News & Analysis

Strategic Partners directors leave – exclusive

Brian Kolin and  Boriana Karastoyanova were investment committee members and had originally joined Credit Suisse Strategic Partners.

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Two long-standing Strategic Partners professionals have left the firm, Secondaries Investor has learned.

Brian Kolin and Boriana Karastoyanova were both New York-based directors who joined Credit Suisse Strategic Partners before its 2013 acquisition by Blackstone. Kolin’s last day was Friday, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

It is unclear when Karastoyanova left the firm.

Both were investment committee members for “each of Strategic Partners’ funds”, according to archived versions of the firm’s website. Each has led Strategic Partners’ European operations – Karastoyanova spent two years in London between 2006-08, followed by Kolin until 2010.

Kolin started in 2008 and Karastoyanova in 2002, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Strategic Partners is seeking $8 billion for Strategic Partners Fund VIII, a dedicated secondaries vehicle, as Secondaries Investor reported in May. In April the firm raised $1.75 billion for its second real assets secondaries vehicle, the largest pool of capital ever raised for the strategy, Secondaries Investor reported.

Strategic Partners is led by Stephen Can and Verdun Perry. The firm has around 20 staff based in New York, London and San Francisco, according to its website.

Blackstone declined to comment.