Ronald Ayles joined Advent in 2005 and is a Managing Partner based in Frankfurt. He acts as an advisor in the German-speaking region and is responsible for Advent’s global chemicals and materials practice. Ronald originally joined Advent in London and moved to the Frankfurt office in 2007. He has advised on 17 investments during his career, 15 while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Ronald worked for 3i in London and Frankfurt, where he established the firm’s chemicals and materials practice. Prior to joining 3i, he spent 10 years at Degussa AG (now EVONIK AG), the German specialty chemicals company.

Ronald holds an MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the WHU Koblenz (Germany), as well as European undergraduate degrees from ESB Reutlingen and the universities of Granada and London. He also trained as an “Industriekaufmann.”

How do you identify interesting companies in your sector of focus?

What drives me is a desire to build better and stronger businesses. I started working in the chemicals industry at a young age and have focused on this industry ever since. It’s a hard industry to invest in as it is a very capital-intensive industry that tends to be cyclical and grows mostly in line with GDP. There are lots of reasons why not to invest. But if you’re an industry insider with deep knowledge of the sector, and you set out with the ambition of thinking creatively about how to build global leaders through market consolidation, there are interesting opportunities also in mature regions as we have proven many times. It doesn’t happen on its own – it’s complex, and you must have a clear vision and invest significant capital and resources as well as patience to make it happen. Most importantly, you need to understand the industry and surround yourself with excellent people and commit to building great businesses for the long-term.

What would you like external stakeholders to say about the experience of working with Advent?

For me, especially in Germany and Continental Europe, it’s all about trust. Germany is a stakeholder economy, so you need to convince not just shareholders but executives, employees, unions, customers, the works council, and the general public. Advent has built a reputation for being good owners of large, important businesses that we established over many years. In the decades I’ve spent working in this industry, I’ve built trusting relationships with many people from the chemical industry who understand and share these values.

What advice would you give to a new hire at Advent to set them up for long-term success?

I would recommend focusing on developing real, in-depth sector focus. There’s lots of capital and competition in our business and you have to be differentiated. You need to see what the bankers and consultants don’t see, and the only way to do that is by being an industry insider.

“I’m driven by creating world-leading businesses and I’m grateful to our investors and my partners for placing their trust in me and our chemical franchise. It’s a huge privilege but also a big responsibility.”

Ronald Ayles
Managing Partner, Advent International
What about your job inspires and drives you?

The power of private equity, when it’s harnessed properly, enables you to work on big industrial transformations that even public companies find hard to do. In my career in the chemical industry I have now worked in a large public company, in Private Equity and in the family business from the German “Mittelstand,” so I know what it means to be responsible for families and for jobs. In Private Equity I am trying to combine the best of these worlds. Personally I’m driven by creating world-leading businesses and I’m grateful to our investors and my partners for placing their trust in me and our chemical franchise. It’s a huge privilege but also a big responsibility.

Who has influenced you the most in your life and why?

There are a couple of people. In my corporate career the head of strategy and several other senior executives trained me over many years and allowed me to take on many very interesting business roles at a very young age. These years never really felt like work, because I was always doing something different and those that I worked with took a very long-term approach to my progression. I owe them a lot because they opened my eyes to how a company really works from the inside. Secondly, I would like to mention John Walker, our former Advent Co-Chair who also came from the chemical industry and worked very hard to hire me into Advent and was a fantastic supporter over many years.

  1. Ronald Ayles is also a deal team member on other transactions where the BOD resides with a Luxembourg entity that is advised by a group of deal professionals and members of management.
  2. BOD resides with a Luxembourg entity that is advised by a group of deal professionals. BOD indirectly nominates 3 out of 5 members of the Shareholders’ Committee of Envalior GmbH (joint venture with LANXESS AG), including Ronald Ayles.
  3. BOD resides with a Luxembourg entity that is advised by a group of deal professionals. BOD nominates 5 out of 7 members of the Supervisory Board of Caldic Holdings BV (joint venture with Wilbur-Ellis), including Ronald Ayles.

Ranjan Sen joined Advent in 2003 and is a Managing Partner in Frankfurt. He acts as an advisor in the German-speaking region. Ranjan is a member of Advent’s Global Culture and Inclusion Committee. He has advised on 36 investments during his career at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Ranjan worked for DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank, where he focused on larger international buyouts with a particular emphasis on German companies. Before that, he spent two years as a Director at UBS Capital, working on mid-market private equity transactions. Earlier in his career, Ranjan spent seven years as a Vice President in the Structured Finance Group of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, specializing in acquisition financings.

