Cogent co-founder steps back

Scott Myers, one of the founders of secondary broker Cogent Partners, is reducing his role at the firm to that of a senior advisor.

Myers will be less involved in day-to-day operations, allowing time “to explore additional personal and professional interests”, the firm said in a statement.

Myers will continue to hold a “large equity stake” in Cogent, the firm said.

The firm is not planning to directly replace Myers, as he focused mainly on North American activities, which will be absorbed by the larger team, according to Todd Miller, a managing director with the firm. Cogent has been growing its mid-level — or associate to vice president — ranks, which the firm hopes to grow into the next generation of leadership, Miller said.

The news comes weeks after it was revealed the co-heads of Cogent’s research department, Katita Palamar and Bill Farrell, were leaving to launch an alternative assets firm. The venture will likely be related to private equity advisory work, Palamar told Private Equity International in a prior interview.

Cogent was formed in June 2002 by several executives from Crossroads Group, a Dallas-based private equity firm that was acquired by Lehman Brothers and now is part of Neuberger Berman. The firm was founded by Colin McGrady, Stephen Sloan and Myers, and associates Ian Charles and Brian Mooney.

The firm has been a steady player in a bustling secondaries market over the past two years, guiding big institutions like the public pensions of New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as university endowments like Stanford, through the sales of private equity assets.