Tosin Adeyeri
Partner, Travers Smith
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Tosin advises UK and international fund managers on a range of issues, including the establishment and structuring of private equity and venture capital funds, internal governance organisation and ongoing fund maintenance. Tosin also works on carried interest arrangements and co-investment structures.
Tosin has significant expertise advising on secondary portfolio transactions and represents a number of global investors on their investments into private investment funds.
Tosin has been recognised as a Rising Star by Law.com, being one of the UK's Best Up-and-Coming Black Lawyers.
François Aguerre
Co-Head of Investment and Global Head of Origination, Coller Capital
François is Co-Head of Investment and Global Head of Origination at Coller Capital. François has joint responsibility for the investment team and investment process globally. He co-chairs the DEI Committee.
Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2007, François worked in the Investment Banking division of UBS in London. Previously, he worked at Gimar Finance and PAI Partners in Paris, and at Société Générale in New York.
Phil Bartram
Partner, Travers Smith
Phil has become counsel to an A to Z of the world's most prominent alternative asset managers and specialises in advising on law and regulation affecting their business and their products.
Phil advises private equity, credit, hedge, real estate, infra and long-only fund managers, banks and investment banks, brokers and corporate financiers, and operators of financial market infrastructures. He advises pension schemes on their investments and is often involved in mergers and acquisitions, finance and restructuring in the financial services sector.
Phil is deeply engaged in policy development, particularly in the European Union, working with a range of trade associations, whose committees he chairs or is a leading contributor.
Victoria Bramall
Partner, Travers Smith
Victoria specialises in advising alternative asset management firms on a range of alternative equity financing solutions including minority and majority ManCo M&A, GP-led and LP-led secondary transactions. Her clients include institutional investors, alternative asset managers, senior management teams and founders.
Victoria also advises on corporate governance issues faced by alternative asset managers as well as restructurings and reorganisations of financial sponsors including post-acquisition implementation, tax or regulatory-driven reorganisations and succession planning.
Victoria has been recognised as one of "Europe's Best Up-and-Coming Lawyers", a Private Equity "Rising Star" by Law.com.
Emily Clark
Head of Asset Management, Travers Smith
Emily is Travers Smith's Head of Asset Management.
Emily specialises in the taxation of asset managers, from the world's most prominent global GPs through to new start-ups: she is acknowledged as a leader in her field. Her advice spans all the alternative asset classes – private equity and venture, credit, infrastructure and real estate.
Emily also advises institutional investors – pension funds, funds of funds, and family offices – as they invest into alternative asset classes.
Emily is listed as a 'Leading Individual' in The Legal 500 2024. She is chair of Invest Europe's International Tax Working Group and a member of the Alternative Credit Council's Tax Committee, and is regularly involved in discussions with HMRC and HM Treasury on the enactment of complex new legislation. She is also the author of the Lexis PSL guides to the taxation of private equity funds and is regularly invited to speak at conferences.
Clare Copeland
Chief Tax Officer and Head of Tax Transformation, Carlyle
Clare is Chief Tax Officer and Head of Tax Transformation at Carlyle. Clare leads the global tax operations and strategy for the firm and its funds as well as driving the transformation of its global tax function.
Clare has seats on a number of industry groups and associations, most notably is chair of the Corporate Tax Sub-Committee of the BVCA, co-chair of Invest Europe's International Tax & Tax Reporting Working Group, member of the Alternative Credit Council Tax Committee and sits on Invest Europe’s Global Private Equity Council.
Sarah-Jane Denton
Director, Travers Smith
Sarah-Jane specialises in advising alternative asset managers and corporates on UK, EU and international environment, ESG and corporate governance matters. Sarah-Jane has particular expertise in climate and sustainability reporting regimes and their impacts on UK and international businesses. Her practice extends to human rights, supply chain risk and related social issues under the ESG umbrella.
Caroline Edwards
Partner, Travers Smith
Caroline has extensive complex litigation experience including advising on a number of the most high profile competition damages claims in England and Wales, cross border fraud claims, complex financial services disputes and related regulatory investigations, and tax disputes.
Caroline represents clients across a variety of sectors, including in the financial services, private equity, manufacturing, retail and natural resources sectors
Caroline is recognised in the 2024 edition of "Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom" and has been recognised as one of The Lawyer magazine's Hot 100.
