GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset management firm, has appointed Pamela Bentley as Managing Director of Finance effective October. She will then assume the role of Chief Financial Officer effective 1 January, 2021.  Bentley will be responsible for managing the financial functions of the firm including overseeing activities related to corporate and fund accounting, treasury and cash management, financial planning and reporting, tax, and operational due diligence while also playing a vital role in GCM Grosvenor’s strategic initiatives. She will report to Jon Levin, President of GCM Grosvenor.  MBentley brings more than 25 years of financial and accounting experience to

Evli’s alternative investments team will gain more expertise during the autumn when Ville Toivakainen (MSc (Econ), CFA) joins the portfolio managers.  Toivakainen has almost 20 years of experience in alternative investments from, among others, OP Financial Group and RAM Partners. Prior to joining Evli, Toivakainen worked at Aktia Asset Management and was responsible for alternative investments, focusing on private debt investments. At Evli, Toivakainen’s focus will be the launch of a new private debt fund. “Private debt is debt financing for companies. Debt instruments are illiquid and, unlike, for example, listed shares or bonds, do not have a broad ownership

Verdane, a Northern European specialist growth investor, has appointed Giles Whiting as US Operating Adviser.  Whiting’s new part-time role will run in parallel to his full-time position as COO at Confirmit, a Verdane-owned customer experience platform. At Verdane, he will assist and advise portfolio companies on US market entry, recruitment, and market-specific business development efforts. Whiting will further assist Verdane in conjunction with M&A and other investment-related activities in the US, and assume board roles in a number of Verdane portfolio companies. “With over 20 holdings operating in the US, we are pleased to welcome Giles onboard to further accelerate

Playfair Capital, a London-based early-stage fund that commits to companies early and with conviction, is bolstering its team in with three new hires. 

Kirk Waldrop has joined Grant Thornton as a managing director in the firm’s Operations Transformation practice within Advisory Services. In this role, Waldrop will help deliver supply chain transformation services to the firm’s private equity clients. These offerings include strategy and transformation; integrated demand and supply planning; supply chain operations; strategic sourcing and procurement solutions; analytics and visibility solution; and transportation and network optimisation.   “During this time of historic disruption and uncertainty, strong supply chain management strategy is essential,” says Jonathan Eaton, national Supply Chain practice leader at Grant Thornton. “Kirk boasts decades of supply chain experience in industries

The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) has appointed Olusola Lawson to its Board of Directors.  Lawson is currently co-Managing Director at Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and brings more than 16 years of corporate finance and infrastructure equity investment experience to AVCA. Lawson’s appointment to the Board of Directors comes following the retirement of former AIIM CEO Jurie Swart from the company and the AVCA Board.     As a Board Member, Lawson will advise AVCA on the strategic challenges and opportunities emerging through the post-COVID recovery period and build the organisation’s position and voice to champion

The Healthcare Private Equity Association (HCPEA), a non-profit trade association focused on supporting the healthcare private equity community, has appointed Diane Daych, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Granite Growth Health Partners, as Chair, effective 1 July, 2020. Daych assumes the role from Dr Terry Woodward, Managing Director at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers’). Over the coming year, Daych will lead the organisation’s strategic direction and work with member firms to navigate the changing needs of the healthcare ecosystem. HCPEA, founded in 2010, is comprised of one of the world’s largest portfolios of privately held healthcare-related businesses, representative of services, products,

Following the news of our four new hires earlier this year, Talis Capital has made three key promotions within its investment team. Tom Williams has been promoted to Partner, with Beatrice Aliprandi and Kirill Tasilov both taking the role of Principal. Over the past 12 months, Talis Capital completed 17 investments and has welcomed new companies to our portfolio like Construyo, Bleach London and DayDayCook where we led the respective seed, Series A and Series C rounds, as well as later-stage companies like Carta. We’ve also supported the growth of existing portfolio companies like Onfido, Darktrace, Pricefx, Plum Guide, Eporta and

Accendo Capital has appointed Michael Rosenlew as Senior Adviser to the Fund. Rosenlew has extensive international investment experience from his long and successful career at IK Investment Partners as well as previous Board experience at Caverion (Chairman), Pöyry and Stockmann. Rosenlew is currently the Chairman of the Board of Hartwall Capital. Henri Österlund, Founding Partner of Accendo Capital says: “It is a real pleasure to have Michael on board both as Senior Advisor and as a significant investor in the Fund. Michael has been instrumental in transforming the Nordic investment industry and I am very pleased he shares our excitement for

Leading global investor services group IQ-EQ has added to its senior corporate services team in the UK with the appointment of Amy LeJune, who joins the group’s Corporate segment as a client services director.Since getting her start at a ‘Big 4’ firm in Texas, LeJune has gained over 20 years’ accounting experience, spanning the financial services, hospitality and media industries. She joins IQ-EQ from a competing international fund and corporate services firm, where she held the role of Business Unit Manager, Finance.   LeJune has led numerous accounting teams and worked on large multinational accounts across the North American and