Callan, an institutional investment consulting firm, has appointed Harshal Shah, CFA, as a senior vice president in the firm’s Private Equity (PE) Research Group in its San Francisco office. Shah most recently was a PE portfolio manager with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CALPERS). Prior to that, he was a vice president for Strategic Investment Solutions (SIS, now Verus Advisory) specialising in direct PE consulting to large fund sponsors. He will report to Gary Robertson, SVP and manager of Callan’s Private Equity Research Group.   “Harshal is an experienced investment professional with a strong background in direct private equity

Motive Partners, an investment firm focused on fintech companies, has appointed a Global Advisory Council (GAC) The council consists of: Douglas Flint CBE, Former Group Chairman of HSBC; Russell Fradin, Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and former President & CEO of SunGard Data Systems; Rosemary Leith, Founding Director of the World Wide Web Foundation & Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center; Peter Leukert, Group CIO at Deutsche Telekom; James Neary, Managing Director of Warburg Pincus; Henry Ritchotte, former Chief Operating Officer of Deutsche Bank;  Lawrence H Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor & President Emeritus at Harvard University &

Bregal Freshstream has appointed Lodewijk de Graauw to the newly formed role of Head of Portfolio Operations, in which he will be responsible for working closely with the management teams of companies within Bregal Freshstream’s portfolio, helping them to develop and execute strategies in order to maximise their growth potential.  De Graauw joins the team following 14 years at global management consultancy Bain & Company, latterly as a Partner and Head of Bain’s EMEA turnaround practice.     During his time at Bain, he worked closely with management teams to help create value, mostly on multi-year transformation programs for companies across

Magnus Lilja is taking over the responsibility for leveraged finance at SEB in Germany effective 1 January, 2018. Lilja has many years of experience in the business of leveraging private equity acquisitions. After working for KPMG and the Royal Bank of Scotland, he moved to SEB in Frankfurt in 2011. Since then, he has played a leading role in a number of leveraged buyout transactions in German-speaking countries.   Over the past year, SEB has become a leading financial partner for mid-cap LBO transactions in Germany. During this time, the Leveraged Finance team has grown to six specialists. The team

Cebile Capital, a secondaries adviser and placement agent, has opened an office in New York as part of a wider North American expansion strategy. Founded in 2011, Cebile has become one of the pre-eminent partners to mid-market private equity GPs for fund placements. It also advises buyers and sellers of private equity secondary interests.   Steven Westerback has joined Cebile as President, Head of the Americas. Steven brings extensive private markets experience, most recently having spent 10 years as a senior member of the Private Funds Group at UBS Investment Bank where he worked with a large number of institutional

Adams Street Partners, a private markets investment firm with more than USD31 billion in assets under management, has established an office in Seoul, South Korea. The new office will enable the firm to more effectively serve clients and access investment opportunities in the region. Chris Cho, who joins the firm as a Principal, will lead the office and will focus on the development of institutional client and consultant relationships within South Korea as the firm expands its efforts there.   “Adams Street Partners is excited to announce the opening of our office in Seoul and to welcome Chris to our

Illuminate Financial Management, a venture capital firm specialising in capital markets technology, has expanded its team with the appointment of former UBS and IHS Markit Managing Director, Roger Spooner as Head of Strategic Relationships. Andrew Patey, former Group Finance Manager at Octopus Investments has also joined as Head of Finance.   Previously on the firm’s Executives in Residence program, Spooner will now manage the relationship between buy side and sell-side institutions and Illuminate Financial’s portfolio companies, as well as its extensive pipeline of fintech firms.   Spooner spent over a decade at IHS Markit, serving in a variety of roles

UBS Asset Management’s (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) business has appointed Stefan Rose as a Portfolio Manager in its Infrastructure Debt team. Rose’s appointment further strengthens REPM’s USD4 billion infrastructure platform, which invests in both equity and debt, and it follows the announcement of three other senior hires last month. The team now comprises over 30 professionals located across five offices globally.   With over 17 years of experience in financing pan-European infrastructure projects Stefan brings a wealth of relevant experience with him and will report to Tommaso Albanese, Head of Infrastructure. Based in London, he will be

Knight Corporate Finance, a boutique advisor based in Warrington and London, has strengthened its team with three key appointments, following a sustained period of growth which has seen the firm’s deal count approach 90 transactions. Neeraj Dhuna and David Middleton, both ICAEW chartered accountants, join as Corporate Finance Manager and Corporate Finance Executive respectively. Together they bring a wealth of experience to help support deals and increase Knight’s operational output.   Dhuna joins from Wilson Partners Corporate Finance where he worked on a number of deals including company acquisitions and disposals, MBOs, fund raisings, financial due diligence and strategic reviews.