Leadership

COFRA Names Jens Brenninkmeyer CEO Of Bregal Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

COFRA Holding AG announced it has appointed Jens Brenninkmeyer as chief executive officer of Bregal Investments, with the leadership change set to take effect Feb. 1, 2026. The company said the appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

Tocvan Appoints Anna Ladd-Kruger To Board And Grants 300,000 Stock Options

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Tocvan Ventures has appointed mining executive Anna Ladd-Kruger as an independent director, effective January 14, 2026, adding a board member with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning finance, capital markets, M&A and governance across multiple mining jurisdictions.

Cowbell: Simon Hughes Named As Chief Commercial Officer As It Pushes Next Phase of Global Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Cowbell has appointed Simon Hughes as chief commercial officer, elevating the executive who built the company’s U.K. operation to oversee worldwide commercial strategy as the cyber and specialty insurer targets its next growth cycle.

Sonesta Names Keith Pierce And Jeff Leer Co-CEOs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Sonesta International Hotels announced it has appointed Keith Pierce and Jeff Leer as co-chief executive officers, effective April 1, 2026, as the company prepares for the retirement of current CEO John Murray at the end of March.

House Of Vanderbilt Adds Impact Partners Co-Founders Jonathan Zaback And Jay Kolbe To Advisory Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

House of Vanderbilt, known as the first official family office of the Vanderbilt family, has appointed Impact Partners co-founders Jonathan Zaback and Jay Kolbe to its advisory board as the organization seeks to broaden its strategic reach across communications, reputation leadership, and the family office ecosystem.

Govini Names JulieAnne Evanina As CMO And Taps Crystal Benton Burnett As SVP of Communications

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Govini announced it has appointed JulieAnne Evanina as chief marketing officer and Crystal Benton Burnett as senior vice president of communications, adding senior marketing and public affairs leadership as the defense acquisition software company looks to expand its brand and external engagement.

PolyAI Names Ryan Longfield President Of Go-to-Market As Enterprises Move Agentic AI Into Production

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

PolyAI, an enterprise agentic AI company focused on customer experience, has appointed Ryan Longfield as President of Go-to-Market, a newly created role that expands the company’s senior leadership as it scales commercial operations amid rising enterprise demand for production-grade AI agents.

WRITER Names Mina Alaghband As First Chief Customer Officer To Scale Enterprise Agentic AI Adoption

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

WRITER has appointed Mina Alaghband as its first Chief Customer Officer, bringing on a veteran of large-scale digital and AI transformation programs to lead global customer operations as enterprise demand grows for agentic platforms that can deliver measurable ROI at scale.

Dentons: Soline Louvigny Added As Partner In Paris

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Dentons has expanded its Paris Banking & Finance offering with the addition of Soline Louvigny as a partner focused on debt capital markets, alongside the arrival of associate Alicia Ghislain. The firm said the hires deepen its capital markets capabilities in France and further support the buildout of its integrated European platform, complementing established DCM teams across Europe, the U.S., the U.K. and other major financial centers.

White & Case Adds Ed Sheremeta as Real Estate Partner in Tokyo

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

White & Case has hired Eduard (Ed) Sheremeta as a partner in Tokyo, expanding the firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice as well as its Global Real Estate Industry Group and Global Private Capital Industry Group.

iCapital Appoints Gary Gallagher As President To Lead U.S. Go-to-Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

iCapital, a fintech company focused on alternative investments and other non-traditional products for wealth managers and advisors, has appointed wealth-management executive Gary Gallagher as president, reporting to Chairman and CEO Lawrence Calcano.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems Adds Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel To Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has appointed Stephane Bancel, the chief executive officer of Moderna, to its board of directors as an independent member, adding a life sciences and scale-up veteran as the fusion company pushes toward commercialization.

Duck Creek Technologies Names Jose Lazares Chief Product Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Duck Creek Technologies has appointed enterprise software and AI product executive Jose Lazares as chief product officer, tasking him with leading the company’s global product organization and advancing its AI-driven product strategy across Duck Creek’s cloud platform.

Dentons Canada Adds Martin Abadi And Raymond Ashurov To Expand Cross-Border Regulatory And Transportation Practice

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Dentons Canada has expanded its cross-border regulatory and transportation bench with the additions of partner Martin Abadi and counsel Raymond Ashurov, strengthening the firm’s ability to advise clients navigating complex transport, mobility and trade-related rules across jurisdictions.

