UBS names secondaries co-heads

UBS has named managing directors Philip Tsai and Nicolas Lanel as co-heads of its private equity secondaries business now that managing director Nigel Dawn has decided to leave the bank, according to an internal memo seen by Private Equity International.

Dawn will leave UBS by the end of July after 16 years, according to a person familiar with the bank. He was responsible for starting the secondaries business within the Private Funds Group, the memo said. Dawn “decided to retire and pursue other interests”, the memo said. “We thank him for his years of hard work and leadership and wish him well for the future.”

Dawn also was one of the heads of the Private Funds Group, along with Jake Elmhirst and James Moore. Elmhirst and Moore remain co-heads of the Private Funds Group, which raises private funds and advises on secondaries sales.

Tsai joined UBS in 2001 and was part of the group that founded the secondaries business in 2004. Lanel joined in 2004, initially in the primaries business and then moved to the secondaries business, where he was responsible for the European operations, the memo said.

The secondaries business, housed within the Private Funds Group, brokers secondary deals and has landed several major mandates in the past year, including the sale of an about $1 billion chunk of the New York City Retirement System’s private equity portfolio, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation’s first-ever secondaries sale.