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Unigestion expands private equity team in London and Switzerland

Swiss asset management firm Unigestion has expanded its private equity team with the appointment of two senior professionals in its London office and one in Geneva.

The hirings are designed to strengthen the firm in its efforts to attract more institutional capital in an increasingly demanding market place.

Andrew Marchant has joined as an advisor to the private equity group in London and to serve as deputy chairman of Unigestion's private equity investment committee. He worked as a director and shareholder at buy-out specialist Cinven from 1988 to 2001, and was previously a partner at Schroder Ventures.

‘Mr Marchant's first-hand knowledge of buy-outs and private equity in Europe will considerably enhance Unigestion's insight and access to this rapidly changing segment of the market,' the firm said in a statement.

Paul Newsome is also joining the London team as an investment director responsible for venture capital and telecom fund investments. He was previously a member of BancBoston's European Technology Group, where he focused on early-stage investments.

The Geneva team is being expanded by the arrival of Christian Gobet, who becomes a member of its private equity portfolio management team. He worked previously at BNP Paribas and UBS in Switzerland.

David Chamberlain, managing director of private equity at Unigestion, explained the hirings by saying that the present market conditions made it more important than ever that investors in private equity funds were well equipped to pick the best managers and investment propositions.

‘A lot of people are saying that this is the best time for ten to 15 years to invest in private equity and there is a lot of jumping on that optimistic thought. But it is going to be a much more challenging environment and it is not at all clear that everyone is going to succeed,' he said.

Unigestion manages over E1bn in private equity, both in funds of funds and large customised institutional accounts. It is currently raising a third party fund, Unigestion Capital IV, with a target of E250m and expects a first close during the summer.

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