Advance Auto Parts Names Richard A. Johnson To Board of Directors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Advance Auto Parts has appointed retail veteran Richard “Dick” A. Johnson as an independent director, adding a former Foot Locker chief executive with decades of store-operations leadership to the automotive aftermarket chain’s board.

Baker McKenzie Hires Sarah West as Dispute Resolution Partner in London

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Baker McKenzie has hired Sarah West as a partner in its Dispute Resolution team in London, adding senior capability focused on technology regulation and contentious work.

Dentons Adds Hospitality Finance Partner Maria Hera In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Dentons has hired real estate finance lawyer Maria Hera as a partner in its Hospitality and Leisure practice, based in New York, as the firm continues to build out its hospitality finance capabilities amid steady demand for large, complex transactions.

Mozilla Names Amy Keating Chief Business Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2026

Mozilla has appointed Amy Keating as chief business officer, tasking the former Mozilla executive with helping the organization align its mission-driven portfolio with long-term financial sustainability as it expands efforts to build what it calls an open, trustworthy alternative to today’s increasingly closed and concentrated AI ecosystem.

C3 Integrated Solutions Aligns Leadership To Support Next Phase of Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2026

C3 Integrated Solutions has made two leadership moves it says will support its next phase of growth as the U.S. Department of Defense advances phased enforcement of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) framework.

Dentons Adds Montréal Restructuring Partner Eric Stachecki

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2026

Dentons has expanded its Canadian restructuring bench with the addition of Montréal-based partner Eric Stachecki, strengthening the firm’s Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy group amid continued demand for turnaround and creditor-side advisory work.

LPL Financial Names Ilan Davidovici As EVP Of Corporate Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2026

LPL Financial announced that Ilan Davidovici has joined the firm as executive vice president of corporate strategy, a newly announced role in which he will lead the company’s corporate strategy team and work across the organization to set long-term direction and strategic priorities.

Hightower Names Bob Lavigne As Chief Compliance Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2026

Hightower Advisors has appointed veteran compliance executive Bob Lavigne as Chief Compliance Officer for Hightower Holdings, tasking him with leading the firm’s enterprise-wide compliance program, regulatory strategy, and risk governance across its national network of advisory practices.

Villanova University Elects 4 New Members To Board of Trustees

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Villanova University announced it has elected four new members to its Board of Trustees, adding The Very Rev. Barnaby Johns, OSA, Kristin E. Reed, David K. “Duke” Reyes and Robert F. Tyson to the University’s 38-member governing board. The appointments took effect Jan. 1.

AppYea: Ben Harris Named As CTO And Director

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

AppYea announced it has appointed Ben Harris as chief technology officer and added him to the company’s board of directors, a move the company says is intended to tighten accountability for technology delivery as it shifts toward “institutional-grade” blockchain deployments in regulated markets.

Clifford Chance Rehires Matthias Kerbusch To Expand Luxembourg Funds Practice

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Clifford Chance announced that Matthias Kerbusch has joined its Luxembourg office, adding to the firm’s funds bench as it continues to build out its global private capital offering.

Inflexion: John DiGiovanni Named As Head Of Healthcare

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Inflexion has appointed John DiGiovanni as Head of Healthcare, adding senior sector leadership as the European mid-market private equity firm continues to build its healthcare investing capabilities. DiGiovanni will work closely with Andy Neville, a Partner on Inflexion’s Healthcare team who has served as interim head in the lead-up to the appointment.

Alvarez & Marsal: Tom Parkinson Named As Managing Director In London to Bolster Private Equity Carve-Out Work

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has appointed Tom Parkinson as a Managing Director in its Private Equity Performance Improvement (PEPI) practice, based in London, as the firm continues to build out its European capabilities supporting private equity clients on complex carve-outs and integrations.

IK Partners Promotes Five To Partner And Takes On Advisory Role For Wendel’s Direct Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

IK Partners, a European private equity firm, announced it has strengthened its leadership team by promoting five professionals to Partner across its Paris and Amsterdam offices, while also formalizing a new advisory arrangement with majority shareholder Wendel that will see IK support Wendel’s direct private investment activities through a newly established unit.

Meta Names Dina Powell McCormick President And Vice Chairman

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Meta announced Dina Powell McCormick is joining the company as President and Vice Chairman, expanding the responsibilities she held while serving on the company’s board as Meta ramps up large-scale investments tied to its AI and next-generation computing ambitions.

DLA Piper Appoints Russel Drew As Canada Managing Partner

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

DLA Piper has named Russel (Russ) Drew as its managing partner in Canada, expanding his leadership responsibilities as the firm looks to deepen its presence in the country and strengthen cross-border client support.