The Hardest Job in PE: Getting Talent Right (Privcap interview)

Sept. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- If the mantra in real estate is location, location, location, in private equity it’s people, people, people. Indeed, nothing is more important to the success of a private equity investment than talented management. But human capital is also one of the hardest ingredients to get right.

In the first of a ground-breaking video series, Robert Nolan, Managing Partner at Halyard Capital, John Brittain, CFO Partner at Tatum, and Lewis Raibley, Senior Managing Director of portfolio operations at Castle Harlan discuss the key traits they look for in portfolio company executives, which include adaptability, flexibility and the willingness to recognize limitations. The three industry veterans also share stories of deals in which it was necessary to replace key executives.

This program is sponsored by Tatum.

View the full video here - http://www.privcap.com/programs/168-talent-for-change

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s2tBOn_dlk&list=UUQtnDy6BkyGefMdZihB3dbA&index=1&feature=plcp



Lewis Raibley
Senior Manging Director
Castle Harlan
Lewis A. Raibley III is Senior Managing Director – Portfolio Operations of Castle Harlan. Prior to joining Castle Harlan in 2005, Mr. Raibley was chief financial officer of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Before joining the New York Mercantile Exchange, he was controller of Datek Online Holdings Corp., an electronic securities broker, and held several senior financial roles over 14 years at Morgan Stanley in its Asset Management, Corporate and Discover Card Divisions. Mr. Raibley received his B.S. in Accounting from West Chester University in Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. in Finance from Widener University.

Robert Nolan
Managing Partner
Halyard Capital
Robert Nolan is the managing partner of Halyard Capital and chairs the Investment Committee for the two respective funds totaling more than $600 million.  He represents Halyard on the Boards of EducationDynamics, Practice Insight, HCPro Inc., Women’s Marketing, Inc., and Digital Fortress and previously sat on the Boards of American Consolidated Media, Inflow, North Dakota Holdings, and TRANZACT.  From 2001 until January 2006, he was the CEO of the BMO Private Equity Group, overseeing an investment portfolio with $800 million in capital. Previously, he was Managing Director and Head of Media & Telecommunications Investment Banking at CIBC World Markets. Prior to CIBC, Mr. Nolan was Telecommunications Group Head at UBS Securities. He also worked for nine years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the Telecommunications, Media & Technology Group.  Nolan is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C.Bar Associations.  Nolan received a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law and a B.S / B.A. from Georgetown University.

John Brittain
Partner
Tatum
Brittain is a Partner in the New York practice of Tatum.
Brittain has 25 years of Global Fortune 500 public company and IPO experience as a CFO leading change in complex, high growth and transitioning companies across diverse service and technology sectors including the IT services, managed healthcare, property and casualty insurance, wireless telecommunications and retail industries. He has extensive experience in structuring and raising capital, managing investor relations, and meeting SEC public company reporting and governance requirements. Brittain has led and managed major restructuring and cost reduction programs as well as new business initiatives for both domestic and international companies. He specializes in financial leadership for larger public and private equity sponsored companies, including CFO services, capital structure, business planning, restructuring, mergers & acquisition, financial reporting and internal control activities.
Prior to joining Tatum, Brittain was EVP & CFO for Aveta, Inc., $2 billion revenue high growth managed healthcare company where he built a management team and operational infrastructure and completed the SEC registration process for the company’s proposed IPO. Previously, he served as CFO for Quanta Capital Holdings, Ltd; a $600 million, newly formed Bermuda based property and casualty insurance company which he successfully took public for its initial IPO listing on NASDAQ and SEC registration. His background also includes being part of a new turnaround management team as EVP & CFO for American Management Systems, Inc. (AMS), $1.2 billion revenue public IT services company where he successfully led and implemented a major operational restructuring plan and $150 million cost reduction program prior to the company’s sale to CGI.
Before AMS, Brittain acted as CFO for Nextel Communications, Inc., a $7 billion revenue public wireless telecommunications company where he successfully built the financial functions, infrastructure and controls for a high growth company and raised over $16 billion of public capital over a 3 year period. At Nextel he also designed and implemented a cost reduction program which resulted in $300 million of annual savings and enabled the company to maintain its profitability guidance to investors. Brittain commenced his career as a corporate officer at JP Morgan Chase, a global banking and investment banking firm.
Brittain holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, from Tufts University.