Looking back: Top people moves of 2015

The secondaries world has seen its fair share of personnel moves this year with key professionals leaving large firms for greener pastures, and some setting up on their own.

Here are the top three people moves within the secondaries market this year:

1. Yann Robard leaves CPPIB

The head of secondaries at Canada’s largest pension fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, left at the end of July having helped set up the pension’s secondaries team. In October, Secondaries Investor reported that Robard had launched his own firm, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners, with a partner from another Canadian pension. They are focusing on preferred equity in secondaries.

2. Michael Alfano launches Reciprocal Capital

In May, Secondaries Investor reported that the former Coller Capital principal had started a new firm. Alfano, who spent five years at Coller, also worked at LGT Capital Partners as an executive director before launching Reciprocal.

3. Tjarko Hektor departs AlpInvest

Hektor was managing director of Amsterdam-based AlpInvest Partners’s secondaries team before leaving in the first half of the year to reportedly pursue other interests. Hektor is currently listed as an entrepreneur in New York, according to his LinkedIn profile, although there are no details of his new endeavour.

Other notable moves included:

• Neal Costello left CPPIB and returned to AlpInvest to manage the firm’s secondaries team in the wake of Hektor’s departure
• Mike Bego parted ways with New York-based Willowridge Partners to set up his own secondaries shop, Kline Hill Partners.
• GIC, Singapore’s sovereign weath fund hired former Pantheon investment professional Jeremy Weisberg in October.