Partners Group plans additions and changes to the firm's board of directors, chief executive office and executive board
Press release
Baar-Zug, 8 March 2013
Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, today announces two planned additions to the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG combined with changes in its chief executive office and executive board. These proposals are made based on the firm having significantly increased in scope and size over the past few years in its global investment, client and corporate activities and will position it to ideally cope with related business development needs in the coming years. The suggested changes remain subject to clearance by the regulatory authorities.
The board of directors plans to propose to the annual general meeting of shareholders on 2 May 2013 that Steffen Meister, chief executive officer of the firm since 2005, joins the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG as a full-time executive member. In this role Steffen Meister will chair the firm's business development committee and focus on the firm's major business, corporate and organizational initiatives, overseeing the executive board. He will also join the risk & audit and nomination & compensation committees as well as becoming a member of two newly formed strategy and markets committees, to be chaired by Alfred Gantner and Urs Wietlisbach, respectively. The strategy committee directs major strategic initiatives of the firm while the markets committee concentrates on strategic client-related initiatives. The three co-founders of the firm will continue to serve in their roles as executive chairman and executive members of the board, respectively.
Steffen Meister, partner and chief executive officer, comments “It was a significant privilege and a highly fascinating experience to be the team captain of the executive board and at the helm of the broader management team for eight years, during which we saw a substantial development of the firm across all regions, teams and businesses. Today, I look forward to continuing to serve the firm and our clients while retaining a clear focus on business development and other strategic initiatives. In this, I look forward to continuing to work closely with the board of directors and to interacting regularly with the entire executive board team, all of us remaining highly committed to taking our firm to the next level in the coming years.”
In addition, the board of directors also plans to propose to the annual general meeting of shareholders that Patrick Ward joins the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG as non-executive member and a member of the markets committee with the title of chairman UK and Middle East, based in the firm's London office.
Patrick Ward recently retired as Advisory Director and chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International after serving 33 years at the firm. He was formerly 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 holds a master's degree in management from Northwestern University, Chicago, USA and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
To ensure a seamless transition of the firm's operational management, the board of directors is pleased to announce the planned appointment of Christoph Rubeli and André Frei, who have been with the firm for more than 14 and 12 years, respectively, as co-chief executive officers as of 1 July 2013.
Christoph Rubeli is a partner of the firm and responsible for the firm's private equity direct investment activities. He is a member of the global portfolio investment committee and the private equity directs investment committee and in his new role as co-chief executive officer will also become a member of the executive board. He has been with Partners Group since 1998 and has assumed several executive roles in investment management with significant international engagements. Prior to joining Partners Group he worked at UBS. He holds an MBA from INSEAD Paris, France, and a master's degree in industrial engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. Christoph Rubeli is expected to continue with his responsibilities in the private equity investment team.
André Frei is a partner of the firm and responsible for Partners Group's client services business department. He is a member of the executive board and chief risk officer. He has been with Partners Group since 2000 and held senior management positions in portfolio and risk management before heading the client services efforts, including a material involvement in the build out of the firm's Asian hub and global operations center in Singapore. He holds a master's degree in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
It is further planned that the client services business department will be led by Reto Schwager, partner, and Raphael Meier, managing director, as co-heads from 1 July 2013 and that Reto Schwager will join the executive board of Partners Group Holding AG in his new role.
Andreas Knecht, general counsel and partner of the firm, is also expected to join the executive board of the firm from 1 July 2013.
Alfred Gantner, co-founder and executive chairman, adds “Steffen Meister's experience as our highly successful CEO for many years and his knowledge of the firm and our industry combined with his increased focus on the overall strategic business development will continue to be for the significant benefit of our entire organization. As such, I look forward to continuing to work with him in the coming years. I am further convinced that Christoph Rubeli and André Frei, in their new roles as co-chief executives, possess the necessary skills, experience and knowledge of the firm to drive its future growth and development. Having invested in private markets for more than 14 years, Christoph's wealth of experience is ideally suited to further building out our global investment platform to ensure our clients continue to receive access to the most attractive private market opportunities and thus to superior returns. Furthermore, with his background in client servicing and operations, André will play a key role in the continued development of our customized, tailor-made client solutions, making us as a firm even more capable of addressing a multitude of requirements.”
Patrick Ward concludes “I am eagerly looking forward to joining a dynamic investing and client focused team with an established record of superior performance. I believe that investing in private markets remains highly attractive on a global scale and that Partners Group is ideally positioned to benefit from increased allocations to this asset class.”
About Partners Group
Partners Group is a global private markets investment management firm with over EUR 28 billion in investment programs under management in private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt. The firm manages a broad range of customized portfolios for an international clientele of institutional investors. Partners Group is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and has offices in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo, London, Guernsey, Paris, Luxembourg, Munich, Dubai, Singapore, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney. The firm employs over 600 people, is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (symbol: PGHN) with a market capitalization of over CHF 5.5 billion and a major ownership by its partners and employees.
