Stafford adds Texas-based investment manager

Stafford Capital Partners has added a senior figure to its investment team.

The London-headquartered firm has appointed Ron Heinz to the role of investment manager at its Austin office, according to a statement. Heinz, who comes to the job from niche secondaries firm Sweetwater Capital Partners where he was a principal, has held positions at StepStone and Signal Peak Ventures.

The appointment is one of five made by Stafford in the second half of last year.

The firm also announced the opening of an office in South Korea. It was opened by head of client solutions Jungwoo Ahn, who joined in 2018 from Neuberger Berman, the statement noted.

Stafford Capital invests in infrastructure, timber, agriculture, private equity and credit through primary, secondaries and co-investment strategies.

The firm is in market with a sustainable secondaries fund that had raised $20 million of an undisclosed total as of July, Secondaries Investor reported. Stafford’s sustainable capital business invests in growth and buyout stage businesses that are helping the transition to a sustainable economy, according to its website. 

In May, the firm held a $612.5 million final close on its eighth timberland secondaries fund after around 19 months in market. The following month, it held the final close on its second infrastructure secondaries fund, raising €400 million.

In October, the firm had a $259.1 million hostile bid for Phaunos Timber accepted by a majority of the forestry fund’s shareholders.

Stafford has $5.3 billion in assets under management and advice. It has offices in Austin, Boston, Curitiba, London, Seoul, Sydney and Zurich.