The reason it is noteworthy is because succession planning has crept up the agenda. Investors want to know what the plan is for founders that have been in situ for ages. Good corporate governance also demands a plan be made to address the question of what happens should the founder be hit by the proverbial bus. In response to these dynamics, we see change and successors being groomed.
 
Europa Capital – like Benson Elliot a London-based pan-European firm – is a prime example of the trend. Established way back in 1995, it was only a few months ago that the three founders – Noel Manns, Charles Graham and Peter Cluff – sold out and shipped off. The present-day Europa leadership looks very different now. Meanwhile, Orion Capital Managers seems to be putting some succession plans into place as well. Aref Lahham, Van Stults, and Bruce Bossom have been running the company since 1999 but at the end of March it was reported Stults and Bossom were reducing their holdings as the company looked to increase the partnership to seven over the next five years.

Meanwhile, Tristan Capital Partners where Ric Lewis has been in charge since the early 2000s (when it was called Curzon) has put a plan in place. Recently, Lewis gave a great TED-style talk at a private equity event where yours truly put to him a few questions including the succession one. His answer was along the lines of ‘Yes, investors ask about it, no I am not going any time soon, but yes we have a succession plan in place.’ Lewis declined to comment when I asked rhetorically if that meant Ian Laming, Tristan’s chief operating officer.
 
What about the other firms with longstanding leadership in Europe? At some point, Leon Bressler will step back from Aermont (formerly Perella Weinberg Partners). Outside of these firms there are plenty of US companies with heads of Europe that have been in situ for a long time; Roger Orf at Apollo, Pete Reilly at JPMorgan, Bill Benjamin at Ares (formerly Area Property Partners), Olivier Brahin at Lone Star – the list goes on.
 
My hunch is that within five years there will be a change of the guard at these shops. Coming back to Benson Elliot, my perception is the company is slightly different to others in that succession was decided upon the company’s inception. I seem to recall meeting Mogull at his office shortly after he formed the firm. He told me how much attention he had paid to structuring the company. Barrigan was a co-founder and was identified from the start as Mogull’s successor. In case you don’t know her, she is a consummate professional, ex-Goldman Sachs, and younger than Mogull (though he seems fitter than ever and in good health).
 
In a way, the timing of announcing succession is linked to fundraising. The firm is in between fundraising but the present fund is 70% invested, which means the next one will have to be launched soon. By the way, it is important to note Mogull is becoming executive chairman and CIO, so he is not going anywhere yet.

Rightly, Barrigan is regarded as a thought leader in European private equity real estate, but she is also an ambassador for females in a male-dominated industry. She grew up in Paris where her father worked for IBM and received a sport scholarship at a US college where she demonstrated her ability to juggle sport with academics thanks to a strong work ethic.

And here’s a clue as to the genes she inherited. One day, her father was called in to kindergarten where he was told to stop dressing his daughter in dungarees. If she keeps on like this, she might end up a PE teacher, he was warned. Her headstrong father told the school in no uncertain terms his daughter would continue to wear dungarees as they were more comfortable especially as everyone played in the sandpit. He also said, ‘and if she wants to be a PE teacher, so be it!’