The PE Shift: Leadership Transitions
in Private Equity May 2025

Private Equity and Private Credit Leaders on the Move

As we begin May, hiring across private equity does not appear to be slowing down with some significant additions across several firms.

Starting in Europe, earlier this year, EQT announced that Per Franzén will become their new CEO, succeeding Christian Sinding. This has recently been followed up with the announced appointments of Bert Janssens and Eric Liu as co-heads of private capital in Europe and North America, respectively.

In Portfolio Operations, CVC has announced the hiring of John Kelleher as Managing Partner as part of a succession plan to take over from Jean-Remy Roussel, who will transition to a Senior Advisor role in early 2026. John has spent the last 9 years with McKinsey and has prior experience with Brookfield Capital Partners, RHB Group, Black Photo Corporation, ReichmannHauer Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs have also added some firepower to their portfolio operations team with the hiring of Darius Adamczyk who will join the firm as a Partner in the Asset and Wealth Management division and Co-Head of the Global Portfolio Operations Group alongside Lou D'Ambrosio. Darius was previously CEO of Honeywell.

Notably, Technology/Product advisors and operating partners continue to be in demand, with Astorg, HG, GTCR and Wind Point Partners announcing the hiring of Andy Sobeck, Steve Cochran, Ryan Beauchamp and Kathy Rybicki.

Elsewhere, in Secondaries, Morgan Stanley brought Thomas Mikula on board, while Partners Capital, have hired Andy Canovali. Meanwhile in Credit, Crescent Capital have announced Jason Breaux as their new head of private credit.

Several firms have hired in waves recently with Ares Management, Apollo, Platinum Equity, Carlyle, Insight Partners, Thoma Bravo, Sterling Partners, McNally Capital and TSG each appointing several new senior hires in both their investor and operating teams.

You can check out all of these moves below.

Abhishek Sharma has joined Apollo Global Management as Managing Director, previously serving as a Senior Principal and Head of Energy Strategy at AWS.

Andrey Yoffe is now a Partner at Arcline Investment Management, moving from Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets.

Todd Gordon has been appointed Managing Director, Head of Healthcare ABL at Ares Management Corporation, previously SVP at Huntington National Bank.

Ashley Wolff joins Ares Management Corporation as Managing Director, transitioning from VP, PE Group at Goldman Sachs.

Nathan Brenneman is now Managing Director at Ares Management Corporation, also coming from SVP at Huntington National Bank.

Rahul Sawhney has taken on the role of Managing Director at Aterian Investment Partners, previously Senior Managing Director at Z Capital Group.

Matthew Graziano joins Avance Investment Management as Principal, moving from Director at New Mountain Capital.

Raymond Strecker has been appointed Managing Director at Blackstone, previously Principal at Oak Hill Advisors.

Joel Rathbun is now a Partner at Edgewater Capital Partners, transitioning from SVP M&A at Avient Corporation.

Mike Drittel joins Garnett Station Partners as Principal, previously VP at General Atlantic.

Alisha Chaudhary has been named Principal at GTCR, moving from VP, Hybrid Capital at Goldman Sachs.

Kevin Butts is now Managing Director at May River Capital, continuing from the same title at 50 South Capital.

Mike Frick has joined Morgan Stanley as Executive Director, Private Credit, previously COO Private Debt at Benefit Street Partners.

Thomas Mikula is now Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, previously holding the same title at Adams Street Partners.

Kevin Formica has taken on the role of Principal at NMS Capital, moving from Principal at Harvest Partners.

Raj Chudgar joins Pantheon as Principal, previously Director at Newbury Partners.

Andy Canovali has been appointed Managing Director, Secondaries at Partners Capital, transitioning from Head of Secondaries at Performance Equity Management.

Jett Robertson is now Investment Principal at Partners Capital, previously Director, Investments at LCM Group.

John Kelleher has joined CVC as a Managing Partner. John previously was a Senior Partner with McKinsey & Co.

Darius Adamczyk has joined Goldman Sachs as a Partner in the Asset and Wealth Management division and Co-Head of the Global Portfolio Operations Group. Darius was previously the CEO of Honeywell.

Jigar Shah has joined Apollo Global Management as Managing Director (Operating Partner), previously Operating Principal at Davidson Kempner Capital Management.

Gus Pinto has joined McNally Capital as a Principal of Portfolio Operations. Gus previously was the CPTO at Sybridge.

Tim Gossett has joined McNally Capital as VP of Portfolio Operations - Digital and AI after previously serving as VP of Engineering at Sybridge.

Rob Kirk has joined McNally Capital as VP of Portfolio Operations having previously served as Principal at BCG.

Ryan McDonough has joined McNally Capital as a VP of Portfolio Operations. Rob previously was a manager with Bain and co.

Matthew Killian is now Principal | COO, Global Transformation at Apollo Global Management, moving from Director at Strategy&.

Paul David joins Denham Capital Management as Operating Partner, transitioning from Head of New Initiatives, Infrastructure Debt in Asia Pacific at Allianz Global Investors.

Scott Yerganian is now Vice President, Growth at Flagship Pioneering, previously Senior Director, Business Development and Alliance Management at Ikena Oncology.

Shreya Endapally has taken on the role of Director, Growth at Flagship Pioneering, moving from Director of Corporate Development and Operations at Sonata Therapeutics.