Ranjan studied for two years at the European Business School and graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Richmond University in London.

How do you identify interesting companies in your sectors of interest?

Advent is continuously on the lookout for exciting new companies that have the potential to become, with our support, global market leaders. The sourcing process requires experience and also necessitates discipline. It requires Advent to spend significant time in a sector to build deep expertise and conviction and spot opportunities others don’t see. Advent is highly selective and doesn’t chase every lead. We use multiple lenses to identify promising opportunities, assisted by our powerful network of industry advisors and Operating Partners. This is where our wealth of experience as an international organization bears fruit. It’s never about an individual: success is based on collaboration, with every team member contributing to a successful investment, from associates, analysts, and advisors to the partner.

How do you partner?

The beauty of the Advent model is that we have the mandate to develop the best possible proposal for each investment situation. Advent invests a lot of time and resources to craft a compelling investment thesis for each deal situation. Teamwork and having a full alignment of interest with every stakeholder is critical for success. We’re ultimately backing exceptionally talented executives to create lasting value in our portfolio companies. This is the most exciting and challenging part of our role – identifying and supporting talented people, who are able to execute our joint vision. As part of this journey, Advent is committed to help managers become successful entrepreneurs and thereby support their personal and professional development.

What advice would you give to a new hire at Advent to set them up for success?

Advent is all about the strength of the team, rather than having a star on the team. That’s deeply embedded in our DNA. Private equity in general is an apprenticeship game, and as you rise through the ranks at Advent you are expected to develop into a culture carrier. This isn’t a place for big egos.

“The beauty of the Advent model is that we have the mandate to develop the best possible proposal for each investment situation.”

Ranjan Sen
Managing Partner, Advent International
Describe a pivotal experience that has shaped your career?

Early on in my career I started to appreciate that successful organizations will provide you with the opportunity to take on responsibility early on in your career and have a bigger tolerance for mistakes. Advent has such an ethos and acknowledges that mistakes unfortunately happen and are important learning opportunities. That’s an integral part of our culture that comes from the very top. We recruit very talented people here, and they may initially think they’re only measured on performance. That’s not the case. At Advent, you’re also evaluated on how you work within a team and how you deal with challenges.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I love what I do, because of the people I work with and the lack of routine. Every day, I have the chance to work and meet very talented people, who help to broaden my horizons and ultimately, allow us to make better investment decisions. How exciting is that?

Patrice Etlin joined Advent in 1997 and is a Managing Partner in São Paulo. He began the firm’s investment operations in Brazil. Patrice has advised on 28 investments during his career, 26 while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Patrice was a partner at International Venture Partners in São Paulo, where he was responsible for the overall operation of a media and communications fund focused on Brazil. Previously, he was a general representative for Brazil at Matra Marconi Space. Patrice also served for six years as Chairman of the Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LAVCA).

Patrice received an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of São Paulo, a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from École Centrale de Paris, and an MBA from INSEAD.

How have Brazil’s business culture and market conditions impacted your approach?

The privilege we have in Latin America is that there’s far less competition than in more developed markets. Advent has the luxury of being able to create very long-term relationships with owners, entrepreneurs, and families. An opportunity may not arise for 12 or 14 years, but we regularly revisit the prospect and keep up the dialogue, which often results in a proprietary deal flow situation. Because of that, Advent is perceived in Latin America as a resilient player that has been present through good times and bad.

How has working with the wider Advent network helped to improve your outcomes?

We combine our sector expertise with a very deep analysis prior to the deal, complete due diligence with the entrepreneur or owner, and work out the value creation plan and decide on the resources to back it up. That has been our mantra. As Advent evolved, the Portfolio Support Group has stepped up – making resources available to businesses that were often family-owned and never had access to such sophisticated tools. That makes a huge impact.

What golden rules could you pass on to someone joining the firm?

Never believe that an Excel spreadsheet represents the ultimate truth. This is an apprenticeship job that can’t be taught at school: you learn through doing, doing, and doing. You need to be resilient, because you will face conflict and difficult discussions. You are going to experience misalignment with partners, business owners, and CEOs, and you have to keep going with the tools you have. And don’t think you’ll develop the Midas touch overnight – this is analytical work that demands a lot of reading, knowledge building, and acquired experience.

