PineBridge taps GS veteran for chairman

PineBridge Investments has appointed former Goldman Sachs president John Thorton as non-executive chairman, according to a statement.

Thornton will replace Lord Davies of Abersoch, who has decided to step down from the role after four years.

Thornton retired as president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs in 2003. He joined the bank’s mergers department in 1980 and later became a partner, followed by co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International and chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia.

Since his retirement, he has worked as a professor and director of the global leadership programme at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is also chairman of the Barrick Gold Corporation board and a director of Ford Motor Company.

Thornton will assume the new role on 21 November and will work closely with PineBridge’s board and members of senior management to drive the firm’s strategy.

PineBridge has been in market with its third secondaries fund since 2013. The fund had collected $188 million toward its $500 million target, as of July 2014. Triago is listed as receiving sales compensation for the fund in documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

PineBridge’s previous secondaries fund raised about $719 million in 2007. The fund is fully invested.

Recently the firm grew its secondaries team by hiring former Newbury Partners co-founder Justin Pollack. He left Newbury in October 2013 and became a vice president in PineBridge’s private funds group last month.