Elizabeth Fernando
Chief Investment Officer, Nest
Liz is CIO at Nest. In her role, she helps to develop Nest's investment proposition and manage its strategic allocation across asset classes.
Prior to joining Nest, Liz was Head of Equities at the Universities Superannuation Scheme and had ExCo responsibility for the Responsible Investment activities. Liz started her career as part of the portfolio management team at Lloyds Investment Managers before spending 25 years at USS.
Liz is also an Investment Advisor to the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme’s Investment Sub-committee.
Heather Gagen
Head of Dispute Resolution and Head of ESG & Impact, Travers Smith
Heather is Head of the Dispute Resolution Department. She is also Head of Travers Smith's ESG and Impact Group.
Heather is a skilled commercial litigator, acting for domestic and international clients, including alternative asset managers, across a wide range of contentious matters, involving high-profile and complex claims of significant value.
A particular aspect of Heather's practice is acting for clients facing reputationally sensitive litigation and investigations, and advising clients in relation to corporate risk management including business and human rights issues and ESG-related risk. Her work in this space includes preventative counselling to clients facing potential ESG-related risk.
Heather has been recognised as one of The Lawyer magazine's Hot 100.
Andrew Gillen
Senior Partner, Travers Smith
Andrew is the Senior Partner of Travers Smith
Andrew specialises in advising listed and larger private companies in relation to public and private M&A transactions, joint ventures, corporate governance, and their compliance with the FCA Listing Rules and Disclosure Rules, the Prospectus Rules, the AIM Rules, the Takeover Code and general company law.
Andrew is ranked Band 1 for Corporate M&A: £100-800 million and Band 2 for Capital Markets AIM by Chambers and Partners. Andrew has also been recognised in the Hall of Fame for Equity Capital Markets by The Legal 500.
Tom Hartwright
Partner, Travers Smith
Tom is a private equity lawyer with a broad practice which includes complex cross-border private equity transactions acting for a range of mid-market European asset managers.
Tom has been recognised as one of "Europe's Best Up-and-Coming Lawyers", a Private Equity "Rising Star" by Law.com and ranked as an "Up and Coming" lawyer for Private Equity in Chambers 2023 and 2024.
Jonathan Hillgarth-Williams
Partner and Founding Member, Clipway
Jonathan is a Partner and member of the founding team of Clipway.
Prior to Clipway, Jonathan was a Director and member of the Fund of Funds team at Ardian for 10 years, where he was responsible for primary and secondary investments in private equity and infrastructure funds.
Christopher Hunt
Managing Director and Head of Corporate Development and Shareholder Relations, ICG
Chris is Head of Corporate Development and Shareholder Relations at ICG having joined in 2020 as a Managing Director.
Prior to joining ICG, Chris worked at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs in their Corporate Finance teams covering a variety of public and private companies, including a number of private equity firms, and advised across M&A, debt and equity capital markets.
David James
Partner, Travers Smith
David is a partner in Travers Smith's Pensions team and advises on strategy in relation to pension arrangements.
David specialises in advising on the duties of trustees and sponsoring employers in relation to occupational pension schemes. David also advises on the pensions issues in corporate transactions.
David is a member of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's Legal Panel and is deputy chair of the Society of Pension Professionals' (SPP) Defined Contribution Committee, as well as being a member of the SPP's CDC committee. David is a member of the UK and international pension lawyer associations. David is also a member of the BVCA's Pensions and Private Capital Technical Expert Group which is considering pension scheme investments in private markets.
Kristin Leighton-Wade
Blackstone, Private Wealth Solutions
Tim Lewis
Head of Financial Services & Markets, Travers Smith
Tim specialises in financial services law and regulation, in particular in the alternative asset management sector. He acts for a wide variety of retail and wholesale financial services institutions. As well as alternative asset managers, his clients also include traditional asset managers, trading venues, payment systems operators, payment institutions, banks, brokers and institutional investors.
Tim is Chair of the BVCA Regulatory Committee.
