Alex Chaplin
Partner, Co-Head of European Investor Coverage
Alex is a Partner in the London office and focuses on LP coverage in Europe and GP Origination in Private Equity. He was formerly a senior member of the Global Fund Advisory Platform at PwC, and a Principal at BerchWood Partners. Alex started his placement career at MVision Private Equity Advisors. He attended the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and holds a first-class degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Bristol.
Clive Norton
Partner
Clive is a Partner and focuses on Private Equity origination. Clive was formerly a Managing Director at Helix Associates and Co-Head of the Fund of Funds Group at Goldman Sachs covering Europe and Asia. Prior to Goldman Sachs Clive worked in the Private Equity Group at Merrill Lynch.
Grant Davis
Partner, North America Origination
Grant is a Partner specialising in North American Origination. He was previously the Managing Partner of Infra-Energy Capital Advisors and a Managing Director with Tenaska Capital Management. Grant headed the Private Placement and Energy Groups at New York Life Investment Management and earlier in his career held positions with GE Capital and Manufacturers Hanover. He has a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from the Amos Tuck Graduate School at Dartmouth.
Hendrik van Rahden
Partner, Co-Head of European Investor Coverage
Hendrik is a Partner and responsible for distribution in German-speaking Europe as well as GP Origination in Infrastructure and is based in Hamburg, Germany. Prior to joining FIRSTavenue, Hendrik co-founded Beit Capital Advisors, a placement agent focused on real assets. Before Hendrik was a senior business development professional within real assets at MPC Capital AG in Hamburg, where he focused on clients in Europe and Asia. He began his career at Allianz Global Investors in 2008, managing global dynamic multi-asset strategies for institutional clients and key accounts. Hendrik received a BSc (Hons) in Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
Jeff Davis
Partner, Head of Americas & Global Head of Origination
Jeff is a Partner, Head of the Americas and Global Head of Origination, and has over 30 years of financial service experience, of which 21 years have been spent in private funds placement and advisory. He was previously a Partner and Head of North American Origination at Mercury Capital Advisors, and a Partner and Head of Private Credit and Private Equity at FirstPoint Equity Capital. Earlier he was a Partner at Eaton Partners, where he spent sixteen years across origination, project management and distribution. Jeff also had complementary roles earlier in his career as an LP at Capital Dynamics and as a GP at GE Capital (Equity). He has a BS from Brandeis University and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
John Linger
Partner
John is a Partner with over 25 years of experience raising capital for private equity funds. Before joining FIRSTavenue, he was a Managing Director at Prospect Avenue Partners, a boutique placement firm specializing in real assets. Previously, he led business development at Square Mile Capital, Cherokee Investment Partners, and Lehman Brothers’ Real Estate Private Equity Group. John began his career in capital formation at Benedetto Gartland & Greene and later co-founded Atlantic Pacific Capital. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Mike Dunham
Partner
Michael Dunham is a Partner in the New York office, specialising in the distribution of the firm’s products to institutional investors across the U.S. and Canada, including insurance companies, endowments, foundations, corporate pension plans, and multi-family offices. Before joining FIRSTavenue, Mike was a Partner at Mercury Capital Advisors for three years. Prior to that, he spent 16 years as a Partner at Pinnacle Trust Partners, an independent placement and advisory firm focused on alternative investments.
Nick Chronias
Partner, Head of Capital Solutions
Nick is a Partner and Head of Capital Solutions, with over a decade of experience raising private capital for funds and direct investments. Before joining FIRSTavenue, he worked as an independent fundraising adviser and served as Head of Research at Helix Associates. Nick holds a postgraduate degree in Finance from London Business School.
Paul Buckley
CEO & Managing Partner
Paul is FIRSTavenue’s CEO and Managing Partner. Paul founded FIRSTavenue in 2006, bringing over 18 years of expertise in advising GPs within the private funds market. His stewardship has positioned FIRSTavenue as a pioneer in various sectors including private infrastructure, private credit, real estate debt, and energy transition. Prior to founding FIRSTavenue, Paul dedicated his career from 1987 to 2006 to the European capital markets, primarily at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. Throughout this tenure, he covered investors and led coverage groups across all regions of Europe.
Rachel Guan
Partner, Head of Asia
Rachel is a Partner and Head of Asia. Prior to joining FIRSTavenue, she led the offshore marketing and investor relations function at Pinpoint Asset Management. Before that, Rachel worked at China International Capital Corporation in Hong Kong and Beijing, focusing on cross-border investment mandates. Rachel holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BBA with double majors in Finance / Economics and a minor in Mathematics from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Further, Rachel is a CFA® charterholder.
