm, has hired ex-Blackstone executive, Julia Kahr, as partner and head of North America. Kahr previously worked as senior managing director at Blackstone for just under 20 years.  She holds degrees from both Yale and Harvard Business School. 

Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based investment manager with more than two decades of experience deploying capital to address the social, environmental, and economic needs of the developing world, has promoted Suma Swaminathan to Director, Private Equity. Swaminathan joined DWM’s PE team in 2017 and has overseen the Asia-Africa region, working with Aleem Remtula, partner, co-head of DWM’s private equity practice. Prior to joining DWM, Swaminathan was a senior valuation consultant at Empire Valuation Consultants, a boutique consulting firm in NYC. She started her career in data analysis at Infosys Ltd, where she focused on financial services clients and their

City law firm Bates Wells has appointed Nirav Patel as a partner in its Corporate practice, where he will strengthen the firm’s M&A advisory offering and bring a wealth of experience in advising ESG-focused companies. Patel joins from the London office of law firm, Michelmores, where he was a senior associate. He has 10 years’ experience advising financial institutions such as private equity funds, UK and foreign government-backed funds and development finance organisations.  Patel specialises in M&A and private equity investments, including corporate real estate transactions, and acquisitions and disposals of corporate vehicles. He has also worked extensively in corporate