Profile
24 January 2022
Profile: Bart Elema, Waterland Private Equity
The partner, CFO & risk officer discusses how his role and responsibilities have evolved over nearly two decades, why Waterland domiciles its funds in the Netherlands, as well as securing the firm's first ESG equity bridge facility
13 January 2022
Profile: James Yates, IK Partners
The CFO & managing partner discusses how the firm has professionalised and institutionalised its processes, his thoughts on Luxembourg as a domicile as well as his hopes for IK's operational functions in the future
22 December 2021
High profile collection
Selection of The Drawdown’s favourite profiles with key operational professionals in 2021
20 December 2021
Technology: Innovation winner 2021: Canoe Intelligence
The Drawdown caught up with Mike Muniz of Canoe Intelligence, following their victory at The Drawdown Awards 2021
15 December 2021
5 minutes with… Novata
CEO Alex Friedman: “Ultimately, you can develop the world’s best product, but if people don’t find it easy to use, it won’t serve society very well. A simple, intuitive user interface is a big focus for us.”
14 December 2021
5 minutes with… Exchangelodge
We caught up with Ian Rubenstein from Exchangelodge to find out what makes the company different from other data technology providers in the private capital markets space
3 December 2021
5 minutes with… No Limit Capital
Co-founders of No Limit Capital, Neno Raic and Slade Spalding, discuss why they set up the fund finance lender and what makes them different from traditional banks
18 November 2021
Profile: Richard Burrett, Earth Capital
The chief sustainability officer discusses the firm's proprietary tool, Earth Dividend, challenges around certifying as a Guernsey Green Fund as well as what he thinks of the FCA's proposed climate-related disclosures
15 November 2021
5 minutes with… Stephen Millard, Included VC
“If organisations do not have high permission, high trust or are not open and conscious to allowing their employees to be their true selves, nothing will change.”
10 November 2021
5 minutes with… Rory Smith, Brickfield
Founder of Brickfield Recruitment, Rory Smith, discusses his journey into fund finance and why it’s such a special market to work in
28 October 2021
Profile: Jon Fredrik Vassengen, Argentum
The manager and compliance officer discusses how the fund-of-fund determines ESG criteria and the challenges of collecting quantitative ESG data
11 October 2021
Profile: Sam Marsh, Alpha
The senior partner discusses the firm's newly-launched alternative banking solution, aimed at bringing efficiencies when setting up bank accounts and SPVs
28 September 2021
5 minutes with… Michel Geolier, Betterfront Technologies
“We enable GPs to lead with their story, to present their track record to prospective LPs, which then gives them the chance to look through the data to understand what sets this GP apart from its competition.”
27 September 2021
Profile: Hina Ahmad, Capital Dynamics
The COO discusses moving from the legal and compliance team to her current role, how the team has leveraged technology to keep up with rapid growth, as well as plans for evolving the firm's pandemic sub-committees
20 September 2021
Profile: Frédéric de Frésart, Argos Witu
The chief information officer discusses the firm's digital transformation, key considerations to ensure security isn't breached for hybrid working models as well as why blockchain is one to watch
9 September 2021
Profile: Stella Morse, Inverleith
The CFO discusses joining the private equity firm from the consumer world, what she thinks of the latest ESG regulations and setting up Inverleith's first institutional fund
26 August 2021
5 minutes with… Antoine Sage, PE Cube
“A typical buyout fund, for example, with 50 LPs and 10 portfolio companies generates around 10,000 documents during its lifespan, which equates to about 40,000 emails. Managers need a dedicated tool to manage this quantity of information.”
17 August 2021
5 minutes with… Neil Carnegie, Carnegie Fund Services
"While other fund administrators might get caught up in the consolidation trend, we’ve never made an acquisition. We’ve been asked to sell, but so far we’ve resisted."
4 August 2021
5 minutes with… Danielle Lawrence, Freyda
“I think improved reporting and transparency is becoming table stakes for the industry. You’re expected to have appropriate technology and great processes in place which allow your organisation to focus on high impact work.”
