William Blair announced the hiring of industry veterans Jerome Wallace and Brian Williams to lead the firm’s Fund Placement and Advisory practice.

Wallace and Williams join the firm in New York as managing directors and co-heads of Private Capital Advisory alongside Mike Custar, who joined William Blair in 2022 and leads the firm’s Secondary Advisory practice, including both GP- and LP-led secondary solutions. The addition of Wallace and Williams bolsters the firm’s fundraising capabilities, providing financial sponsors with a fully integrated, comprehensive Private Capital Advisory practice.  

“Our expansion of fund placement and advisory provides financial sponsors with an even broader suite of solutions tailored to their unique needs across all stages of the private equity lifecycle, including fundraising, fund management, portfolio management, and portfolio company alternatives,” said Brandon Lower, head of Financial Sponsors at William Blair. “Jerome and Brian are proven business leaders with an outstanding network of GP and LP relationships. Most importantly, they possess a high degree of integrity and are a strong cultural fit.”

Wallace and Williams have worked together for 13 years and collectively have more than 30 years of private markets experience advising financial sponsors on primary, secondary, and direct transactions, raising over $200 billion in capital across more than 150 client mandates. Before joining William Blair, they were members of the senior leadership team of the Credit Suisse Private Fund Group, where they served as managing directors and co-heads of Americas distribution and had coverage responsibility for influential institutional investors in the United States and Canada.

Before Credit Suisse, Wallace was at Lazard in the Private Capital Advisory Group, advising financial sponsors on primary, secondary, and direct transactions. Before that, he was at Stanwich Advisors, where he had responsibilities across distribution, origination, and project management. Before Credit Suisse, Williams was at Stanwich Advisors, where he served as head of project management and had distribution responsibility for institutional investors based on the East Coast. Wallace and Williams both graduated from Hamilton College.

“William Blair is uniquely positioned to address the ever-evolving needs of financial sponsors,” Wallace said. “We look forward to building a highly differentiated, best-in-class fund placement business in support of our clients.”

“We are thrilled by the quality of the team that has come together at William Blair and will be forever grateful for the trust and support of our clients,” Williams said. “William Blair is a world-class firm and the perfect platform to partner with in building a fully integrated private capital advisory business.”