Credit Suisse Group has lost two managing directors, according to people familiar with the matter, following the departure of a global leader in its private fund group just weeks earlier.

Brian Williams and Jerome Wallace, the co-heads of Americas distribution in the investment bank’s private fund group, plan to join investment bank William Blair as co-heads of its newly formed private capital advisory business, according to three of the people.

The departures of Williams and Wallace, who are based in New York, follow that of global head of capital solutions Jeremy Duksin, who is set to join Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird as co-head of the middle market investment bank’s secondary-advisory business.

Credit Suisse has faced a near existential crisis this year. In October, the Swiss bank announced plans to cut thousands of jobs and raise around $4bn in fresh capital as it looked to recover from a series of heavy losses triggered by the collapse of hedge-fund manager Archegos Capital Management. Archegos collapsed in March 2021, triggering a $5.5bn loss for the bank.

READ Activist who called for Credit Suisse break-up says latest overhaul isn’t enough

Williams joined Credit Suisse in 2016, and Wallace came aboard in 2017, according to their LinkedIn pages. They were responsible for selling private funds to North American investors. They will move to Blair next year after fulfilling contractual obligations, according to people familiar with the matter.

Williams and Wallace will manage Chicago-based Blair’s private capital advisory business alongside another Credit Suisse alum, Mike Custar, a fundraising executive who joined Blair as the unit formed this spring.

Custar focuses on sponsor-led secondaries deals, a growing segment of the market that provides private equity firms with more time and capital to hold their portfolio companies. In September, Blair added Jake Stuiver as a director responsible for executing secondaries deals led by fund investors.

Blair intends to hire at least 20 professionals for its private capital advisory unit and add new business lines in addition to its fundraising and secondary-advisory practices, according to people familiar with the matter.

Write to Rod James at rod.james@wsj.com

This article was published by Dow Jones Newswires

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