What has brought you the most satisfaction in your Advent career?

There are so many things. It’s a privilege to meet such amazing people, whether they’re entrepreneurs or families who have been in business for decades. Their energy and intelligence is incredible. It’s so fulfilling to build an investment thesis, formalize the business, put in place a value creation plan and implement it, and watch the results. In a country like ours, the social impact can be huge – particularly in terms of employment. Over the years we are proud to have been a big employer in Brazil through our portfolio companies.

Is there any famous figure you’d like to change places with for a day?

I’ve always loved exploration and being in the mountains. The early British expeditions fascinate me – people like George Mallory in the 1920s. So perhaps I’d have liked to swap places with Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first ascent of Everest. That would be extraordinary. At one time, maybe 20 years ago, it was on my own bucket list to climb Everest, but it has become too crowded now!

“We’re perceived in Latin America as a resilient player that has been present through good times and bad.”

Patrice Etlin
Managing Partner, Advent International

Juan Pablo Zucchini joined Advent in 1996 and is a Managing Partner in São Paulo. He originally spent 14 years in the Buenos Aires office, advising mainly on the business & financial services sector across Argentina and Uruguay. Juan Pablo has been based in the São Paulo office since 2007. He has advised on 21 investments during his career at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Juan Pablo spent three years with Perez Companc Group, where he participated in several major Argentine privatization projects, concentrating on the oil and gas, and energy industries.

Juan Pablo received a degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Argentina and an MBA from IAE (Austral University).

What advice would you give to someone joining the firm in Latin America?

Advent has a well-established team, with many years working together in Latin America. This creates a strong culture. We are very passionate about what we do, and are focused on accountability. We do this in a friendly, teamwork-oriented environment, and value good communication and transparency. These are the attributes that work for us.

What are the advantages of having a presence on the ground in Brazil?

We are part of a global company, and we work locally. Advent has been doing private equity for almost 30 years in Latin America, with dedicated funds. Being local is part of our DNA. We speak the language of the region, and we know the context. We have the sensitivity to identify both opportunities and challenges. This continues to be a differentiating factor for us in the region, allowing us to make key timely decisions.

How do you think entrepreneurs and founders view Advent?

Thanks to our long-standing presence in the region, Advent’s brand name is very strong. People view us as part of a global operation, but also see that we have local teams and an ecosystem on the ground. Founders and entrepreneurs realize we bring sector expertise and specialized resources to help build sustainable businesses, develop better strategy, and create more value.

“Latin America can be a complex but fruitful business environment, with a lot of opportunities to unlock value.”

Juan Pablo Zucchini
Managing Partner, Advent International
What continues to inspire you at work?

Latin America can be a complex but fruitful business environment, with a lot of opportunities to unlock value. Over the last three decades, we have created a fantastic franchise, allowing us to transform companies and create better businesses. Doing all of this in a great working environment where individuals can develop their careers and future is very rewarding, and we’re motivated to continue this approach for years to come in Latin America.

Who has influenced you in your life and career?

The search for success (whether in business, family, or friends) will always come with challenges. I have always admired people with a strong sense of resiliency, good sense of humor, and without self-pity to overcome those challenges. I had a family member with those characteristics. I have tried to emulate that. We are always going to have problems, challenges, and bad days at the office. The difference is the attitude we take towards them. Understand what you can (and must) fix and accept what you can’t change.

John Maldonado joined Advent in 2006 and is a Managing Partner, serving as Co-Head of North America. He advises on buyouts in the healthcare and business & financial services sectors. John has advised on 25 investments during his career, 22 while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, John worked in private equity at Bain Capital and Parthenon Capital. He began his career as a Consultant with The Parthenon Group, a leading strategy consulting firm.

John earned a BA, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College and an MBA, with high distinction, as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School.

What drives Advent’s strategic goals?

There’s a good saying that sums this up: shoot for the stars, and even if you miss, you’ll land among the clouds. If you only set your ambitions to target middling-to-good outcomes, you won’t produce a great product for your customers and investors. We’re in the business of doing two things – making investments and cultivating amazing talent. They’re the yin and yang, and they’re symbiotic because great deals are born from great talent, and great talent doesn’t want to shoot for the middle of the fairway. We create a culture that wants to shoot for the stars, and that’s how we keep the best people in our orbit.

