Morgan Stanley AIP hires former Wilshire director

Erin Sarret

Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners has hired former Wilshire Private Markets director Erin Sarret as a vice president based in London responsible for European client relationships.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Sarett worked with Wilshire in Amsterdam. Before that, she worked for Access Capital Partners in Paris as a marketing director.

Sarret also has held positions with Nixon Peabody's private equity practice as a European business development consultant and Triago as a partner and general counsel.

Morgan Stanley's private equity fund of funds business, part of the AIP group, lost a portfolio manager, Karl Beinkampen, in August after he left the firm for unexplained reasons. Beinkempen had been with Morgan Stanley since 1994.

The fund of funds team consists of 30 investment professionals, including five portfolio managers. The team is led by Tom Dorr, who also serves as chief investment officer. Dorr took over in May for Cory Pulfrey, who stepped down from leading the private equity fund of funds group to serve as senior advisor to Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which houses the Alternative Investment Partners group.

The private equity fund of funds in April raised $1.14 billion for its fourth fund of funds, a 15 percent increase over its third fund of funds, which closed on $1 billion in 2006.

In May, Morgan Stanley combined Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management's Greystone Research with AIP, to be headed by Jacques Chappius. The combined units manage about $20 billion in assets.