The private capital consulting team at William Blair has expanded into Europe with the recent arrival of two senior hires who will be concentrating on fund placement and consulting.

Tom Lewis has joined William Blair as managing director in London, while Silke Wood has been appointed a director in Zurich.

Lewis joins William Blair with over 15 years of experience, having previously worked as executive director for Moelis & Company’s private funds group and managed EMEA investor coverage.

Before joining Moelis, Lewis worked for Schroders, Elm Capital Associates, and Quest Fund Placement, where he handled institutional clients in the United Kingdom, France, and the Middle East.

He also formerly worked on the investment banking team at Barclays and earned a B.S. degree from the University of Bristol and is a chartered accountant.

Moreover, Wood has worked in private equity, credit, and real asset strategies throughout her 15 years in Europe and the Middle East, mostly focusing on investor relations.

Her most recent position was director of investor relations at Endeavour Vision. In addition to that, she held the positions of global head of consultant coverage at Tikehau Capital and head of sales for the UK and Nordics.

Prior to joining Tikehau, Wood worked at Schroders and Foresight Group in senior investor coverage positions. She is a certified public accountant who graduated with a Master of Science from the University of Bristol.

Jerome Wallace and Brian Williams, co-heads of private capital advisory at William Blair both stated: “The addition of Tom and Silke signals an important milestone in the growth of William Blair’s Private Capital Advisory group—the establishment of a dedicated presence in the European market and full investor coverage of Europe and the Middle East. Tom and Silke bring a depth of experience advising financial sponsors and raising capital from institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East across private equity, credit, and real asset strategies. We are thrilled to welcome them to the team.” 

“Together with Silke, I am thrilled to be joining William Blair’s Private Capital Advisory team and to launch our presence in Europe,” Lewis added. “Partnering with such a well-respected team as part of a firm with a reputation for providing unique and sophisticated advice to financial sponsors, I’m excited to build on the momentum of our platform to provide our clients with industry-leading solutions through an integrated model.”

Established in 2022, William Blair’s private capital advisory now employs close to 40 specialists over seven offices in the US and Europe.

Co-heads Brian Williams, Jerome Wallace, and Mike Custar oversee the group.