Jefferies brings on secondaries advisory talent from William Blair

Jefferies is hiring two executives from William Blair to join its private capital advisory team at a time of rising interest and challenges in fundraising and secondaries activity, sources told affiliate title Buyouts.

The hires come as secondaries advisory groups shift and expand, with some places growing their capabilities to meet increasing demand for transactions like continuation funds and LP portfolio sales.

Jefferies is hiring Gage Alpert and Gavin Kennedy to the private capital advisory team. The two will start in mid-March, one of the sources said.

Alpert, who will be a senior vice-president, joined William Blair in 2022 as the bank was building up its capabilities in secondaries advisory work. He previously worked at Lazard, starting in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Kennedy, who will be an associate, worked at William Blair beginning in 2022, before which he was a banking analyst at JPMorgan, his profile said.

Including Alpert and Kennedy, Jefferies has made eight hires this year to its private capital advisory group, a source said. The bank intends to continue building the team, the source noted.

The hires come after Jefferies last year brought on more than 20 professionals from Credit Suisse. Overall, the bank’s growing private capital advisory group has more than 90-plus employees, the source said.

William Blair also has been rapidly expanding its private capital advisory group. The bank announced earlier in February it hired three executives: Daniel Budde as a senior director in Boston; Tom Lewis as a managing director in London; and Silke Wood as a director in Zurich.

The three joined the roughly 40-person private capital team that expanded rapidly since its formation in 2022, led by ex-Credit Suisse executives Mike Custar, Jerome Wallace and Brian Williams.