Taverna’s Mill Reef continues build-out

The firm founded by Schroder Adveq‘s former secondaries head has made a pair of senior appointments.

Mill Reef Capital has added Philippe Bucher and Dimitri Senik to its senior advisory board, according to a statement on the Zurich-based secondaries firm’s website. Bucher is chief operating officer of DACH-focused buyout firm Capvis, while Senik is head of Investor Trust Services at PwC in Switzerland.

Founding partner Gregor Hasler said: “Both are highly respected in their fields and are invaluable in supporting Mill Reef Capital on its growth trajectory.”

Secondaries Investor reported in July last year that Nico Taverna was departing Schroder Adveq to launch his own firm. Mill Reef was formed later that year with Taverna and former LGT Capital Partners executive director Hasler as partners.

Since then it has brought on analysts Ekaterina Nazarova, from Goldman Sachs’ Frankfurt-based M&A team, and Paula Böni, from Brazilian multi-family office FitPart. Mikenda Damming was hired as chief financial officer from family office Calibrium at the start of 2020, the statement noted.

Mill Reef targets European private equity managers through primary- and complex secondaries investments, according to its website. It also invests in preferred equity deals. It is not clear whether Mill Reed is in market with a fund.

Taverna ranked 10th in Secondaries Investor’s Young Guns of Secondaries list of the most impressive industry professionals under 36 and was the youngest secondaries head in the Class of 2016. He was replaced at Schroder Adveq by Christiaan van der Kam, who joined last month from Unigestion.