Private Equity Professionals

Connection Capital bolsters senior team

Lorraine Homewood has joined the London-based private investment business as client director

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Connection Capital, a London-based private investment business, has expanded its team, appointing Lorraine Homewood as client director, according to a statement from the firm.

Homewood, who originally trained as a pianist, joined the hedge fund industry in the late 1990s at Park Place Capital, Connection said. She has launched funds for ACPI Partners, INVESCO Global, Dawnay Day International and PCE Investors, and has raised more than $1 billion across more than 20 individual fund launches and a number of direct investments on behalf of clients.

According to her LinkedIn page, since November 2010 Homewood has been principal at Homewood Financial, which provides brand marketing, sales advisory and consultancy services to early stage fund businesses.

Connection founding partner Claire Madden said in a statement that Homewood’s “knowledge of the high net worth and family office investor sector in Europe” will be a “valuable contribution” to the firm.

Connection doesn’t have a traditional fund model. Its investors commit capital on a deal by deal basis, via a managed syndicate with LPs being able to invest in units of £25,000 (€34,000; $37,000). Connection currently has over 750 private investors and family office clients, with a combined net worth of more than £7 billion (€9.6 billion; $10.3 billion) and more than £170 million (€234 million; $251 million) of assets under management.

Over the last 12 months Connection clients have invested more than £30 million direct private equity, commercial property and specialist fund investments, the firm said.

In May 2014 Connection agreed to sell its stake in UK fire systems manufacturer Advanced Electronics to London-listed Halma for £14.1 million (€17.3 million; $23.6 million) with potential deferred consideration of up to £10.1 million based on earnings growth to March 2015, PEI reported at the time.

Recent capital allocations include GVC III, UK-based venture growth investor DN Capital’s third fund, which closed on €144 million in September 2014, and 17Capital III, London-based 17Capital’s third secondaries fund, which closed on its €500 million hard-cap in January.