PRINT THIS PAGE Weekly People Roundup: 27 February 200827/02/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
All the week's most important people stories from across the globe. Essential reading for those who need to keep up-to-date with the private equity industry's key staff moves. Greenbriar Equity Group, a private equity firm focused on investments in the global transportation industry, has appointed Raynard Benvenuti and Noah Roy as managing directors and Arvind Krishnamurthy as a director. Benvenuti began working with Greenbriar as an advisory director in 2007. He previously served as president and CEO of Stellex Aerostructures. Roy joined Greenbriar from Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he was a managing director and served as head of the aerospace and defence sector within the investment banking division. Krishnamurthy joined Greenbriar from Veritas Capital Management, where he was engaged in private equity investment in the aerospace, defence and government services sectors. Greenbriar manages approximately $1.5bn of capital and co-investment commitments.
CMEA Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on life sciences, high technology, and energy and materials investments, has appointed Michael Melnick, PhD, as a principal in the energy and materials practice. Melnick was most recently chief commercial officer and executive vice president of operations at Assay Designs. Prior to that, he co-founded and was vice president of business and corporate development at Cell Signaling Technology. CMEA's focus on energy and materials has led to six publicly disclosed investments, including A123, cNano, Codexis and Superprotonic.
Avista Capital Partners has hired Gerhard Kurz, a veteran of the offshore energy service and marine transportation industry, as an industry advisor. Kurz was most recently president and CEO of marine support and transportation company Seabulk International, in which the Avista team invested while at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. Kurz joined Seabulk following a career at Mobil Corporation, where most recently he was president of Mobil Shipping and Transportation Company.
Seed and early stage venture firm 5AM Ventures has appointed Richard Ulevitch, PhD, as venture partner. The firm also promoted two of the firm's senior associates, Dr Kevin M Forrest and Dr R Andrew McMillan, to principal. Forrest and McMillan have been with the 5AM team since early 2005. Ulevitch joins 5AM Ventures from The Scripps Research Institute. In addition to serving as chair of the Department of Immunology at Scripps since 1994, he has been chairman of 5AM Ventures' scientific advisory board since the firm was founded in 2002. As venture partner, Ulevitch will identify and review new investment opportunities and also support the firm's existing portfolio companies. 5AM Ventures targets seed and early stage investments in next-generation life science companies.
Paris-based private equity firm Chequers Capital has appointed Axelle Dumousset, Xavier Morin, Xavier Poitevineau and Aurelien Klein as associates. Dumousset and Morin were previously working in the structured finance department of SocGen. Poitevineau was previously with BNP Paribas in the M&A and corporate finance department. Klein was previously working as an M&A executive with Close Brothers and Bank of America.
Highland Capital Partners has hired Harvard Law School professor John Palfrey as a venture executive. Palfrey is an authority on intellectual property in digital media. In his new role he will work with existing companies and help identify new investments in e-commerce, social networking and next-wave internet companies. Palfrey is clinical professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Last year, Highland relocated investors Fergal Mullen and Chuan Thor to Geneva and Shanghai, respectively. In 2007, the firm made seven digital media investments.
Candover Investments has appointed Jamie Paton to lead the firm's expansion efforts in Asia. Initially, Paton will be based in Hong Kong while he is evaluating options in the region. Candover Investments plans to open its first Asian office. Paton's new role will include identifying the potential for Candover Investments to make profitable investments in the Asian market and supporting Candover's existing portfolio companies, according to a statement. Paton previously spent more than seven years in Hong Kong, establishing 3i's North Asian business.
Secondaries direct player Nova Capital Management has appointed Mike Nevin as an investment partner. Nevin will initially be focusing on the Barloworld Scientific Laboratory Group of businesses, acquired from Barloworld Limited in a £75m transaction, the firm said in a statement. The Group designs, manufactures and distributes equipment and consumables for scientific, clinical and industrial laboratory applications. Previously CFO of HI-Tec Sports Group, Nevin started his career with Deloitte and later worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He subsequently joined UBS Private Equity in 2000, where he spent five years as an investment director working on mid-market pan-European transactions. Nova is a specialist acquirer of private equity and corporate portfolios. The firm currently manages investments in 55 businesses, primarily operating in Western Europe and the US, across a broad range of sectors.
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