Our team
Bill Berry
Partner, Head Private Debt
Bill Berry is Head of the Private Debt business department, based in Denver. He is member of the Global Executive Board and has 24 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he was Co-President of Capula Investment Management and worked at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch in a variety of senior roles including Global Co-Head of Counterparty Portfolio Management (CPM) and Head of EMEA Structured Credit and Securitization and Solutions. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton University, New Jersey and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
René Biner
Partner, Chairman Global Investment Committee
René Biner is Chairman of the Global Investment Committee at Partners Group and a member of the Global Executive Board, based in Zug. He has been with Partners Group since 1999 and has 26 years of industry experience. He previously worked on private equity direct investments and transactions before taking on responsibility for partnership investments in Europe and, later, relocating to Partners Group's New York office where he was Co-Head of the firm's US private equity investment activities. Following his return to Partners Group's principal office in Zug, René was assigned responsibility for the firm's private debt investment management activities. Before Partners Group, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Zurich with responsibility in the due diligence and audit practice, assigned to IPO projects. He holds a master's degree in economics and business administration from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is also a Swiss Certified Public Accountant.
Mike Bryant
Partner, Co-Head Private Real Estate
Mike Bryant is Co-Head of Partners Group's London office, Co-Head of the Private Real Estate business department and Co-Head of the European Private Real Estate business unit. He is a member of the Global Executive Board, the Global Investment Committee, the Private Real Estate Integrated Investment Committee and the Private Real Estate Direct Investment Committee, and has 31 years' of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, Mike worked at GE Capital Real Estate, HVB Real Estate Capital, Erste Bank, Coopers and Lybrand, and Cushman and Wakefield. At GE Capital Real Estate he held a broad variety of leadership roles, including leading the European asset management and risk functions. He holds a master's degree from Cambridge University, UK, and is a qualified chartered surveyor.
Roberto Cagnati
Managing Director, Co-Head Portfolio Solutions
Roberto Cagnati is Co-Head of the Portfolio Solutions business department and Co-Head of the Portfolio Management business unit, based in Zug. He is a member of the Global Portfolio Committee and the Global Executive Board. He has been with Partners Group since 2004 and has 16 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, Roberto worked at Deutsche Bank Asset Management and Credit Suisse Private Banking in the alternative investment space. He holds a master's degree in economics with a specialization in statistics and financial markets from the University of Konstanz, Germany.
Robert Collins
Managing Director, Head New York Office
Robert is Head of Partners Group's New York Office and a member of the Global Executive Board. He leads Partners Group's US distribution practice and is President, Portfolio Manager and Member of the Board of Managers of both Partners Group Private Equity (Master Fund), LLC and Partners Group Private Income Opportunities, LLC. He also chairs Partners Group (USA) Inc.'s Investment Committee. Robert joined the firm in 2005 as a member of the Private Equity investment team and has 21 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at UBS Warburg and Salomon Smith Barney. Robert holds an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University, New York, USA where he was a Roy H. Park Leadership Fellow, and a BA from Tulane University, Louisiana, USA, where he majored in economics and history. He is a CFA charterholder.
André Frei
Partner, Co-Chief Executive Officer
André Frei is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Partners Group, based in Zug. Together with David Layton, he leads the Executive Committee and the Global Executive Board. As part of his mandate, André oversees corporate and investment-related environmental, social and governance topics at Executive Committee level. He has been with Partners Group since 2000 and has 20 years of industry experience. He is a member of the board of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce. Previously, he served as the Chief Risk Officer of Partners Group between 2008 and 2013 and he was the Head of the Client Services business department. He holds a master's degree in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Fredrik Henzler
Partner, Head Industry Value Creation and Head Industrials
Fredrik Henzler is Head of the Industry Value Creation business department and Head of the Industrials Industry Value Creation business unit, based in Zug. He is a member of the Global Executive Board, the Global Investment Committee, the Private Equity Directs Investment Committee and the Global Direct Debt Investment Committee, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the firm's portfolio companies AMMEGA, CSS Corp., Form Technologies, Hofmann Menue Manufaktur and United States Infrastructure Corporation. Fredrik has been with Partners Group since 2012 and has 25 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he was a founding Partner of BrainNet Supply Management Group AG, a leading supply chain consultancy sold to KPMG in 2012. Building up the Private Equity practice, he led more than 50 operational efficiency projects for portfolio companies of private equity sponsors including Advent, Cinven, CVC, KKR and TPG. He holds a master’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.
