Weekly Private Markets People Moves

Limited partners

• Athene USA, a retirement solutions company backed by Apollo Global Management, has appointed Matthew Michelini as President. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, he is Head of Asia-Pacific at Apollo, having joined the firm in 2006. Michelini will join Athene on July 1.

• Australia-based superannuation fund Aware Super has promoted Mathieu Elshout to Head of International, effective July 1, based in London. He joined nearly two years ago and will continue to lead its European property strategy as Senior Portfolio Manager, Property UK, while taking on broader responsibility for the fund’s international programme. Prior to joining Aware Super, Elshout was Head of Sustainability and Impact Investing at real asset manager Patrizia.

• Cazenove Capital Management, a UK wealth manager owned by Schroders, has appointed Arietta Bortot as Head of Business Risk and Control in London, a newly created role, effective July 1. Bortot joins from UBS, where she was Chief Operating Officer for execution services operational risk.

• Dutch pension plan PGGM Investment Management has appointed Ernst Jansen as Chief Transformation Officer, effective September 1. He joins from Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management, where he has been Chief Operating Officer and statutory director following more than 20 years with the firm. At PGGM, Jansen will oversee digital transformation and the operational and administrative management of invested assets.

• Australia superannuation fund Rest Super has appointed Andy Moser as Head of the CIO Office in Sydney. He joins from Qantas Super, where he most recently served as Chief Financial Officer for over six years. In his new role, Moser will support Rest Super CIO Michael Clancy.
  

General partners

• Aberdeen Investments, the UK asset manager’s investment arm, has appointed Shelley Morrison as Head of Private Credit and Fund Finance, succeeding Marianne Zangerl, who will lead Multi Asset and Alternative Investment Solutions. Morrison has led Aberdeen’s fund finance strategy since 2019. She will now oversee fund finance, commercial real estate lending, infrastructure debt, private corporate debt and emerging market private credit.

• Private equity fund manager Ambienta has hired Jérôme Losson as Partner and Head of Portfolio Operations, Private Equity in Milan. He joins from a 12-year stint at BC Partners, where he was also Partner and Head of Portfolio Operations. Before that, Losson was a Director at KKR.

• Private markets firm Carlyle Group has appointed Kate Heinzelman as General Counsel, based in Washington, DC. Heinzelman joins from the CIA, where she served as General Counsel from 2022 to 2025, and before that she was Chief Counselor to the US Attorney General. She succeeds Jeffrey Ferguson, who will move into a senior advisor role.

• First Eagle Investments, the New York-headquartered asset manager, has appointed Edward Berry as Managing Director of Alternative Credit, based in London. He joins from AlbaCore Capital, where he was Head of UK and Global Consultant Relations and oversaw North American distribution. He also held business development roles at PIMCO Europe.

• M&G Investments has appointed Cameron Sinclair as Head of Institutional Distribution, Australia, a newly created role based in Sydney, effective July 1. He joins from TWC Invest, where he was Co-Founder and Partner focused on capital raising and distribution strategy. He also held senior roles at PGIM and Principal Global Investors.
  

Service providers

Legal

• Dechert has appointed Andy Sagor as Partner in its Global Finance Practice in New York. Sagor advises private equity sponsors, portfolio companies and corporate borrowers on leveraged finance and acquisition financing transactions. He was previously a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and prior to that, Partner and Chair of the North America Banking & Finance Practice at Baker McKenzie.

• Kirkland & Ellis is set to launch a new office in Tokyo, appointing Naoya Shiota and Clara Shirota as partners and Catherine Simes as Counsel. Shiota and Simes will focus on M&A transactions, and join from Morrison Foerster and Ropes & Gray, respectively. Shirota will focus on debt financing transactions, and was previously an associate with White & Case.

• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has appointed Michael Darby as a Partner in its M&A Group. His practice focuses on M&A, securities laws, corporate governance, activism defense and Delaware law. Darby was previously a Partner at Dechert.

• White & Case has hired Jalpit Amin as a Partner in its Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Global Technology Industry Group. Based in Chicago, Amin joins from Hogan Lovells, where he was a Corporate & Finance partner. In New York, Dario de Martino has joined as Partner and Co-Head of the US Corporate Technology M&A group. He was previously Partner and Co-Chair of A&O Shearman’s Global Fintech and Blockchain Group. In London, Shao-Ling Angoh has also joined as a partner in the Global Debt Finance Practice, Global Financial Institutions Industry Group and Global Private Capital Industry Group. She joins from Linklaters, where she was a managing associate.

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges has rehired Iliana Karaoglan as a partner in its M&A Practice based in New York. Karaoglan returns to the firm after a period at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where she was a partner.

Consultancy and advisory

• Deloitte has promoted Joachim Heukmes to CEO and Managing Partner of its Luxembourg Practice, succeeding John Psaila, who held the role since 2018. The consultancy has also promoted 17 professionals to its partnership, including 13 new partners and four new managing directors, across advisory, audit, tax and consulting.

• Lincoln International, an investment banking advisory firm, has appointed Per Strömberg as Senior Advisor to its Valuations & Opinions Group. Strömberg is the Stockholm School of Economics’ Centennial Professor of Finance and Private Equity, and is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Administration

• BNP Paribas Securities Services, the French bank’s global asset servicing arm, has appointed Karine Litou as Head of Private Capital for BNP Paribas Securities Services, succeeding Laurent Durdilly. Based in Paris, she joined BNP Paribas in 2018 and has served as Deputy Head of Private Capital for Securities Services since 2021.

• Netherlands-based provider of compliance and administrative services TMF Group, has appointed Christoph Hobo as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective July 1, succeeding Patrick de Graaf, who will retire after serving as CFO since 2019.

Investment bank

• Investec, an Anglo-South African investment bank, has appointed Matthias Odrobina as Managing Director of the European Business Advisory and a senior member of the global sector team. He joins from PwC, where he was a Managing Director.

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_{The opinions and facts included in the above do not constitute investment advice. Professional advice should be sought before making any investment or other decisions. Preqin accepts no liability for any decisions taken in relation to the above.}