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Former Credit Suisse chief operating officer Francesca McDonagh has agreed to join a private equity-backed German fund group as chief executive, according to people with knowledge of the appointment.
The former chief executive of Bank of Ireland is one of the highest-profile executives to leave Credit Suisse since its takeover by former rival UBS this year and is the latest senior banker to be courted by the private equity industry.
McDonagh, who announced she was leaving Credit Suisse last month after just over a year at the bank, is set to join Frankfurt-based fund servicing business Universal Investment at the start of next year, according to people with knowledge of the details. The move is expected to be announced on Tuesday.
The business, which serves investment groups with just under €1tn of assets under management, is majority owned by London-based private equity firm Montagu. Canada Pension Plan, one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, took a significant minority stake in the business this year.
Pay at private equity firms has come to dwarf that of banks in recent years, leading to a number of senior bankers moving to the buyout industry.
In February, Carlyle Group installed former Goldman Sachs executive Harvey Schwartz as chief executive and awarded him a package that could exceed $180mn over five years.
Last year, former Credit Suisse chair António Horta-Osório joined Cerberus Capital Management as a senior adviser. He has a similar position at Italian bank Mediobanca.
McDonagh had been chief executive of Bank of Ireland, the country’s biggest lender, for five years when she announced her surprise move to Credit Suisse last year.
She had been a critic of Ireland’s cap on bank executive pay, which was introduced following the financial crisis, when the country’s two biggest banks — including Bank of Ireland — were bailed out by the government.
McDonagh was originally hired by Credit Suisse to run Europe, the Middle East and Africa but she was promoted to chief operating officer before she arrived.
In that role, she was responsible for initiating a wide-ranging cost-cutting programme. After UBS agreed to rescue Credit Suisse in March, she oversaw preparation for the integration of the banks in the run-up to the deal completing in June.
In her new role, McDonagh will be tasked with helping Universal Investment grow through M&A, with the group having acquired fund servicing businesses in Ireland and Luxembourg in recent years.
UBS announced internally on Monday that another Credit Suisse executive, Joanne Hannaford, was moving to Deutsche Bank. The former Goldman Sachs alumni had been chief technology and operations officer at UBS.
Hannaford will be chief information officer at Deutsche’s corporate bank. Her move was first reported by Finews.
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