Table of Contents
Private Equity
- Jacmel Growth Partners, a minority-owned private investment firm that recently renamed itself Jacmel Partners, is bringing on private equity and finance veteran Jorge Mora as co-managing partner. Mora and Founder Nick Jean-Baptiste will work closely to lead Jacmel’s strategic growth efforts. Mora brings three decades of experience in private equity and corporate advisory, having served with many top global private equity firms, including serving as vice chairman, senior managing director and head of U.S. financial sponsor coverage at Macquarie Group, where he first worked with Jean-Baptiste.
- Barclays appointed Jim Birchenough, M.D., as chairman of global healthcare investment banking and co-head of global biopharma investment banking, based in San Francisco. Birchenough has over 35 years of life science experience across biopharmaceutical bench research, clinical medicine practice, biotech equity research, and biopharma investment banking. He joins Barclays from Wells Fargo, most recently leading their Biopharma Investment Banking franchise. Prior to that, he spent over 20 years as a leading biotech equity research analyst at Wells Fargo, BMO Capital Markets, Barclays and Lehman Brothers, covering both smaller, development-stage biotech and larger, global biopharma companies.
- Julia Frenette joined Silversmith Capital Partners, a growth equity firm focused on technology and healthcare, as operating partner, talent. In this newly created role position, she will collaborate with entrepreneurs and leaders within Silversmith’s portfolio to identify and recruit senior executives and board members, as well as provide strategic support for broader talent needs. Frenette’s experience in facilitating executive placements for notable companies, including Salesforce, will be valuable in helping Silversmith’s founders and CEOs expand their teams with top-tier talent.
- Paine Schwartz Partners, a global sustainable food chain investment firm, added Rachel Hurley as head of sustainability, Adrian Cox as chief transformation officer, and Therisa George as a director on the investment team. Hurley, who previously worked at Blackstone and Apollo Global Management, will focus on driving ESG value creation and leading sustainability and social responsibility initiatives. Cox, with experience in the food and agribusiness sector, will spearhead business transformation, starting with AgroFresh. George, with private equity investment experience, joins the investment team.
- TA Associates announced a series of promotions within the firm’s Boston and London offices, effective from July 1. Giovanni Fantini has been promoted to senior vice president on TA’s investment team, focusing on investments in Italy and Spain. Rishabh Shah has been promoted to vice president in TA’s Capital Markets Group, overseeing capital markets activities in Europe. Within the strategic resource group, Diana Martz has been promoted to principal, Adrien Cipel and Isabelle Donis to senior vice president, and Peter Kiernan, Will Palmer and Daniel (Woojin) Ra to vice president. These professionals will be responsible for various areas including human capital, value creation, data science, and performance improvement initiatives across TA’s portfolio companies.
- RF Investment Partners, a provider of structured growth capital, has hired four new members to support its growth and expansion following the closure of its second fund in June 2022. Collin Abert joins as managing director, responsible for sourcing investment opportunities, evaluating and structuring transactions, and driving expansion. Zach Friedman joins as vice president in the New York office, bringing technology sector expertise in sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring. Based in New York, previously held roles at TriplePoint Capital and Level Equity. Collin Abert, who joined as a managing director based in Chicago, previously worked at Lake Capital and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Max Rothstein and Luke Chandra join as associates, responsible for evaluating investments and monitoring portfolio companies. Rothstein, based in Chicago, joins from Balmoral Advisors and previously worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chandra, based in New York, completed an internship with Lincoln International and joined RF as a full-time investment banking analyst.
Credit
- Tom Porcelli has been appointed as the chief U.S. economist at PGIM Fixed Income, effective July 6. In his new role, Porcelli will be responsible for shaping the firm’s perspectives on the U.S. economy, contributing to the investment process internally, and engaging with clients and key stakeholders regarding current macroeconomic developments. Porcelli held the position of chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets for over 14 years. He began his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he was involved in executing monetary policy as part of the Open Market Desk before taking on senior economic roles at J.P. Morgan (Bank One) and Merrill Lynch.
- ACORE Capital, a U.S. commercial real estate debt manager, appointed Andrew Terry as a managing director. Terry’s primary responsibility in this role will be to strengthen ACORE’s connections within the insurance industry. Previously, Terry held the position of head of U.S. insurance at global asset management firm Schroders, where he successfully expanded their insurance business and commercial real estate debt platform over an eight-year period. With his extensive experience and expertise, Terry will contribute to ACORE’s continued growth and success in the commercial real estate sector.
Real Estate
- Pretium added Jason Lewis as a managing director and portfolio manager for the real estate team. Lewis will primarily focus on enhancing the performance and growth of Pretium’s single-family rental vehicles. With over 15 years of experience managing diverse real estate portfolios across various product types and investment strategies, Lewis brings valuable expertise to the team. Prior to joining Pretium, he held the position of executive director and portfolio manager at UBS Realty Investors. Additionally, Lewis served as the head of asset and portfolio management at CA Residential and began his real estate career at Capri Capital Partners.