Johanna Lottman
Partner and European Head of Private Capital Solutions Group, PJT Park Hill
Johanna is a Partner and European Head of PJT Park Hill’s Private Capital Solutions (PCS) Group. In her role, Johanna has advised financial sponsors on some of the most innovative GP-led secondary transactions and structured liquidity solutions in Europe, plus advised many of the largest limited partners globally on the sale of LP fund interests.
Prior to joining PJT Park Hill in 2020, Johanna was with Lazard in London, most recently leading their secondary advisory activities for Europe.
Paul McCartney
Head of International Tax, Apollo
Paul is Head of International Tax at Apollo.
Before joining Apollo in 2021, Paul spent 20 years as a tax advisor, becoming a partner at KPMG and then latterly moving to be a partner at EY where his practice focused on alternative funds.
Merrick McKay
Head of Private Equity, Patria Global Private Markets Solutions
Merrick is Head of Private Equity at Patria (formerly abrdn Private Equity). Merrick is an Advisory Board member of numerous funds and a member of the Invest Europe Limited Partners Council.
Having spent over 30 years in the European private equity industry, Merrick has significant experience as an LP, GP, corporate financier and service provider.
His previous roles include: Head of European Investments in Macquarie’s Private Markets division (now Roc Partners); 13 years as a Partner and Investment Committee member of Primary Capital (the London-based, lower mid-market private equity firm) where he was responsible for leading, originating and managing numerous private equity investments in the UK; and 5 years in lead MBO and M&A advisory services.
Stuart Medlen
Managing Director and European Credit COO, Carlyle
Stuart is a Managing Director and European Credit COO at Carlyle.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Stuart was a Managing Director at Alcentra Ltd where he ran the Global Operations team. Stuart spent 18 years at Alcentra, and prior to that worked for JP Morgan in Structured Finance for 4 years.
John Morgan
Partner and General Counsel, Pantheon
John is a Partner and General Counsel at Pantheon, with responsibility for the firm’s Legal and Compliance teams globally.
He has been at Pantheon since 2005, before which he worked at US law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and UK law firm Linklaters.
Tara Newbery
Managing Director and Head of Legal and Regulatory, Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions
Tara is a Managing Director and Head of Legal and Regulatory at Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions for EMEA and APAC.
Immediately prior to joining BOWS in June 2023, Tara was Head of Legal for Northern Trust Asset Management (EMEA) and prior to that was Head of Legal for PGIM Investments, she also held legal positions in her earlier career at Pinebridge and Legg Mason.
Tara has a wealth of experience in asset management with a focus on advising businesses launching product for the wealth management sector. Her experience spans both alternatives and traditional assets.
Will Normand
Partner and Acting Head of Asset Management, Travers Smith
Will supports asset managers on a wide range of products with a particular focus on structures aimed at European wealth managers, private banks and retail clients.
Will's practice is focused on products that are designed to diversify a manager's investor base, including structuring both open and closed ended European domiciled funds specifically targeted at wealth managers and private banks. He has been heavily involved in industry efforts to reform the ELTIF structure and has advised Brookfield and Alpinvest on the launch of such products under the revised rules.
He is also recognised as one of the leading lawyers for UK investment trusts that focus on alternatives strategies.
Michael Raymond
Partner, Travers Smith
Michael has a broad financial services regulatory practice. He advises financial markets participants, including some of the world's largest multi-strategy alternative investment managers, on all aspects of law and regulation impacting their businesses, helping them to find effective and pragmatic ways to navigate a complex and ever-changing domestic and international regulatory framework.
He is a regular contributor to industry trade associations, with a particular focus on issues impacting private equity and credit fund managers.
Danny Riding
Partner, Travers Smith
Danny has been advising financial market participants on the legal, practical and regulatory requirements affecting their businesses since 2014. He has particular experience of working with UK, EU and non-EU alternative asset managers.
In 2021, Danny was the outright winner of the Lexology Client Choice Award for Private Funds (UK) and is recommended in Who’s Who Legal, 2024 for Private Funds: Regulatory.
Elena Rowlands
Partner, Travers Smith
Elena specialises in the taxation of asset managers, investment funds and their investors.
She advises on the structuring and formation of private and listed alternative investment funds, remuneration structures including carried interest and co-investment arrangements, liquidity solutions including GP and LP-led secondary transactions as well as advising asset managers on complex tax issues affecting their businesses from tax authority enquiries and investigations to restructurings, succession planning and management spin-outs.
