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People: December 2001

Anson replaces Szente at Calpers, NAPF director general steps down and KPMG boosts London private equity team...

• Calpers has named Mark Anson as the replacement for CIO Daniel Szente who resigned last month. Anson, a former senior investment officer at Calpers, will now take up his role as chief investment officer.
• David Cranston announced that he will step down after 18 months as director general of the National Association of Pension Funds. Jenny Rosser, managing director of the BA pension schemes, will be the interim replacement for the position.
• KPMG Corporate Finance has strengthened its private equity team with the appointment of Michael McDonagh to lead the London outfit alongside European head, Charles Milner. McDonagh was previously at Grant Thornton before joining KPMG in 2000.
• Tim Parker, chief executive of shoe brand Clarks, has joined emerging market specialists CDC Capital partners as a non-executive director. He replaces Pen Kent, who is retiring.
• Conservative MP Ian Taylor has been appointed managing director of Interregnum's corporate venturing division. Taylor is the MP for Esher and Walton and has been a non-executive director of Interregnum since October 2000.
• SEB Merchant Banking has added Andrea Szekelyi and Mårten Sennerup to its acquisition finance and mezzanine team in Frankfurt. Sennerup has transferred from SEB Merchant Banking in Stockholm and Szekelyi joins from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's acquisition finance team.
• William Randle has left Huntington Bancshares where he was executive vice-president, to form the new technology venture capital firm WMR e-ventures.
• US private equity firm Generation Partners has appointed Peter Campbell as a partner to focus on deal origination and working with portfolio companies. Before joining Generation Partners as entrepreneur-in-residence, Campbell spent eight years at Colgate-Palmolive.
• KPMG Transaction Services has geared itself up for a jump in restructuring activity in Germany by relocating two partners and 18 managers from its London office. The two partners to move are Stephen Smith and Maggie Morrissey.
• Bank of Scotland has appointed Kendal Milne a director of structured finance and head of the Southampton office to replace Alan Butterfield who has taken a position in the Sydney office. Milne has worked for Bank of Scotland for more than 25 years.
• Calpers announced the internal promotion of two members of its alternative investment team. Leon Shahinian has been promoted to senior principal investment officer and Joncarlo Mark to portfolio manager.
• Paris-based Sofinnova Partners has announced that Delphine Eyraud, co-founder of First Tuesday, will join the firm as vice president of corporate development from the beginning of January 2002. She will be responsible for developing the partnership's network in France and Europe.
• Global private equity firm Apax Partners has strengthened its French team, hiring five new associates in different sectors of its business. Bruno Candelier and Guillaume-Olivier Dore are joining the leveraged buy-out team. Olivier Morali and Alexandre Scherer are joining the biotechnology and healthcare team. Thomas de Villeneuve is joining the media team.
• Pegasus Venture Capital has opened an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Pegasus managing director and general partner Dirk Donath will co-manage the Brazilian offices with Richard Gluzman. Both will be supported by a local team. 
• US investment specialist Wilshire Associates has announced the appointment of Derek Minno as managing director of its private markets group, the unit that invests in private equity funds. He will be responsible for sourcing and conducting due diligence on investments.
• Everett Cox, general partner of Minneapolis firm St. Paul Venture Capital, announced his retirement from the firm effective from 30 January.
• DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank, has appointed Bill Burgess to the role of managing director of its venture capital unit, DB Capital Venture Partners. Burgess has a long track record in investment banking, including 14 years with Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust and Alex Brown. He will be based in the firm's Boston Office.
• Adrienne Gaines has left private equity advisory firm Pacific Corporate Group to join Los Angeles investment firm The Yucaipa Companies. Gaines will work on the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund.
• Jeffrey Stevenson, head of Veronis Suhler's private equity arm VS&A Communications Partners, has been promoted to partner and co-chief executive officer of Veronis Suhler. The firm also announced its name change to Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
• Ross Gatlin, founding principal of Dallas-based Carlyle Management Group, has joined TenX Capital Partners as managing director. He will focus on turnaround opportunities with new economy companies.
• Thayer Capital has named Donald Fites, former chairman and chief executive of Caterpillar, to its board of advisors. Fites will advise the firm's growth manufacturing investment activities and will serve on the boards of directors of some Thayer Capital portfolio companies.
• Erica Bushner resigned from her position as a managing director in the private markets group of Wilshire Associates. Bushner spent five years at Wilshire after 18 years at the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement system.
• Massachusetts-based Polaris Venture Partners announced the promotion of Dave Barrett, Robert Metcalfe and Christoph Westphal to general partner. Barrett and Metcalfe were previously venture partners at the firm and Westphal was a principal.
• Law firm Baker & McKenzie has hired investment banker Lutz Zimmer from WestLB Panmure to join the firms Munich office. Zimmer will join as a partner and will advise on private equity and mergers and acquisitions issues.