Investor relations contact
Philip Sauer
Phone: +41 41 784 66 60
E-mail: [email protected]
Media relations contact
Dr. Anna Hollmann
Phone: +41 41 784 63 72
E-mail: [email protected]
Press release
Baar-Zug, 8 March 2013
Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, today announces two planned additions to the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG combined with changes in its chief executive office and executive board. These proposals are made based on the firm having significantly increased in scope and size over the past few years in its global investment, client and corporate activities and will position it to ideally cope with related business development needs in the coming years. The suggested changes remain subject to clearance by the regulatory authorities.
The board of directors plans to propose to the annual general meeting of shareholders on 2 May 2013 that Steffen Meister, chief executive officer of the firm since 2005, joins the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG as a full-time executive member. In this role Steffen Meister will chair the firm's business development committee and focus on the firm's major business, corporate and organizational initiatives, overseeing the executive board. He will also join the risk & audit and nomination & compensation committees as well as becoming a member of two newly formed strategy and markets committees, to be chaired by Alfred Gantner and Urs Wietlisbach, respectively. The strategy committee directs major strategic initiatives of the firm while the markets committee concentrates on strategic client-related initiatives. The three co-founders of the firm will continue to serve in their roles as executive chairman and executive members of the board, respectively.
Steffen Meister, partner and chief executive officer, comments “It was a significant privilege and a highly fascinating experience to be the team captain of the executive board and at the helm of the broader management team for eight years, during which we saw a substantial development of the firm across all regions, teams and businesses. Today, I look forward to continuing to serve the firm and our clients while retaining a clear focus on business development and other strategic initiatives. In this, I look forward to continuing to work closely with the board of directors and to interacting regularly with the entire executive board team, all of us remaining highly committed to taking our firm to the next level in the coming years.”
In addition, the board of directors also plans to propose to the annual general meeting of shareholders that Patrick Ward joins the board of directors of Partners Group Holding AG as non-executive member and a member of the markets committee with the title of chairman UK and Middle East, based in the firm's London office.
Patrick Ward recently retired as Advisory Director and chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International after serving 33 years at the firm. He was formerly 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 holds a master's degree in management from Northwestern University, Chicago, USA and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
To ensure a seamless transition of the firm's operational management, the board of directors is pleased to announce the planned appointment of Christoph Rubeli and André Frei, who have been with the firm for more than 14 and 12 years, respectively, as co-chief executive officers as of 1 July 2013.
Christoph Rubeli is a partner of the firm and responsible for the firm's private equity direct investment activities. He is a member of the global portfolio investment committee and the private equity directs investment committee and in his new role as co-chief executive officer will also become a member of the executive board. He has been with Partners Group since 1998 and has assumed several executive roles in investment management with significant international engagements. Prior to joining Partners Group he worked at UBS. He holds an MBA from INSEAD Paris, France, and a master's degree in industrial engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. Christoph Rubeli is expected to continue with his responsibilities in the private equity investment team.
André Frei is a partner of the firm and responsible for Partners Group's client services business department. He is a member of the executive board and chief risk officer. He has been with Partners Group since 2000 and held senior management positions in portfolio and risk management before heading the client services efforts, including a material involvement in the build out of the firm's Asian hub and global operations center in Singapore. He holds a master's degree in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
It is further planned that the client services business department will be led by Reto Schwager, partner, and Raphael Meier, managing director, as co-heads from 1 July 2013 and that Reto Schwager will join the executive board of Partners Group Holding AG in his new role.
Andreas Knecht, general counsel and partner of the firm, is also expected to join the executive board of the firm from 1 July 2013.
Alfred Gantner, co-founder and executive chairman, adds “Steffen Meister's experience as our highly successful CEO for many years and his knowledge of the firm and our industry combined with his increased focus on the overall strategic business development will continue to be for the significant benefit of our entire organization. As such, I look forward to continuing to work with him in the coming years. I am further convinced that Christoph Rubeli and André Frei, in their new roles as co-chief executives, possess the necessary skills, experience and knowledge of the firm to drive its future growth and development. Having invested in private markets for more than 14 years, Christoph's wealth of experience is ideally suited to further building out our global investment platform to ensure our clients continue to receive access to the most attractive private market opportunities and thus to superior returns. Furthermore, with his background in client servicing and operations, André will play a key role in the continued development of our customized, tailor-made client solutions, making us as a firm even more capable of addressing a multitude of requirements.”
Patrick Ward concludes “I am eagerly looking forward to joining a dynamic investing and client focused team with an established record of superior performance. I believe that investing in private markets remains highly attractive on a global scale and that Partners Group is ideally positioned to benefit from increased allocations to this asset class.”
About Partners Group
Partners Group is a global private markets investment management firm with over EUR 28 billion in investment programs under management in private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt. The firm manages a broad range of customized portfolios for an international clientele of institutional investors. Partners Group is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and has offices in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo, London, Guernsey, Paris, Luxembourg, Munich, Dubai, Singapore, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney. The firm employs over 600 people, is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (symbol: PGHN) with a market capitalization of over CHF 5.5 billion and a major ownership by its partners and employees.
Investor relations contact
Philip Sauer
Phone: +41 41 784 66 60
E-mail: [email protected]
Media relations contact
Dr. Anna Hollmann
Phone: +41 41 784 63 72
E-mail: [email protected]