Jack Miner joins Garnett Station Partners as Operating Partner, previously a Private Equity Investor at Cortec Group.

Geoff Griffen is now Vice President, Portfolio Operations at Gemspring Capital, transitioning from Senior Consultant, Strategic Finance at ZCG Consulting.

Ryan Beauchamp has been appointed Managing Director at GTCR, previously Chief Product Officer at 1stDibs.

Alea Kennedy is now Senior Vice President at Insight Partners, previously VP, Global Revenue Operations at SevenRooms.

May Lilley has become Executive in Residence at KSL Capital Partners, transitioning from CMO at Under Canvas.

Luke Skarzynski is now Value Creation Lead at TSG Consumer Partners, previously Co-Founder at Just In Case Estates.

Walter Baker joins One Rock Capital Partners as Senior Advisor, previously Senior Advisor & Partner at McKinsey & Company.

Joshua Barron has been appointed Senior Vice President - Portfolio Operations at Platinum Equity, previously Area General Manager at Georgia Pacific.

Ryan Noward joins Platinum Equity as Senior Vice President M&A Operations, previously General Manager - North America Aerosol & Beverage at Trivium Packaging.

Sean Lane has taken on the role of SVP Portfolio Operations - GTM at PSG, previously Founding Partner at BeaconGTM.

Christopher J. Qualters is now Operating Director at SK Capital Partners, previously CEO, Healthcare at Tekni-Plex.

Young Bang is now Operating Executive at The Carlyle Group, previously Principal Deputy at ASA (ALT).

Troy Patton has joined The Carlyle Group as Operating Partner, previously President at Energy Potential.

Jason Taibel is now Operating Partner, Financial Operations at The Sterling Group, previously Assurance Market Managing Partner at BDO.

Michelle Phan is now Value Creation Lead, Finance and AI Strategy at TSG Consumer Partners, previously Manager, Global Private Equity Services at Accenture.

Ryan Eames joins TSG Consumer Partners as Value Creation Leader (TSG Vantage), previously Principal at Kearney.

Sweta Adhikari has been appointed Director - Portfolio Operations at Waud Capital Partners, previously Senior Director at Accordion.

Kathy Rybicki joins Wind Point Partners as Technology Advisor - Value Creation Team, previously CIO and VP of IT, Retail Consumer Goods at Republic Brands and DRL Enterprises.

Ken Aso has become A&D Sector Advisor at Audax Private Equity, previously COO at FDH Aero.

Callan Young is now Senior Operating Advisor at Warburg Pincus, previously Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at ON24.

Adam Drahos has taken on the role of Operations Advisor at TPG, previously VP of Procurement at Life Time Inc..

Lynn Vu is now Operating Advisor at Thoma Bravo, previously VP, Finance at Dragos.

Carlos Delamo joins Tenex Capital Management as Operating Advisor, previously CRO at Commercial Residential Aluminum & Fabricating.

Steve Cochran is now CTO Operating Advisor at Hg, moving from Technology Operating Partner at Thoma Bravo.

Scott Ryan has joined Hg as Operating Advisor, previously CRO at Frontline Education.

Ashleigh Frank joins GTCR in a Talent role, previously Director at SG Partners.

Nicholas Obtera joins Insight Partners in Executive Talent, previously Director at a boutique executive search firm.

Rebecca Galliano joins Thoma Bravo as Vice President, Talent, previously Head of Talent Acquisition at Strongpoint Partners.

Ellen Clarke is now Talent & Development Manager at Bridgepoint, moving from Talent & Organizational Development Specialist at Insight Investment.

Sigita Finkaiser has joined Providence Equity Partners as Vice President of Human Capital Management, previously Director, Human Resources at InfraRed Capital Partners.

Daniela Geatti has taken on the role of Interim Talent Manager at Montagu, previously serving in HR at Symmetry Investments.

Anne-Sophie Stirnemann has joined IK Partners as Associate Director, Operations. She was previously Senior Director at Alvarez & Marsal.

Alexander Limoges Friend is now Vice President at Vitruvian Partners, previously Director, PE Performance Improvement at Alvarez & Marsal.

Andy Sobek has been appointed Chief Technology and Data Officer at Astorg, transitioning from Head of Technology at Permira.

Pierre-Albert Girardi joins Platinum Equity as Vice President - Portfolio Operations, previously VP of Transformation at Toluna Corporate.

Steve Tzikakis is now Senior Industrial Advisor at Permira. Steve previously was CEO for Sitecore, a leading digital experience platform.

Haneef Chowdhury has joined Cinven as an Executive, moving from Senior Manager at PwC.

Tom Canning is now Commercial Excellence Operating Advisor at Advent, moving from his role as Chief Commercial Officer at Zellis.

Thomas Sfeir has become a Principal at The Carlyle Group, transitioning from his prior role as Co-Founder at Noa.

Marco Bellino has been promoted to Partner at PAI Partners, previously Managing Director and Deputy Head of Buyout Italy.

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Partner, Private Equity and Industrial Sector

The PE Shift: Leadership Transitions
in Private Equity May 2025

Private Equity and Private Credit Leaders on the Move

Investment Roles - USA

Operating & Advisory Appointments

US – Human Capital

Human Capital - Europe

Advisory & Operations - Europe

Investment Roles - Europe

If you or a colleague have recently changed roles and would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter, please drop us an email at [email protected]

Want to learn more about how we can help you and your firm?