Ex-Eaton exec emerges at Investec to lead GP advisory team

Investec has hired Stefano Manna, two months after Secondaries Investor reported that he was leaving the placement agent and advisory firm Eaton Partners.

The London-headquartered bank has appointed Manna to head its newly established GP advisory team, according to a statement.

“While we expect IPO and M&A markets to improve next year, it’s clear that GP-led secondaries are not going away anytime soon,” Jonathan Arrowsmith, head of investment banking at Investec, said in the statement. The bank will continue to build its presence across Europe, he added.

Manna added in the statement that he is seeing “a period of rapid market growth in sponsor-led secondary transactions” – a trend that underscores the necessity for establishing a dedicated GP advisory team at the bank.

Before his role at Investec, Manna spent more than three years as a director in the secondary advisory group at Eaton where he focused on GP advisory, secondaries & directs and private funds.

His experience also includes roles at Cebile Capital, Greenhill and Advanced Capital, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Manna will be based in London for his role at Investec.

Under Manna’s leadership, the Investec team will provide financial sponsors with a range of services, including fundraising and liquidity options via single- and multi-asset continuation vehicles, according to the statement. The team will primarily target clients in the mid-market space.

Investec has been broadening its services to the private equity sector in Europe. In June, the bank acquired a majority stake in Capitalmind, which offers M&A services to European clients. In the past five years, the firm’s European M&A advisory team has expanded from 15-140 employees, according to the statement.