People
Principal has hired Suresh Singh as head of funds distribution for Asia, based in Singapore.
Singh will be responsible for introducing the capabilities of Principal’s investment boutiques, covering specialities in equities, fixed income, real estate and alternatives, to key intermediaries, fund selectors and investment platforms.
Singh reports to the firm’s global head of wealth advisory services Nick Lyster and head of the south-east Asian region Celestine Khoo.
Prior to joining Principal, Singh was at BlackRock where he was responsible for the build-out of the dedicated wealth and asset management relationship management team for iShares ETFs, covering clients in
London and New York-based venture capital investor Octopus Ventures has appointed ecommerce entrepreneur and former management consultant Zihao Xu as an associate in the firm’s investment team.
The team is best known for backing the likes of Secret Escapes, eve Sleep, SwiftKey and Zoopla Property Group.
Xu joins Octopus Ventures from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants with six years of consultancy experience spanning across the aerospace, defence, automotive, industrials and private equity sectors.
Xu is founder of a sunglasses and lifestyle brand, Canopy Sunglasses. Founded in 2014, he has responsibility for every aspect of the business including strategy, sourcing, branding and web development. Canopy Sunglasses has
Bill Salus has launched consultancy firm Paddock Consultancy, which aims to assist financial services companies with growth and management challenges.
New York based Salus (pictured) has over 30 years of experience in executive management in the investment and asset servicing industry.
Most recently global chief executive officer for Apex Fund Services, he has also held senior positions at BNYMellon, PNC Global Investment Servicing, KeyCorp and Security Pacific Bank and was a member of the ICI International Operations Advisory Committee.
Salus says: “Setting up Paddock feels like a natural step for me at this time. There is currently a great
Comcast Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation, has hired Dinesh Moorjani as managing director based in Santa Monica.
A serial entrepreneur, senior operating executive and successful seed investor, Moorjani will lead investments across various sectors, including data and business intelligence, marketplaces and social networks.
“I am delighted to welcome Dinesh to Comcast Ventures,” says Amy Banse, managing director and head of funds at Comcast Ventures. “We are building a team of smart, proven investors with knowledge and success across a variety of sectors. Dinesh brings unique experience that bridges later stage private equity transactions with an accomplished
Lawson Conner, a provider of fund launch services, a regulatory hosting platform and capital introductions, has appointed Michael Denoon-Slater as head of capital introductions.
He assumed responsibilities on 3 October 2016 and will be responsible for developing this new business across Europe, Asia and North America.
Prior to joining Lawson Conner, Denoon-Slater founded Strathspey Partners, a London based boutique advisory firm, which specialised in capital introduction and business development globally for alternative investment funds.
Denoon-Slater has over 20 years’ experience within the global financial sector and has spent the past 10 years working in prime services and hedge funds for Citigroup and Boyer Allan Investment
Prairie Crest Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early to mid-stage investments in breakthrough agriculture and technology firms, has launched in Des Moines, Iowa.
Principals Barry Adams and Mark White formed Prairie Crest Capital to address the underserved investment opportunities in the agriculture and technology sectors, particularly in the Midwest.
While agriculture and downstream products (such as food) account for nearly 8 per cent of the US GDP, it only amounts to less than 3 per cent of venture capital investments on average over the past three years.
Prairie Crest anticipates investment activity in the agriculture technology
Former NVCA chairman Dixon Doll has teamed up with Eric Ball and Jack Crawford to launch a venture capital firm named Impact Venture Capital, with investment offices in Burlingame and Sacramento, California.
Impact Venture Capital will host a large-scale global venture summit event this year in California at the new Golden 1 Center, widely recognised as the most high-tech arena in the world.
The firm will make investments alongside corporate venture groups in early stage information technology start-ups, with a focus on software and data analytics, and a commitment to serving one of four global challenges: security and government;
Crestline Investors, a credit-focused institutional alternative asset manager, has created a private equity credit and fund restructuring team to actively pursue niche financing opportunities in the private equity markets.
The group will focus on providing bespoke capital solutions, including preferred equity and flexible debt structures, to mature private equity funds approaching the end of their structural lives.
Amit Mahajan, formerly a managing director at Macquarie Asset Management, will co-lead the team along with David Philipp, who joined Crestline in 2013.
The new division is an expansion of the firm's Crestline-Kirchner initiative, which was formed in 2013 to acquire,
Adams Street Partners has appointed Jeff Akers, who joined the firm in 2006, as head of secondary investments.
In this role, Akers will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the secondary business, including strategy, investments, fundraising and portfolio construction.
Akers will succeed Jason Gull, who recently announced that he will be retiring from both Adams Street and the secondary industry, effective at the end of 2016, to spend more time with his family and on service opportunities.
“We would like to thank Jason for his contributions to Adams Street and wish him well,” says Jeff Diehl, managing partner
Maples Fund Services, a division of MaplesFS, has invested in its technology and personnel to support an enhanced private equity fund services offering.
This includes the implementation of Investran, a portfolio and partnership accounting system, and the appointment of industry veteran Robert Wolfe as head of private equity solutions.
Private equity continues to be one of the fastest growing and attractive segments in the global alternative investment marketplace. However, with operational integrity in the spotlight, administering private equity funds has become more time-intensive than ever before. Compliance with transparency requirements from investors and regulators, an expectation of independence, and
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
