Alternative fund of funds manager Private Advisors has announced the appointment of three managing directors to its London-based business, Private Advisors UK, as it continues to strengthe

Alternative fund of funds manager Private Advisors has announced the appointment of three managing directors to its London-based business, Private Advisors UK, as it continues to strengthen its global private equity and hedge fund investment capabilities.

Matthew Baker, Jennifer Buckley and Rickard Fischerstrom all bring extensive investment experience to the Private Advisors UK team, which has been headed since last July by Jens Bisgaard-Frantzen, the former chief executive and managing partner of ATP Private Equity Partners.

Buckley spent eight years with GE Equity in London, where she was the head of the private equity group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and oversaw the team responsible for commitments to private equity funds and co-investments.

She previously spent two years with Goldman Sachs in fixed income capital markets. At Private Advisors, Buckley is responsible for private equity manager sourcing, due diligence and monitoring, and portfolio construction.

Baker also joins from ATP Private Equity Partners, where he was responsible for all legal and tax affairs including negotiating terms and conditions governing portfolio funds, commercial due diligence, and liaising with tax advisors. At Private Advisors he is responsible for private equity manager selection and monitoring, due diligence, and oversight of legal and tax affairs.

Fischerstrom is in charge of European business development and investor relations, having previously held a similar role at Lazard Asset Management with responsibility for both alternative and traditional investment.

He earlier headed European institutional business development and client service for the fund of funds and single-manager hedge fund businesses at UBS O'Connor, part of UBS Global Asset Management's alternative and quantitative investments group.

'I am delighted to welcome these highly regarded and extremely experienced investment professionals to the team,' says Bisgaard-Frantzen, chief executive of Private Advisors UK. 'Jennifer Buckley and Matthew Baker are having an immediate impact on the quality and depth of our investment processes, and Rickard Fischerstrom is reaching out to European investors and raising awareness of Private Advisors outside of the US.'

'The current challenging market conditions complement Private Advisors' long-standing focus on small and middle-market partnerships. This space requires an extremely rigorous and thorough approach to manager sourcing and selection, and Matthew and Jennifer bring the experience and skills required to implement this strategy on a global basis for Private Advisors and its investors.'

Established in 1997, Private Advisors is an independent alternative investment firm that focuses on the management of private equity and hedge fund investments for a primarily institutional investor base. Its areas of expertise include North American, European, and global private equity investments, with a particular focus on lower-middle and middle-market buyout partnerships.

The group's hedge fund capabilities include investing in credit-oriented strategies including distressed, direct lending and other asset-backed strategies, as well as in long/short equity, focusing on fundamental and value-oriented strategies and managers and avoiding highly leveraged approaches. Private Advisors had 61 employees, including 32 professionals, and managed total assets of some USD3.8bn at the beginning of this year.