Private Equity

Jeff Eaton is a member of the Management Committee and leads worldwide origination for Eaton Partners. He primarily manages the consideration and acquisition of new clients across all investment strategies for the firm. Based out of our Houston office, Jeff also manages our energy and real asset businesses. He has a diverse background in energy investments and over 18 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Eaton Partners, he was a Director at Constellation Energy Commodities Group leading principal transactions for their natural gas structuring and trading division.

Jeff graduated from Duke University with degrees in Economics and History, and received his MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. He recently joined the inaugural Board of Visitors for Duke’s new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. He holds Series 7, 63, 57 and 24 licenses with FINRA and is also licensed with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in Europe.

Eric leads Private Equity business development, execution of global fundraising strategy and client management. He has 14 years of alternative investment, capital markets, and financial services experience at Lehman Brothers, Ernst & Young and as an entrepreneur in alternative asset fundraising.

Eric received a B.S. degree with a concentration in Finance and Law, and a minor in Economics from Ithaca College. He is a CAIA Charterholder and holds Series 7, 24, 63, 79 licenses with FINRA.

Peter focuses on fund distribution, monitoring, client servicing and execution of the various alternative funds marketed by the firm. He has over 25 years of diversified management and investment experience, which includes over 20 years of direct private equity funds investment experience. Prior to joining Eaton Partners, he was a Managing Director with Macquarie Funds Management, where he led a team of investment professionals structuring, fundraising and investing fund of funds and separate accounts into global PE opportunities. Previously, he was a Director with Pacific Corporate Group, where he advised large and small institutional investors on structuring and investing their private equity programs. He began his career as an Operations Officer in the United States Navy within the surface warfare community.

Peter received an MBA from Yale University in New Haven, CT and a BS in Oceanography from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI with a concentration in Defense and Strategic Studies. He holds Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses with FINRA.

Michael focuses on advising clients on both the purchase and sale of assets in the secondary market.  Previously, he was a Director and Senior Portfolio Manager in the Private Markets Group at DuPont Capital Management, where he helped to manage the DuPont Pension Trust’s multi-billion dollar alternative assets portfolio, including private equity and real estate investments, as well as the Wilton Private Equity Fund and DCM Private Equity Fund II, two private equity fund-of-funds.

Additionally, Michael was responsible for US and European partnership and secondary investments as well as co-investments, establishing the long-term and tactical investment strategy for the Private Markets Group. He was a member of the Private Markets Group investment committee, which reviewed and approved in excess of $3.5 billion of investments during his tenure, and served on the DCM Fiduciary committee. Previously, Michael was a Vice President in the Private Equity Finance group at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown and an Associate in the investment banking division at Cowen & Company.

Michael received a BA in Finance from Loyola College and an MBA in Finance from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He holds Series 7 and 63 licenses with FINRA.

Chris Lerner is a global Partner and Head of Asia for Eaton where he leads the origination and execution of fundraises, secondaries and strategic advisory. Chris has over 18 years’ experience in private markets investments and investment banking with over $15 billion in completed transactions.

Prior to joining Eaton Partners, he was a Managing Partner for Mercer Street Capital, an independent investment and cross-border strategy consulting firm based in US and China.  Chris began his career with Citigroup and its predecessor firms, Salomon Brothers and Smith Barney. He was the firm’s first investment banking expatriate based in Mainland China and helped established the Asia Pacific Financial Institutions Group. Later, he worked on the corporate buy-side in strategic planning and M&A, including for The Timberland Company where he completed the first four acquisitions in that company’s history.

Under Chris’ leadership, Eaton has been the recipient of numerous industry accolades in Asia including Private Equity International’s fund placement firm of the year for two consecutive years, as well as secondary advisor of the year.

Chris received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Tufts University. He also earned a Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from the College of Foreign Languages in Beijing. He holds Series 24, 7, 63 and 79 licenses with FINRA. Chris is also licensed with the SFC in Hong Kong and registered with the FCA in the United Kingdom.

Bill McLeod, based in Eaton’s San Francisco office, focuses on the origination, underwriting and distribution of private direct and secondary placements as well as the origination of private equity fund business. He also assists with the coordination of business opportunities between the broader Stifel platform and Eaton. Bill began his investment banking career in 1988 and has more than 25 years of experience.

Prior to Eaton Partners, Bill served as Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets at Stifel Financial Corp.  Previously,  Bill was Co-Head of Investment Banking and Head of Capital Markets at Thomas Weisel Partners, which merged with Stifel in 2010.  Prior, he was Co-Head of US Equity Capital Markets at Banc of America Securities in San Francisco and worked in Equity Capital Markets, Investment Banking, and M&A roles with J.P. Morgan in New York.  Bill earned an MBA degree from the University of Chicago and a BBA degree from Southern Methodist University.

Ryan focuses on the distribution of the firm’s private equity, private credit, real asset and real estate fund distribution. He has over 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Eaton Partners, Ryan was Vice President at Dearborn Capital Management, where he was responsible for the distribution of the firm’s alternative investment strategies. Previously, he worked as an analyst at a boutique research firm, where he focused on commodity markets research. Ryan began his career on the equity desk of a proprietary trading firm.

Ryan received his BA in Economics from Indiana University. He is a CAIA Charter Holder and holds Series 7, 22, 31, and 63 licenses with FINRA