Elena is a member of the Alternative Credit Council Tax Committee and a member of the Income Tax Sub-Committee of the Law Society. She is regularly involved in discussions with HMRC and HM Treasury on the enactment of complex new legislation. Elena also writes for leading tax publications and is regularly invited to speak at conferences.
Kate Simpson
Managing Director, Legal, Glendower Capital
Kate is Managing Director, Legal at Glendower Capital, responsible for overseeing legal aspects of transaction structuring and execution.
Previously, Kate was General Counsel at Campbell Lutyens and a partner in the private funds group at both Proskauer and Kirkland & Ellis.
Magnus Sjöcrona
Global Head of Risk, Regulatory and Compliance, EQT
Magnus is the Global Head of Risk, Regulatory and Compliance at EQT. In this capacity, he serves as a senior leader within a multi-jurisdictional organization, overseeing all facets of Group risk, regulatory, compliance and governance matters.
Before joining EQT in 2019, Magnus amassed extensive experience at Danske Bank, where he occupied various roles within the legal department, culminating in his tenure as Head of Legal Sweden. Prior to his time at Danske Bank, Magnus honed his expertise at distinguished law firms such as Oreum Advokatbyrå and Linklaters.
Daniel Smith
Partner, Livingbridge
Dan is a Partner at Livingbridge, having joined the firm in 2003.
Dan leads the New Investment team for the Mid-Market fund, is a member of the Investment Committee, and sits on the Management Board which is responsible for the strategy of the firm and day-to-day management of the business.
In his time in the New Investment team, Dan has led on a broad range of investments spanning the travel industry, ticket distribution and software. This has included investments in Enigma Group, On the Beach, Travel Jigsaw, Sykes Cottages and Direct Ferries & loveholidays. He currently holds Non-Executive Director roles at Imagesound, loveholidays and Venatus.
Susie Stanford
Partner, Livingbridge
Susie is a Partner at Livingbridge, having joined the firm in 2017.
She is part of the New Investment team and leads the Consumer sector. She has been involved in numerous investments of Livingbridge's current portfolio; these include loveholidays, Helping Hands, Sykes Cottages II, Fresh Tandartsen and Wob.
Prior to Livingbridge, Susie spent four years at two different private investment groups, most recently working for the Private Equity Team of the family office of fashion retailer River Island. She began her career at Goldman Sachs where she spent six years.
Simon Witney
Senior Consultant, Travers Smith
Simon is a senior consultant and chairs Travers Smith's ESG and Impact Group. Simon has particular expertise in sustainable finance and corporate governance, especially in the private markets.
Simon has previously been a member of the BVCA Council, was chair of the BVCA’s Legal and Accounting Committee between 2010 and 2016, and has also chaired Invest Europe’s Tax, Legal and Regulatory Committee. He is now a member of the BVCA's Accounting, Reporting and Governance Committee, the Policy Committee of UKSIF (the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association) and the ESG Committee of the City of London Law Society (CLLS).
In addition, Simon is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor in Practice in the Law School at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also teaches on the LLM programme. Simon's book, Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment in Private Equity, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021.
Seda Yalçınkaya
Partner and General Counsel, Apollo
Seda is General Counsel – International at Apollo. She joined Apollo in 2019 as European General Counsel.
From 2011-2019, Seda was the General Counsel, EMEA at Silver Lake. Prior to joining Silver Lake in 2011, Seda was a Director and Deputy General Counsel at Citi Capital Advisors, where she acted as General Counsel to Citi Venture Capital International, the emerging markets private equity business of Citi, and prior to that, the Deputy Head of M&A Legal for Citigroup, in which role she advised senior management on proprietary M&A transactions.
Prior to joining Citigroup, Seda was a corporate associate at the New York and London offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, focusing on M&A, private equity and leveraged finance transactions.
Will Yates
Partner, Travers Smith
Will is a senior private equity lawyer with deep experience advising on leveraged buyouts, bolt-on acquisitions, co-investments, minority deals, recapitalisations, reorganisations and restructurings.
Will is recommended for private equity in the UK by The Legal 500 2018 and has been recognised as a Private Equity "Rising Star" and one of "the next generation of City private equity talent" by Law.com.