22 July 2021
Profile: Feizal Moossa, Adenia Partners
The chief risk officer discusses the importance of his role within private equity, how his responsibilities have evolved since joining Adenia in 2003 as well as operating without an in-house legal team
15 July 2021
Profile: Elizabeth Seeger, KKR
The managing director, sustainable investing recalls being the first ESG-specific professional in the industry, how KKR's ESG processes have evolved since she joined as well as her involvement with SASB and UN PRI
12 July 2021
5 minutes with… David Nable, Arcesium
“Often, sophisticated managers have heir-loom Excel spreadsheets, which have been passed down from controller to controller over the years.”
24 June 2021
Profile: Jonathan Pugh-Smith, Bregal Investments
The general counsel of funds discusses why he joined the firm, the diversification of Bregal's LP base and the ongoing challenges around regulations
3 June 2021
Profile: Rebecca Noyes, Alderwood Capital
The CFO discusses joining the newly-launched firm, the perks of having no legacy issues as well as Alderwood's core beliefs and growth plans
28 May 2021
5 minutes with… Simon Page, Hawksford
"We’ve had the benefit of learning from the mistakes other firms have made."
27 May 2021
Profile: Paul Yett, Hamilton Lane
The director of ESG & sustainability discusses the evolution of the firm's ESG processes, setting up its DE&I council and why diversity is important to him on a personal level
13 May 2021
Profile: Sedef Köktentürk, Blue Horizon
The managing partner & COO discusses upgrading the impact investor's technology and processes, how the niche strategy impacts her role, and how being an Olympic athlete taught her the value of collaboration and cooperation to achieve goals
11 May 2021
5 minutes with… Mike Muniz, Canoe Intelligence
The chief revenue officer explains what the software does, how the business came about and technology upgrade plans for the future
5 May 2021
5 minutes with… James Tedman, ACA Aponix
Tedman discusses the biggest cyber security changes in PE in the last five years, the firm’s ACA Protect and PortCo Defend products, and what’s in store for the next 12 months
30 April 2021
5 minutes with… Robin de Gruchy-Wilson, Oakbridge Fund Services
The co-founder & managing director discusses the firm’s key focuses, how it secured backing from ED Group as well as technology and platforms it currently uses
29 April 2021
The Techwork: Christopher Conradi, FSN Capital Partners
"Technology is personal - let people pick the phone they want, the laptop they want and the software tools they want."
28 April 2021
The Techwork: Simon Andersen, 3i
“Today, digitalisation is at the heart of 3i’s investment strategy and operating model."
27 April 2021
The Techwork: Neil Patel, Apax Partners
“The key focus at present is improving agility, introducing and pioneering technology that allows the firm to work more efficiently as it grows.”
23 April 2021
The Techwork: Peter Finden Bamrud, Verdane
"We are building a machine learning centre to enable portfolio companies that have progressed to more advanced levels of their data journey to harness their data to a much larger extent.”
22 April 2021
Profile: Magdalena Pasecka, Innova Capital
The partner and CFO discusses her reasons for leaving and returning to Innova, operational challenges of CEE-funds as well as why being a woman in PE is an advantage
21 April 2021
The Techwork: Alex Mathers, Inflexion
“My job isn’t to take over from the management team, it’s to help them get to the right priorities and find the right people to help them.”
20 April 2021
The Techwork: Mark Peacock, Nordic Capital Advisors
“We’ve taken a much more aggressive IT security stance, aided by the implementation of key preventative, detection and response technologies.”
19 April 2021
5 minutes with… Charlie Jolly, RSM
The head of private equity discusses how RSM supports GP fund restructurings; the importance of valuations, and the latest innovations within the process
16 April 2021
The Techwork: John Eggleston, Pantheon
“Technology and data transformation are priorities for us to ensure successful growth, investment returns and customer service as a global investor.”