Juri Jenkner
Partner, Head Private Infrastructure
Juri Jenkner is Head of the Private Infrastructure business department and Head of the European Private Infrastructure business unit, based in Zug. He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Global Executive Board. He is also a member of the Global Investment Committee and Chairman of the Private Infrastructure Investment Committee. Previously, he served as Co-Head of the Private Debt business department and Head of the European Private Debt business unit. He has been with Partners Group since 2004 and has 20 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Privatbankiers Merck Finck & Co. He holds a master's degree in finance from the Lorange Institute of Business Zurich, Switzerland. He is also a certified European financial analyst.
Andreas Knecht
Partner, Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel
Andreas Knecht is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Partners Group, based in Zug. He is Head of the Corporate Operations business department and a member of the Executive Committee and Global Executive Board. Andreas has been with Partners Group since 2009 and has 24 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked as an attorney at a number of different law firms, including Niederer Kraft & Frey, Zurich, advising corporate clients in M&A and financing matters, and as co-lead at Man Group's Continental Europe legal team. He holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Zurich, Switzerland and an LL.M. from New York University, USA. He is also admitted to the Swiss bar.
David Layton
Partner, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Head Private Equity
David Layton is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Partners Group, based in the firm's Americas headquarters in Colorado. Together with André Frei, he leads the Executive Committee and the Global Executive Board. He is also the Head of the Private Equity business department and member of the Global Investment Committee. Previously, he was the Head of Partners Group's Private Equity business in the Americas and has represented Partners Group on the Board of Directors of several of the firm's portfolio companies, including Universal Services of America, Nobel Learning Communities, MicroPoise Measurement Systems, Cabot Credit Management, Pacific Bells, and Strategic Partners. David has been with Partners Group since 2005 and has 17 years of industry experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management.
Dr. Kevin Lu
Partner, Chairman of Asia
Dr. Kevin Lu is Partners Group’s Chairman of Asia, a member of the Global Executive Board and Head of Partners Group’s Singapore office. Additionally, he chairs the PG LIFE Impact Committee and leads the development of relationships with key strategic clients in Asia. Kevin has been with Partners Group since 2014 and has 22 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he served as Asia Regional Director and Chief Financial Officer at the World Bank Group's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), overseeing MIGA's finance, investments, portfolio management and risk analytics functions. He has also served on the advisory board of the World Bank's Global Infrastructure Facility, Monetary Authority of Singapore's Financial Centre Advisory Panel, the International Experts Advisory Committee of Insurance Asset Management Association of China, and the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on China. Dr. Kevin Lu has furthermore published commentaries in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Financial Times and the Straits Times. He is a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD, Singapore.
Marlis Morin
Partner, Head Client Services
Marlis Morin is Head of the Client Services business department, based in Singapore, and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Global Executive Board. She has been with Partners Group since 2003 and has 26 years of industry experience, having previously built and headed the firm's Group Internal Audit function. She also opened Partners Group's services and operations hub in Manila. Prior to joining Partners Group, Marlis worked at Credit Suisse Asset Management Funds as Head of Marketing Services for the European Retail Marketing, at Raiffeisen Landesbank Suedtirol and at Raiffeisenkasse Eisacktal. She holds a master's degree in international economics and business studies from the University of Innsbruck, Austria and Marquette University in Wisconsin, USA.
Stefan Näf
Partner, Head Client Solutions
Stefan Näf is Head of the Client Solutions business department, based in Zug. He is a member of the Global Executive Board. Previously, he was part of the Private Equity Directs and Primaries business unit and subsequently founded the firm's London office. He has been with Partners Group since 2000 and has 24 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at the European Institute for Risk Management (EIRM). He holds a master’s degree in banking and finance from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.
Hans Ploos
Partner, Chief Financial Officer, Head Group Finance & Corporate Development
Hans Ploos is the Chief Financial Officer of Partners Group, based in Zug. He is Head of the Group Finance & Corporate Development business department and a member of the Executive Committee and Global Executive Board, with 30 years of relevant experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, Hans was CFO of Adecco Group, Switzerland, from 2015 to 2020. He started his career in Finance at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the Netherlands in 1989. Between 1992 and 2003, he held positions of increasing responsibility in P&G across Saudi Arabia, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. In 2003, he joined Levi Strauss & Co. in Belgium, as Vice President Finance & Operation Europe, and moved to the USA as global Chief Financial Officer in 2005. He was CFO of COFRA Group from 2009 to 2013, before acting as co-CEO of C&A Europe for a transition period until 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Economische Hogeschool of Eindhoven, and an MBA in Marketing & Finance from the University of Brabant, both in the Netherlands.
