Cresset Partners, a private investment firm headquartered in Chicago, has appointed industry veteran Kevin O’Donnell to the position of executive managing director of its Private Funds Group, encompassing private equity, private credit, and venture capital, the company announced.
“I am thrilled to join a firm with such an experienced, deep bench of talent in the private markets space,” O’Donnell said in a prepared statement. “Cresset’s growth in the past five years is inspiring, and its private investing platform is quite remarkable.”
In his new role, O’Donnell will lead Cresset’s platform for global private investing in external funds, co-investments, and related opportunities, in partnership with leading third-party private asset managers.
O’Donnell’s financial services career spans more than two decades of experience launching and scaling private market investment portfolios for large institutional investors and high-performing teams. He most recently served as head of private equity with the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, where he led an $80 billion global private markets investment program.
O’Donnell received a bachelor’s degree in commerce, business and economics from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, and a M.B.A. degree in finance and investments from Harvard Business School.
“Kevin brings extensive experience managing the private market investment portfolios for some of the most significant and sophisticated institutional investors in the world,” Cresset Co-Founder and Co-Chairman Avy Stein said in the news release. “We are honored to have him join the Cresset team.”
Founded in 2018, Cresset Partners has more than $2.4 billion in commitments across real estate, private equity, private credit, and venture capital.