14 April 2021
The Techwork: Olof Hernell, EQT
"We decided to build our own operational platform that is totally scalable and future-proofed for what I think will be much higher demands in the future.”
13 April 2021
The Techwork: Stuart Mair, BC Partners
“We want to ensure that we utilise and optimise our data, providing better insights for the business using the full Microsoft BI stack, reporting visualisations and analysis.”
9 April 2021
The Techwork: Andy Sobek, Permira
"I’m trying to build capability to keep the dealdoing machine well oiled. Deal doers are smart and entrepreneurial and my job is to underpin their work; to support quicker and better deal doing.”
7 April 2021
The Techwork: Ahmed Khamassi, Stirling Square Capital Partners
“The main improvement we want to make in terms of technology is to ensure it is designed with our people in mind.”
1 April 2021
The Techwork: Kevin Muller, Coller Capital
“We have a multi disciplined view on data; the tools we use and how people consume data. We’re running a multi-year data maturity initiative.”
31 March 2021
Fund Administration: Technology & Innovation award winner: Citco
Head of PE Nikolaos Perros explains why having an internal tech team and proprietary solutions is so important
30 March 2021
Fund Administration: Over $50bn AUA award winner: Alter Domus
Head of PE Tim Toska discusses why he's not concerned about the company turning into a large, institutional fund admin
29 March 2021
5 minutes with… Simon Thornton, PEARonline
Simon Thornton, founder of private equity investor portal and fundraising data room PEARonline discusses the company’s origins, the importance of secure data transmission and upgrade plans
29 March 2021
Fund administration: Under $50bn AUA award winner: Highvern
Head of funds at Highvern Aidan O'Flanagan, explains why putting clients, technology and staff first is a subtle but important difference in the fund admin space and outlines how their systems have been designed to cater for today's requirements
25 March 2021
Advisory / Consultancy: Tax & Compliance award winner: Macfarlanes
Partner Ceinwen Rees highlights the importance of the firm's technical training sessions
24 March 2021
Advisory / Consultancy: ESG award winner: Sancroft International Limited
Senior consultant Ivaylo Dimov discusses the importance of knowing what ESG means to a firm and equally what it doesn’t or shouldn’t mean
23 March 2021
Advisory / Consultancy: Operations & Technology award winner: Holland Mountain
CEO Barnaby Piggott talks about why clients value the firm's independence
22 March 2021
Fund Finance Provider award winner: Raiffeisen Bank International
RBI's William Lamain explains why being one step ahead is vital in the competitive fund finance space
18 March 2021
Fund Finance Advisor award winner: Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
Cadwalader's Samantha Hutchinson has built a diverse team with a unique culture, enabling a more well-rounded client experience
18 March 2021
Rising Star of the Year award winner: Dawid Sawicki, Kennet Partners
The financial controller discusses winning the Rising Star award, stepping up to FC during the finance team's transition period and various processes, systems and the CFO forum he's implemented
17 March 2021
Legal: Fund Structuring award winner: Travers Smith
Fund partner Sam Kay merits the win to the firm's heritage in private equity as well as its active thought leadership
16 March 2021
Foreign exchange services award winner: Alpha FX
Alpha FX's dedication to the alternatives space means the team focuses on problem solving above all else
15 March 2021
Recruitment: Operations/Finance award winner: Bower Talent
Bower's innovative approach and continued work on D&I saw the firm take home the gong
15 March 2021
COO of the Year award winner: Malcolm Goddard, Zetland Capital Partners
The COO discusses the values driving Zetland's culture, the importance of always reviewing work and developing his team
12 March 2021
Technology: Accounting & Reporting award winner: AtomInvest
“Our philosophy is to look at what the best people are doing, not only in the alternatives space but across all markets." - AtomInvest founder and CEO Hemal Mehta
11 March 2021
Technology: Innovation award winner: Scissero
CEO Mathias Strasser discusses why GANs technology is a promising research area for the firm