LPEQ appoints Graphite FD as chairman

LPEQ has appointed Graphite Capital’s finance director Tim Spence as its new non-executive chairman for a two-year term, according to a statement from the association of listed PE firms.

The new chairman’s priorities will be to engage with potential investors in listed private equity, promote PE as an effective ownership model and raise awareness that PE can “be a powerful driver of returns for longer term investors which can be accessed through the price of a share,” the statement said.

“The listed private equity sector now accounts for around €150 billion of assets and is becoming a mainstream consideration for a diverse set of investors,” Spence said in the statement, adding that today’s strong net asset value growth is demonstrating “the strength of the private equity model”.

Spence has served as an LPEQ board member since 2013 and participated in the formulation of its Investor Reporting Guidelines, the twice-yearly Cashflow Compass survey, and LPEQ’s 8-Step Guide to investing in listed private equity, as well as LPEQ’s responses to regulatory proposals.

Spence succeeds Andrew Lebus, a senior partner at Pantheon Ventures, who leaves the post this month.