What’s special about being part of a privately owned partnership?

Once you go public, the demands that the public shareholders place upon your organization become challenging. You need to deliver growth in earnings per share, and the public markets want you to generate fee-related earnings. The way you do that is by raising more dollars, pure and simple. It doesn’t matter whether the dollar that you raise gets turned into $1.50 or $3; you just have to get more dollars. At Advent, as a privately owned partnership, we have the flexibility to focus on what we do best – building great businesses in collaboration with management teams and founders.

What mistakes have you made in your career, and how did you learn from them?

When I think about investments that didn’t go well, more often than not they came down to the people who were put into a leadership role at a company and were unsuited to what needed to happen at that time. Some of my biggest mistakes came from not recognizing that we’re not all good at all things. We all have spikes and deficiencies in different areas. You can have a well-intentioned leader who has high strengths in some areas, but when you map them to a role that demands a different set of talents, it can be a recipe for trouble.

“We’re in the business of doing two things: making investments and cultivating amazing talent. They’re the yin and yang.”

John Maldonado
Managing Partner, Advent International
Since you began your career, what has changed most about private equity?

If you break the 50-year history of private equity into two, the first half was a nascent industry in which leverage and a hands-on governance model were all it took to perform well. Today, private equity has evolved into an investment and business-building industry. You can see that in the way firms have evolved their capabilities over the last 20 years. Once, there were only deal makers: people who sought, made, and sold investments. Now there are many people in a firm like ours whose role is not focused on that, but on developing the capabilities of portfolio companies.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I love what I do. What I find most motivating is helping those around me achieve their goals at Advent. My role as a senior dealmaker and a leader of the firm is to cultivate an environment where teams can succeed and thrive. I want the VP that works down the hall today to have every bit as much opportunity as I had 15 years ago, and I want to ensure the amazing talent at Advent can flourish for many years from now.

James Brocklebank joined Advent in 1997 and is a Managing Partner, serving as Co-Head of Europe. He advises on investments in the business & financial services sector. James has advised on 22 investments while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, James worked on international mergers and acquisitions in the London office of investment bank Baring Brothers and its affiliate, Dillon, Read & Co., in New York.

James holds an MA in Geography from Cambridge University.

What advice would you give to a new hire at Advent?

I suggest two things. The first is always to ask questions. The second is to develop a specialization. Find a sector and sub-sector and become the expert in that area. In my case it was payments, but there are so many interesting areas across industries to explore. I recommend individuals get a really deep understanding of the value chain in that industry and identify the best companies and teams to engage with. Even more important than identifying great companies is being able to articulate the investment thesis, and practicing this is one of the best ways for someone starting out in their career to learn to become a great investor.

What aspects of your job inspire and drive you?

Three things. The first is that there’s never a dull moment in this job. It’s extraordinary – every day something comes out of left field you can’t predict. The second thing is the learning curve. You never stop learning to be a better investor, including through your mistakes. And third, I really enjoy leading an organization with a great heritage and a great group of people striving for continuous improvement.

How do you identify businesses that might interest Advent?

Advent looks for investments with clearly defined levers that we can pull to really drive transformation and growth. We avoid investments that are capped on the upside, where it may be an excellent company, but we can’t see a path to making it a better or faster growing business. And it’s no good if the company has too many diffuse value creation initiatives. You need a few clear, strong levers you know you can pull.

“There’s never a dull moment in this job. It’s extraordinary – every day something comes out of left field you can’t predict.”

James Brocklebank
Managing Partner, Advent
What makes being part of a privately owned partnership special?

Being a private partnership gives us a kind of family atmosphere: we’re less institutional than many of the public firms and have a more entrepreneurial culture. Our heritage is in venture capital, not merchant banking.

Who has influenced you the most in business?

There’s a former colleague I worked with at Advent who is an extraordinary individual. I got to know him when I was an associate, and I learned an awful lot from him. Every time we spoke, he’d make me think in a different way. Sometimes it was about big topics, such as the characteristics of the best – and worst – business models – things that I found super useful. But he also had strong opinions on the smaller things, such as body language in a meeting setting.