- Pretium also added Michael Campbell as senior managing director, head of international real estate. In this newly created London-based role, Campbell will lead the firm’s efforts to expand its real estate investing to markets outside of the United States and support international relationships. Having led the global real estate investment platform at Mubadala, where he was responsible for all international real estate investment activities for over a decade, Campbell brings to Pretium over 30 years of experience launching and growing real estate investment management operations.
Investors
Service Providers
- Natasha S. Hwangpo has joined Ropes & Gray’s 500-lawyer New York office a restructuring partner. Natasha has an extensive track record advising equity sponsors, public companies, and private companies in the most complex corporate restructurings in recent years. She has recently played key roles in several high-profile and complex restructuring transactions, including the chapter 11 cases and successful sale of Sears, involving $6 billion in debt.
- Erin Kelly joined the healthcare practice group at McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in Washington, D.C. She will primarily focus on innovative care delivery models and the intersection between payers and providers. With over 10 years of in-house experience in national healthcare organizations, Erin possesses expertise in transactional, contracting, regulatory, and compliance matters. Prior to joining McDermott Will & Emery, she held positions such as senior vice president, deputy general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Signify Health. Erin has also served in legal roles at CVS Health, Aetna, Coventry Health Care, and worked in private practice for nine years.
- Michael Binetti joined Evercore ISI as a senior managing director. Mr. Binetti will cover department stores & specialty retail. Binetti brings nearly 20 years of research experience, most recently as a managing director at Credit Suisse, where he covered retail & digital commerce for over five years. Prior to that he spent 13 years at UBS as an Equity Analyst in the Retail Group.
- Milbank announced the addition of Derek M. Winokur and Edward P. Lemanowicz as partners, bolstering the firm’s private equity and mergers and acquisitions practices. Winokur joins the Global Corporate Group, while Lemanowicz joins the Global Tax Group, both based in New York. Winokur specializes in private equity and mergers and acquisitions, while Lemanowicz focuses on the federal tax aspects of private equity transactions and aids public and private companies in their strategic transactions. Prior to joining Milbank, Winokur and Lemanowicz were partners at Dechert, with Winokur serving as co-head of the firm’s private equity practice.
- BTIG appointed Forrest Koenig as the managing director and head of equity-linked capital markets. In his new role, Koenig will play a key role in expanding the firm’s equity-linked capital markets presence by developing strategic relationships with clients and offering innovative solutions to meet their evolving needs. With over 20 years of industry experience and strong client connections, Koenig brings valuable expertise to BTIG. Prior to joining BTIG, he served as the managing director and head of convertible and equity-linked capital markets at JMP Securities, and as managing director in the equity-linked origination group at Piper Jaffray. He began his career on Wall Street at Citigroup Smith Barney.
- BTIG also added Thomas Roh as a managing director in the debt capital advisory group of its investment banking division. Roh, based in the New York office, brings a wealth of expertise in consumer and commercial capital markets, particularly in asset securitization and specialty finance. He began his career in fixed income investment banking at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Securities, and later transitioned to buyside roles focused on credit portfolio financing and commercial loan origination. In 2020, Roh returned to investment banking at Brownstone Investment Group before joining Odeon Capital Management.
- Lastly, BTIG investment banking expanded its financial institutions group by adding Tosh Chandra to its team. Chandra’s appointment aims to strengthen the firm’s expertise in the financial sector. With over two decades of experience in investment banking, including most recently as a managing director and co-head of financial services investment banking at JMP Securities, Chandra will contribute his deep knowledge and relationships to enhance BTIG’s offerings in this area.
- Argonne Capital recently promoted Bill Weimar to president, hired former Fir Tree Partners executive Ben Ghriskey as managing director and head of business development, and hired former State Street Vice President Smruti Shah as chief financial officer and chief compliance officer. The firm also elevated longtime partner, Karl Jaeger, to vice chairman.
Commodities
- Westbeck Capital Management hired Yasser Elguindi as head of oil research for the Westbeck Energy Opportunity Fund. With over two decades of experience leading teams at Energy Aspects, Medley Global Advisors and Susquehanna International Group, Yasser brings expertise in market fundamentals, geopolitics, and OPEC policy to bolster Westbeck’s risk management capabilities. London-based Westbeck Capital Management is a global investment firm specializing in energy, the energy transition, and natural resources.
Wealth Management
- Private investment firm Cornell Capital Holdings appointed Kaitlin Martinez as vice president of client acquisition. She joins from J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she served as a Private Banker on the New York Morgan team for over a decade. She is expected to play a key role in sourcing and engaging prospective high-net-worth clients, drawing on her experience providing tailored wealth management solutions.
