Atlantic-Pacific hires Citi fundraiser

Atlantic-Pacific Capital has named private equity veteran John Crocker as a partner in the firm’s private funds business.  
 
In his new role, Crocker will be responsible for marketing private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds in Australia and New Zealand, the region he has worked in as an investment manager and placement advisor for the last decade. He will be based in Atlantic-Pacific’s New York office.

Crocker joins Atlantic-Pacific from Citi’s private funds group, where he held a leadership role in deal origination, project management and distribution. During his five years at Citi, Crocker represented 37 different funds, aggregating to nearly $52 billion in capital commitments.

“John is one of the pioneers in our industry and has a very unique skill-set because he has been an LP, GP, consultant and a placement agent advisor,” said Victor Manuel, partner at Atlantic-Pacific.  
 
Australia and New Zealand have become active in private equity, and both countries have a “handful of funds” currently in fundraising, Manuel said. Superannuation plans and insurance companies in those countries will continue making “healthy allocations” to private equity, he added.

Crocker, who has committed capital to over 100 funds, has more than 20 years experience working in alternative investments. He has sponsored the establishment of new limited partnerships as a GP and assisted in raising capital from institutional investors from all over the world. Prior to working at Citi, he was a partner at Capital Z Investment Partners, a sponsor of alternative investment managers with $2.5 billion of assets under management. He was also a partner in Credit Suisse’s fund of funds, the customized fund investment group.

“Fundraising will continue to be challenging going forward,” Crocker said. “Even those sponsors with in-house capabilities will need to hire advisors to effectively build a diversified and global investor base.”

In April, Atlantic-Pacific hired Mohammad Almojel as a principal on its private funds team. Almojel leads marketing and sourcing efforts for private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds in the Middle East.  Almojel’s hire came roughly two months after Atlantic-Pacific placement agent Magnus Christensson left the firm to run European activities at the fundraising group within investment bank Jefferies. Crocker’s hire is unrelated to Christensson’s departure, as Christensson was in charge of European activities at Atlantic-Pacific during his nearly eight years at the firm.