The PE Shift: Leadership Transitions
in Private Equity March 2025
Private Equity and Private Credit Leaders on the Move
The first quarter of 2025 has been marked by some major leadership changes, both in the US and Europe.
Among some of the more notable moves, Daniel Lopez Cruz has rejoined Investcorp as Global Head of Private Equity. Daniel recently founded and led Mulhacen Limited, an advisory firm providing strategic and investment services to a number of global private equity firms, including Investcorp. Prior to this, he was a senior member of Investcorp's European Private Equity investment team for more than 18 years, including Head of European Private Equity, a position he held between 2018 and 2023.
Elsewhere, as a growing sign of European firms expanding to the US, Ben Meyer has joined Inflexion to lead their US team. Ben previously worked with HG until December 2023 and had prior roles with Temasek and Spire Capital Partners.
Blackstone have also made some significant moves on their portfolio operations team, with Rodney Zemmel taking on the role of Global Head of Portfolio Operations, after spending 29 years with McKinsey, where he was most recently the Global Leader of McKinsey Digital.
In Private Credit, Matt Bloom, who was previously the Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Corporate Credit at Guggenheim Partners, has joined Blackstone as an SMD.
In EMEA, Bjorn Ruwald, who was previously the Co-Head for KKR Capstone, has moved to Bridgepoint as a Partner. Bridgepoint have also brought in Marc Younan to lead their Middle East operations. Meanwhile, Cinven have hired Phillip Meyer, who previously was Co-Head of the Healthcare team at Carlyle and Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, based in LA, have named Xavier Lambert to lead their charge in Europe.
Details on all these changes, and more, can be found below.
Rodney Zemmel has joined Blackstone as Global Head of Portfolio Operations, transitioning from his role as Senior Partner at McKinsey.
Alex Plunkett has joined Ares Management Corporation as Managing Director, Private Equity, leaving his role as Chief Administrative Officer at Panoramic Health.
Sam Camens has joined Clayton Dubilier & Rice as Managing Director, transitioning from his role as Managing Director, Insurance & Benefits at Onex.
Peter Guarraia moved to Blackstone as Senior Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Operations & Asset Management transitioning from his role as Senior Partner at Bain & Company.
Guido Poggiali has joined Tenex Capital Management as Operating Advisor, transitioning from his role as Vice President, Project Engineering at Dematic.
Josh Goodman has joined H.I.G. Capital as Operating Partner, after serving as Partner at PwC.
David Keating is now an Operating Partner at New State Capital Partners, transitioning from his role as Director, GTM Strategy & Operations at Komodo Health.
Timothy Hanold has joined Searchlight Capital Partners as Operating Partner, after serving as CEO and Board Member at Care Advantage, Inc.
Heather McLeod has joined Trive Capital as an Operating Partner, transitioning from her role as Chief Growth Officer at Authority Brands.
Andrew Wills has joined Platinum Equity in Portfolio Operations, moving from his role as Director at Alix Partners.
Michael Bauersfeld has joined KPS Capital Partners as Senior Vice President of Portfolio Operations - Finance, after serving as CFO at ELM Home & Building Solutions.
Patrick McGowan has joined TSG Consumer Partners as Value Creation Operating Executive, after serving as Senior Director, Private Equity Advisory at Accenture.
Guillaume Bonniol has joined Princeton Equity Group as Operating Partner, after serving as Senior Vice President at Amplifon Hearing Health Care.
Chris Peaslee has joined Trive Capital as Operations Vice President of Information Technology, transitioning from his role as an Independent Technology Consultant.
Kevin Dalton is now an Advisor at I Squared Capital, after serving as Chief Data Center Officer at Cumulus Data.
Peter Crawford has joined CD&R as Operating Advisor, transitioning from his role as Managing Director at Charles Schwab.
Kathleen Stengel has been appointed Executive in Residence at Avesi Partners, after serving as Senior Advisor at Provident Healthcare Partners.
David Mahon is now Growth Advisor at Iconiq Capital, transitioning from his role as Global Senior Advisor at Deloitte.
Joe Troxell has joined SK Capital Partners as Executive Advisor, transitioning from his role as CEO at Infinity Laboratories.
Troy Mastin has been appointed Executive in Residence at Progress Partners, after serving as CFO at MERGE.
Janxin Leu has joined KKR as Global Head of People Data and Analytics. Janxin was previously the Chief Analytics and Client Experience Officer at Eskalera.
Scott Pitasky has joined Gryphon Investors as Managing Director, Human Capital. Among Scott's prior roles, he was CPO at Unity Technologies.
Carter Tatum has joined Trinity Hunt Partners as Senior Director, Head of Talent, transitioning from his role as Director, Recruiting at Vista Equity Partners.
Naum Minchin is now Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Silver Point Capital LP, transitioning from his role as Managing Director & COO, Apollo Capital Solutions at Apollo Global Management.
