People
Private equity firm Advent International has appointed Hanspeter Spek to its operating partner programme.
An executive with extensive operational experience in the global pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries, Spek (pictured) will advise and work closely with Advent’s healthcare team to identify attractive investment opportunities and generate post-investment value in the areas of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals-related services globally.
Spek’s industry expertise spans several decades. Most recently he served as Sanofi’s president of global operations, having held a variety of positions since he joined the firm in 1985 as marketing director of Sanofi Pharma GmbH, the company’s German subsidiary. He progressed
Graham Wrigley has been appointed as the new chairman of the board of CDC, the UK government-owned development finance institution that invests in the developing countries of South Asia and Africa.
Wrigley (pictured) will take up the role in January 2014 and succeeds Richard Gillingwater who has been chairman since April 2010.
Wrigley comes to CDC with extensive experience of investing in developing and developed markets. He had a 17 year career with the one of the world’s largest private equity firms, Permira, and has served as chairman of Aureos, a major investor in small and medium sized
Goal Group, a claims outsourcing provider and tax reclamation specialist, has appointed David Gilbert as global business development manager and Tania Dupoy as sales and relationship manager.
Both are to be based at Goal Group’s London office.
Gilbert has over 20 years’ experience, for the most part within the financial information industry. His most recent position was as regional sales director at Interactive Data, a provider of financial market data, analytics, and related solutions to financial institutions.
Various positions have led Gilbert to gain experience in generating sales and revenue, management, and direct involvement in major client
GreenWorld Capital has appointed Usman Haque as director, European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to support the firm’s growing efforts throughout the region.
Haque will be based in London, England.
Haque says: "I am very excited to be joining such a creative and progressive firm as GreenWorld. My access to investment and acquisition opportunities across EMEA is extremely well-matched with GreenWorld’s network of capital sources in the US and China. I also look forward to introducing my network of capital sources across EMEA to GreenWorld’s array of acquisition and investment opportunities in various regions in these important and
Bob Devine has joined regulatory incubator Sturgeon Ventures as a portfolio manager.
London-based Sturgeon’s client list includes a number of hedge, venture capital and private equity fund management companies.
Devine has more than 40 years’ experience in fixed income markets. He was previously a fixed interest asset manager and macro-economic strategist with EPIC Asset Management and Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management. He is a former European director of capital markets with Nat West Markets and BZW (now Barclays Capital), and a former head of business development at Oxford Economics.
Devine started his career on the London Stock Exchange
Dawn Howe has joined law firm Walkers as a partner in the global investment funds group.
Howe, an offshore investment funds specialist, was previously a partner at Maples and Calder in its Cayman Islands and London offices.
Howe advises upon the structuring, launch and ongoing transactions for both hedge funds and private equity funds and has advised many leading industry names. She has acknowledged expertise on cross-jurisdictional and regulatory issues affecting Cayman Islands investment funds, including issues relating to the application of AIFMD and FATCA.
Howe will initially be based in Walkers’ London office, led by managing
Buyout firm OpenGate Capital has appointed Matthias Gundlach as principal.
Andrew Nikou, OpenGate Capital’s managing partner and chief executive, says: “I am really pleased that Matthias has joined the firm. He is another great addition, and I am confident that Matthias will bring fresh perspectives and new strategies to our deal execution team in Los Angeles.”
Gundlach (pictured) will lead transactions for the firm’s North American acquisitions and will manage a team of professionals assisting with the negotiation, due diligence, financial modelling, and operational analysis processes.
Prior to OpenGate Capital, Gundlach was a vice president at Sun
Sierra Ventures, an enterprise-focused venture capital firm, has appointed Al Campa as partner.
Campa (pictured) brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial, leadership and marketing experience to Sierra, including expertise in SaaS, CRM, social, talent management, business intelligence and analytics.
Prior to joining Sierra, Campa held positions in some of the most innovative and successful technology companies, including Taleo, JasperSoft, Actuate, Sybase and Sun Microsystems.
As partner, Campa is responsible for helping Sierra’s portfolio companies scale up with inventive business strategies and go-to-market plans, helping to identify the next phase of entrepreneurs with big ideas that can capture
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has named Matthew J O’Connor as a managing director on the power investing team.
O’Connor joins Bob Mancini as co-head of the team, which is investing a managed account in conjunction with the Cogentrix Energy power group brought over from Goldman Sachs last year.
He joins the firm in September and will work out of Carlyle’s Washington, DC, and New York offices.
O’Connor comes to Carlyle from GE where he held a variety of positions over the last 14 years, including nearly seven years in leadership roles with GE Energy Financial
Nova Capital Management, an acquirer of corporate and private equity portfolios, has appointed Ronald Foy as operating partner.
This follows the recent announcement of Nova’s proposed acquisition of five home improvement and hardware brands from Newell Rubbermaid in North America.
Foy (pictured) will be joining the growing team of operating and investment professionals based out of Nova’s office in Chicago, which opened its doors at the beginning of the year. He was previously president and chief executive at Truth Hardware when it was owned by UK listed group Melrose Plc, and altogether he has over 30 years of experience
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
