Roex steps back at Coller

Partner Erwin Roex has moved into a senior advisor role, adding to Coller's recent personnel shifts, including the departure of high-level New York executive Jonathan Gutstein.

Erwin Roex, partner at Coller Capital and a veteran of the private equity secondary market, has moved into a senior advisory role, the firm confirmed.

Roex is not replacing anyone as a senior advisor, the firm said. The role “is simply our way of ensuring that we retain access to the skills and experience of our senior people as they transition from full-time partner roles,” according to a Coller spokesperson.

Roex has been with Coller since 2003. Prior to Coller, Roex founded and ran the secondaries business of AlpInvest Partners (formerly known as NIB Capital Private Equity), according to Roex’s biography on Coller’s web site. At AlpInvest, Roex set up a London office focused on mid-market buyouts and launched the fund of fund’s mezzanine group, the web site said.

Coller closed its sixth secondary fund last year on $5.5 billion. The firm has lost a few executives since 2012, including Jonathan Gutstein, a high-ranking executive in the firm’s New York office, and Andrew Caspersen, who left last year after working at Coller since 2003. Caspersen joined Park Hill Group’s secondary advisory team earlier this year. Rob Squire, who had been working on Coller’s fundraising efforts, also left last year and joined CVC Capital Partners.

“It’s kind of a natural changing of the guard there,” one secondary market source said, explaining those who have left are “people who have been around for quite a number of funds and have been quite successful”.

Coller declined to comment further about personnel issues.