Nikita Singhal has been appointed Managing Director at Blue Owl Capital, transitioning from her role as Managing Director, Co-Head of Sustainable Investment & ESG at Lazard Asset Management.
Matt Bloom has joined Blackstone as Senior Managing Director, after serving as Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Corporate Credit at Guggenheim Partners.
Pete D'Amato has joined CVC Capital Partners as Managing Director, transitioning from his role as Principal at American Securities.
Joe Metzger has joined GCM Grosvenor as Managing Director, after serving as Board Member at CBC Settlement Funding.
Chris J Livingston has joined Vista Equity Partners, Endeavor Fund as Managing Director, transitioning from his role as Partner at Radian Capital.
Ben Meyer has joined Inflexion as Partner. Among Ben's prior roles, he was a Partner at Hg.
Steele Windle has joined Centergate Capital as Principal, transitioning from his role as Partner at Reynolda Equity Partners.
Patrick Hunt has joined Parthenon Capital as Principal, after serving as Vice President at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
Amit Agarwal has joined Iconiq Capital as Partner, after serving as President at Datadog.
Ted Shanahan has joined Ocean Sound Partners as Partner, transitioning from his role as Principal at Veritas Capital.
Charlie Weinberg has joined Apollo Global Management as Principal, after serving as Vice President at Reverence Capital Partners.
Kevin Haack has joined Harvest Partners LP as Principal, transitioning from his role as Vice President at Harvest Partners.
Adit Swarup has joined General Catalyst as Partner, transitioning from his role as Partner at Rakuten Ventures.
Christopher Heine has joined Blackstone as Principal, transitioning from his role as Principal at Stirling Square Capital Partners.
Jason Ruth has joined Wellington Management as Sector Lead, Biotech Private Investments, after serving as Partner, MRL Ventures Fund at Merck.
Florian Bandel has joined Oakley Capital Limited as Managing Director, after serving as Partner at KLAR Partners.
Caroline Abrahamian has joined Cinven as Principal, transitioning from her role as Director of Participations at Montefiore Investment.
Rafael Calvo has joined Clearlake Capital Group as Managing Director, Head of Private Credit Portfolio Management (Europe), transitioning from his role as Managing Partner at MV Credit.
Ana Brajovic has joined The Carlyle Group as Managing Director, after serving as Managing Director at KKR.
Mark Bruen has joined Barings as Managing Director, Client Portfolio Manager - Private Credit, transitioning from his role as Head of Private Credit Solutions at Schroders Capital.
Mani Nabi has joined Blackstone as Principal, transitioning from his role as Principal, Credit at Ares Management.
Philipp Meyer has joined Cinven as a Partner, transitioning from his role as Managing Director, Co-Head of Healthcare at The Carlyle Group.
Andy Dyer has joined Oaktree Capital Management LP as Senior Vice President, after serving as Director at Baird Capital.
Robert Hartog has joined Blue Owl Capital as Managing Director, after serving as Managing Director at IPI Partners.
Shiva Tiwari has joined Peak Rock Capital as Managing Director, transitioning from his role as Managing Director at Mayfair Equity Partners.
Marc Younan has joined Bridgepoint as Managing Director - Head of Middle East, after serving as Senior Executive Officer & Director at Redbird Capital Partners.
Moez Gharbi has joined Verdane as Partner, transitioning from his role as Managing Director, Blackstone Growth at Blackstone.
Erik Van Den Berg has joined Blue Owl Capital as Principal, after serving as Director at IPI Partners.
Hui Chan has joined PAI Partners as Principal, transitioning from his role as Managing Director at Bain Capital.
Melanie Campbell has joined Verdane as Principal. Melanie previously was an Assistant Director at Inflexion.
Xavier Lambert has joined Pacific Avenue Capital Partners as Managing Director - Head of Europe, transitioning from his role as Principal at OpenGate Capital.
Sandra Jonsson has joined EQT Group as Advisor, after serving as Executive Director, EUCAN & International Commercial at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Emilie De Muinck Keizer - Fliehe Boeschoten has joined Middleground Capital as Human Capital Project Manager (Amsterdam) A.I., transitioning from her role as People Lead at Egeria.
Valerio Fuschini has joined Investindustrial as Chief Information Officer, after serving as Technology Operating Partner at HIG Capital.
Juan Lopez-Valcarcel has joined EQT Group as Managing Director - Tech, Data & AI Value Creation, transitioning from his role as Operating Partner at Waypoint X.
Bjorn Ruwald has joined Bridgepoint as a Partner, after serving as Co-Head of KKR Capstone at KKR.
Jennifer Montague has joined Verdane as Senior Director, transitioning from her role as VP of Growth at Onomondo.
Stephen Trainor has joined H.I.G. Capital as Senior Operating Partner, after serving as Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal.
Andrea Berlin has joined Advent International as Vice President Talent, Portfolio Support Group, transitioning from her role as Leadership & Talent Advisor at Egon Zehnder.
