Board of Directors

Steffen Meister

Partner, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors

Steffen Meister is a Partner of the firm and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Partners Group Holding AG, based in Zug. He is also Chairman of the Board's Strategy Committee and a member of its Client Oversight Committee. Steffen Meister has been with Partners Group since 2000 and served as Delegate of the Board from 2013 to 2018 and as Chief Executive Officer from 2005 to 2013. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the firm’s portfolio company Hearthside Food Solutions. Steffen Meister is furthermore the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crossiety AG, a social media platform for local communities in Switzerland, and a member of the Board of Directors of FAIRTIQ AG, a company providing advanced travel payment solutions for the public transport sector. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Credit Suisse Financial Products and had assignments at Swiss Reinsurance Co. and the Department of Mathematics of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He has 24 years of industry experience and holds a master's degree in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland.

Dr. Eric Strutz

Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Risk & Audit Committee

Dr. Eric Strutz is the Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors of Partners Group Holding AG and Chairman of the Board's Risk & Audit Committee as well as member of the Board of Directors of the firm’s portfolio companies Global Blue and Techem. He is furthermore a member of the Board of Directors of HSBC Bank plc. and Chairman of the Risk Committee and the Audit Committee of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG. Dr. Eric Strutz was Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank AG until March 2012. Prior to joining Commerzbank AG, Dr. Eric Strutz was employed by the Boston Consulting Group from 1993, where he was Vice President, Director and Partner as from 2000. He studied at the Universities of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, as well as a Doctorate summa cum laude in business administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.

Dr. Marcel Erni

Partner, Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors

Dr. Marcel Erni is the Co-Founder of Partners Group. He is an executive member of Partners Group Holding AG’s Board of Directors, based in Zug. Dr. Marcel Erni is also a member of the Board's Investment Oversight Committee. Previously, he served as the Chief Investment Officer of Partners Group until June 2017. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the firm’s current portfolio companies AMMEGA, Global Blue and GlobalLogic. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of PG3 AG, Switzerland, the family office of the founders of Partners Group. Prior to founding Partners Group, he worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. and McKinsey & Co. He has 28 years of industry experience and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Illinois and a PhD in finance and banking from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.

Michelle Felman

Member of the Board of Directors and Chairwoman of the Investment Oversight Committee

Michelle Felman is an independent member of the Board of Directors of Partners Group Holding AG, Chairwoman of the Board's Investment Oversight Committee and member of the Nomination & Compensation Committee. Michelle Felman is also the Founder of JAM Holdings, an investment and advisory firm. Michelle furthermore teaches at Columbia University. She is on the investment committee of the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, an investment platform focused on social impact investing in education and holds board seats at Reonomy and Cummings. From 1997 to 2010, Michelle Felman was Executive Vice President (EVP), Acquisitions and Capital Markets, at Vornado Realty Trust. Before joining Vornado, she was Managing Director, Global Business Development, at GE Capital with responsibility for structuring and evaluating new markets and products globally (1994-1997). Prior to this, she spent three years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. She has more than 29 years of experience in the real estate and investment business. She earned her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and her MBA from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Alfred Gantner

Partner, Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors

Alfred Gantner is the Co-Founder of Partners Group. He is an executive member of Partners Group Holding AG’s Board of Directors, based in Zug, as well as a member of the Board's Investment Oversight Committee and Strategy Committee. Alfred served as Chief Executive Officer of Partners Group from 1996 to 2005 and subsequently as Executive Chairman from 2005 to 2014. He was also Chairman of Partners Group's Global Investment Committee from 2011 until June 2017. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the firm’s portfolio companies Fermaca, United States Infrastructure Corporation and PCI Pharma Services; a member of the Board of Trustees of PG Impact Investments Foundation; and member of the Board of Directors of PG3 AG, Switzerland, the family office of the founders of Partners Group. Prior to founding Partners Group, he worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. He has 28 years of industry experience and holds an MBA from the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management in Utah, USA.

Grace del Rosario-Castaño

Member of the Board of Directors and Chairwoman of the Nomination and Compensation Committee

Grace del Rosario-Castaño is an independent member of the Board of Directors of Partners Group Holding AG. She is Chairwoman of the Board's Nomination & Compensation Committee and a member of its Investment Oversight Committee. As part of her mandate, she oversees corporate and investment-related environmental, social and governance topics at Board level. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the firm’s portfolio company BCR Group. She spent 22 years at Johnson & Johnson, joining in 1990 as Brand Manager and ending her tenure as Company Group Chairwoman, Asia-Pacific, in July 2014. In that role, Grace del Rosario-Castaño was responsible for all markets in the Asia-Pacific region. In her early years at Johnson & Johnson, she worked for the Consumer Products Worldwide division in the United States. Prior to joining Johnson and Johnson, Grace del Rosario-Castaño spent the formative years of her career with Unilever. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines. She has also completed the Senior Management Programs at the Asian Institute of Management, Smith-Tuck Global Leadership For Women, at the Tuck School of Business in Hanover, New Hampshire and the Advanced Management Program at the University of California in Berkeley, USA.

Dr. Martin Strobel

Member of the Board of Directors

Dr. Martin Strobel is independent member of the Board of Directors of Partners Group Holding AG and member of the Board's Risk and Audit Committee, member of the Nomination and Compensation Committee as well as member of the Strategy Committee. Dr. Strobel's background is in technology and he gained a PhD in business computer science while beginning his career as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He subsequently joined the Swiss insurer Baloise Group to oversee technology, before ultimately spending seven years of his 17-year tenure there as Group CEO. After leaving Baloise Group in April 2016, Dr. Strobel spent almost three years as an operating partner at private equity firm Advent International. He is a board member at RSA Insurance Group plc., a British-headquartered insurer, where he chairs the Risk Committee.

Patrick Ward

Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman UK and Middle East

Patrick Ward is an independent member of Partners Group Holding AG’s Board of Directors and Chairman UK and Middle East. He is also a member of the Board's Client Oversight Committee. Prior to joining Partners Group, he was Advisory Director and Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International. Previously, he was Deputy Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm’s management committee, having previously Co-Headed the equities division globally. He has 40 years of industry experience and holds a master’s degree in management from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA, and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Urs Wietlisbach

Partner, Co-Founder, Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Client Oversight Committee

Urs Wietlisbach is the Co-Founder of Partners Group. He is an executive member of Partners Group Holding AG’s Board of Directors, based in Zug. Urs Wietlisbach is Chairman of the Board's Client Oversight Committee. He is a Board Observer of the Board of Directors of the firm’s current portfolio company KR Group, UK. He is also a Board member of PG Impact Investments AG and a member of the Board of Trustees of PG Impact Investments Foundation, a foundation that focuses on impact investing globally. In addition, he is a member of the Boards of Directors of Entrepreneur Partners AG, a Swiss asset manager, and PG3 AG, Switzerland, the family office of the founders of Partners Group, and a member of the Board of Trustees of HSG Foundation, the foundation of the University of St. Gallen. He is also an advisory Board member of Swiss Startup Factory AG, an independent organization that supports and finances startups. Prior to founding Partners Group, he worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. and Credit Suisse. He has 31 years of industry experience and holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.