Ep. 73 Brian Bank, Strategy and Client Development, Investment Funds Group, Kirkland & Ellis

On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with BRIAN BANK, Strategy and Client Development, Investment Funds Group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Together, they discuss:

• What LPs want from emerging manager pitches
• The importance of communications
• The ups and downs of being an emerging manager

...and so much more.

BRIAN BANK is a partner-level, client-facing non-lawyer within Kirkland and Ellis's Investment Funds Group, the largest and most active private equity focused law firm globally. His practice represents over 700 investment managers and has assisted his clients in raising over $1.4 trillion in the last 4 years.

Leveraging over 20 years in the PE, VC, and alternative investment industry as a limited partner and a placement agent, Brian provides Kirkland's funds clients strategic and tactical advice/expertise on firm formation and launch, fundraising, LP matters, investor relations, marketing, LP communications, and other commercial/non-legal topics. As part of Kirkland's business development team, Brian has worked with over 50 clients and has either been solely responsible or contributed to 50+ new clients leading to nearly $100M+ in incremental revenue.

Prior to Kirkland, Brian led US PE origination for First Avenue Partners, a UK-based placement agent. From February 2011 to March 2015, he managed and led the Advanced Capital Intelligence Funds, an investment platform created by Aspiriant, serving as both Director of Investor Relations and as Director of Private Equity. In these roles, he was the subject matter expert for all investments and was responsible for managing $500m+ of assets. From 2000-2010, Brian oversaw US PE and VC fund Investments and co-Investments for a UK-based investment company. During this period, he was solely responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and managing GP commitments and relationships. Additionally, he identified and executed co-investments.

Prior to 2000, Brian spent three years with E&Y Management Consulting. Among his engagements, he managed all divestiture-related activities of an $8 Billion division of a Fortune 25 company completing a corporate carve-out, managed the current state assessment of a 3,500 person administrative support division of a major international services firm, and managed a sourcing/supplier analysis for a health care client consolidating greater than 30 purchasing organizations from 37 separate facilities and greater than $500 million in annual procurement.