Amelia Räss-Fernandez
Managing Director, Global Head Human Resources
Amelia Räss-Fernandez is Global Head of the Human Resources business unit, based in Zug. She is a member of the Global Executive Board and has 26 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, she was Chief HR Officer and Head of Internal Communications for Salt Mobile/Orange Communications in Switzerland, leading global HR projects at Zurich Financial Services, having previously been at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she was Managing Consultant and Executive Search Manager. Amelia started her career as Director of the Berlitz Language School in Switzerland, going onto positions such as Head of Language Training at Swissair and Managing Director of a Recruitment Agency in Zurich. She holds an executive MBA from the University of Zurich, Switzerland; a graduate degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Manchester, UK; and a Bachelor Degree as Technical, Scientific and Literary Translator from the Translator's School of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Dr. Stephan Schäli
Partner, Chief Investment Officer
Dr. Stephan Schäli is the Chief Investment Officer of Partners Group and member of the Global Executive Board, based in Zug. He is furthermore the Deputy Chairman of the Global Investment Committee, Chairman of the Global Portfolio Committee and a member of the Private Equity Growth Investment Committee. He has been with Partners Group since 1999 and has 23 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at UBS and Goldman Sachs & Co. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, Illinois, USA and a PhD in business administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.
Dr. Yves Schneller
Partner, Head Investment Services
Dr. Yves Schneller is Head of the Investment Services business department and a member of the Global Executive Board, based in Zug. He has been with Partners Group since 2008, previously heading the Transaction Services team, and has 15 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Baer & Karrer, specializing in international and domestic M&A transactions (focusing on private M&A and private equity transactions, including secondary buyouts and public to private transactions). He holds a PhD in business law from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland on the topic of liabilities in merger law and is also admitted to the Swiss bar.
Dr. Raymond Schnidrig
Partner, Chief Technology Officer, Head Technology
Dr. Raymond Schnidrig is the Chief Technology Officer of Partners Group and Head of the Technology business unit, based in Zug. He is a member of the Global Executive Board and has been with Partners Group since 2010. He has 27 years of industry experience and, prior to joining Partners Group, worked for eight years at Goldman Sachs and co-founded an ETH spin-off company in the computational finance space. He holds a PhD in computer science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.
Martin Scott
Partner, Head of Australia
Martin Scott is Head of Partners Group’s Sydney office and Head of the Australian Client Solutions business unit, as well as a member of the Global Executive Board and Director of Partners Group Australia. Martin has 27 years of industry experience and joined Partners Group in 2008 when he commenced the firm's Australian operations. Prior to joining Partners Group, he held senior roles at Zurich Investments, where he was Head of Investment Sales; Zurich Scudder; Tyndall Investment Management; and Citigroup. He holds a marketing diploma from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Australia and studied business at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Anthony Shontz
Managing Director, Co-Head Private Equity Integrated Investments Americas
Anthony Shontz is Head of Partners Group's Denver office, Co-Head Private Equity Integrated Investments Americas, and a member of the Global Executive Board and the Private Equity Integrated Investment Committee. He has been with Partners Group since 2007 and has 18 years of industry experience, previously working at Pacific Private Capital and Prudential Capital Group. Anthony holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Brigham Young University, Utah, USA and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Illinois, USA.
Dr. Michael Studer
Partner, Chief Risk Officer, Co-Head Portfolio Solutions
Dr. Michael Studer is the Chief Risk Officer of Partners Group and Co-Head of the Portfolio Solutions business department, based in Zug. He a member of the Executive Committee, the Global Executive Board and the Global Investment Committee. He has been with Partners Group since 2001 and has 24 years of industry experience. He holds a PhD in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.
Marc Weiss
Partner, Co-Head Private Real Estate
Marc Weiss is Co-Head of the Private Real Estate business department and Co-Head of the Private Real Estate Americas business unit, based in New York. He is a member of the Global Executive Board, the Global Investment Committee and is the Chairman of the Private Real Estate Direct Investment Committee and the Private Real Estate Integrated Investment Committee. He has been with Partners Group since 2007 and has 33 years of industry experience, having worked at Commonfund, Kenneth Leventhal & Company, Ernst & Young, LLP, UBS Asset Management and Pension Consulting Alliance, Inc., whose discretionary asset management business was integrated into Partners Group. Over the course of his career, he has accumulated significant experience in underwriting direct and indirect real estate investments, performing valuations, overseeing portfolio management as well as capital markets related investment activity including financings, debt and equity restructurings and IPO's. He holds an MBA from the Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management in New York, USA. He was also a certified public accountant.