Chris Egan joined Advent in 2000 and is a Managing Partner in Boston. He advises on buyout and growth equity investments in the business & financial services and technology sectors. Chris has advised on 21 investments while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Chris worked at UBS Warburg in the financial sponsors group, advising leveraged buyout firms on acquisition financings, mergers, and equity offerings across a variety of industries.

Chris received a BA in English from Dartmouth College.

How do geographical and sector teams work together to make better investments for Advent?

Doing private equity on a global basis was part of Advent’s business plan from day one. The sector focus came later, but came early relative to the industry – so 40 years later, we’ve built up a tremendous amount of history and experience in our individual sectors. The intersection of the two is so powerful because we can look at sector strategies that have worked in one geography, and extend them to another. It’s about pattern recognition: if something worked for Advent in the US, why not Brazil, India, or Germany?

What would you like CEOs to say about the experience of partnering with Advent?

The most important aspect of our relationship is alignment. One of the CEOs I’ve worked with most closely coined a good phrase for it: unity of purpose. That means having shared goals, and being economically and philosophically aligned on where we’re headed with the company. Advent does have to act as stewards of our investors’ capital, and that means holding our CEOs and management teams accountable for performance. But we should be able to challenge one another in the conference room, in a way that’s constructive and not confrontational, and still go to dinner together afterwards.

How do you ensure new recruits adopt Advent’s culture and values?

We attract and hire very talented people, who in most cases have already experienced success. Maybe they haven’t had the time to be successful professionally, but they may be high-performing, high-achieving people academically, or perhaps in athletics or the arts. We’re not going to try to change who they are. Each person will apply his or her own approach and style. Advent’s guiding principles – around alignment, shared objectives, constructive criticism, debate, and feedback – can be applied by anyone in their own way.

“Advent’s guiding principles – around alignment, shared objectives, constructive criticism, debate, and feedback – can be applied by anyone in their own way.”

Chris Egan
Managing Partner, Advent International
What has changed during your career, and how has Advent kept pace with this?

When I first joined, the private equity industry was dwarfed by the public equity managers, and by the hedge funds as well. That has really changed. Twenty or more years later, we’re no longer a small cottage industry. That has brought opportunities, but any time an industry gets bigger and more competitive, it also gets harder. We’ve had to continuously improve.

What keeps you motivated and energized, in and out of the office?

One of the reasons I’ve been doing this as long as I have is that the job never gets stale. You can’t say that about many other positions or industries. Each day brings a new challenge, and there’s not a rote playbook from which you can draw; there’s a set of experiences, and shared accountability when things don’t go well. You’re having to figure out something new every day, and that’s invigorating and exciting. That’s what I’d say professionally. Personally speaking, I’m kept motivated by my family and my kids. My wife and I have four kids, and they keep us busy and inspired.

Bryan Taylor joined Advent in February 2019 and is a Managing Partner in Palo Alto. He serves as head of the technology investment team.

Prior to joining Advent, Bryan was co-head of TPG Capital’s technology group, where he was instrumental in building the firm’s software investment capabilities and jointly led a 20-person team.

Prior to joining TPG, Bryan was a founder and Managing Director at Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm focused exclusively on software and technology services investments. Before Symphony, he was a Manager at Bain & Company, where he worked in the private equity and technology practice groups in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Bryan graduated with honors from Stanford University and earned an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Our mission is to be a world-class tech investment franchise.

We back strong teams leading innovative companies so that we can build the next generation of tech leaders. We believe we are the partner of choice for management teams who have the ambition and talent to build market shaping, thriving, unstoppable businesses.

We’re looking for companies with a large market opportunity, but that’s not enough.

We are attracted to companies pursuing large markets and led by ambitious teams, but those factors alone won’t meet our aspirations. In addition, we need a management team with a maniacal focus on building products that deliver differentiated value to customers. That is how you build a business for the long term.

We believe Advent’s culture is unique.

We are servant-leaders. We are collaborative and consensus-oriented in how we approach our management teams, our limited partners, and our people. Our team consists of high-integrity, low-ego talented people who are passionate about building great businesses.

Cybersecurity is one of the existential threats of our time.

Technology permeates the fabric of our governments, our enterprises, and our personal lives. Cyber criminals constantly threaten this fabric. Our mission is to fund the companies that arm the cyber war fighters. We owe those entrepreneurs, CEOs, and management teams a tremendous amount of respect and gratitude, and I’m privileged to be able to help a few of them on their mission.