HarbourVest makes secondaries MD promotions

HarbourVest Partners has made several top-level promotions, including two in its secondaries investment team.

Greg Ciesielski and Dustin Willard have been promoted to managing director, the Boston-headquartered alternatives manager said in a statement. “Our strong global team proved to be our most valuable investment as we pivoted and quickly adapted to a rapidly changing environment last year,” said managing director Peter Wilson.

London-based Ciesielski joined HarbourVest in 2007 and has worked across its European, US and Asian secondaries teams, according to his corporate biography. He has led on several GP-led deals, including transactions centred on Motion Equity Partners and Investcorp Technology Partners. He also leads ESG integration for HarbourVest’s secondaries team on a global basis.

Boston-based Willard joined HarbourVest in 2008, according to his biography. Among the deals he played a leading role on was a restructuring and tender offer on The Endowment Fund, an SEC-registered investment vehicle with more than 13,000 high-net-worth individual investors.

Willard ranked second in Secondaries Investor‘s 2019 Young Guns ranking of the most promising professionals in the industry under the age of 36.

An additional four principals, three senior vice-presidents and 12 vice-presidents were created firm wide across HarbourVest’s other teams.

HarbourVest is investing Dover Street X, which closed in October on its $8.1 billion hard-cap. It also closed its fourth real assets secondaries fund on $456 million at the end of December.