Pantheon hires ex-fighter pilot amid raft of promotions

The investment firm made 32 promotions globally including at least five who work on secondaries.

Pantheon has promoted 32 professionals globally and made two senior appointments including a former Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners executive who spent more than a decade as a fighter pilot.

Tom Clarkson joins the investment firm as a principal in its US client services team, based in Austin, Texas, according to a statement. Clarkson previously held senior roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors and Morgan Stanley where he focused on private equity fundraising and investor relations, among other duties.

He was an F/A-18 pilot with the US Marine Corps based in the North Arabian Sea and the western Pacific Rim between 1995 and 2007, according to his Linkedin profile.

The firm promoted seven professionals in its investment team including one to vice-president, two to senior associate and three to associate. All Pantheon investment professionals below vice-president work on primaries, secondaries and co-investments, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.

Pantheon also promoted one of its staff to partner: Hong Kong-based Alex Wilmerding. A nine-year veteran of the firm, Wilmerding is a member of the Asia investment team responsible for client relationships in Asia-Pacific.

Pantheon also announced three title changes including Jinman Kim to managing director and head of South Korea, and Paul Jones as chief technology officer.

Pantheon had $36.9 billion in assets under management as of 30 June including $11 billion in secondaries, $21 billion in primary and $2.4 billion in co-investment. It employs 71 investment professionals across its London, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and Bogota offices.