Audax Private Debt announced the appointment of John Wierzba, who joined the firm as a Managing Director, Wealth Management. Wierzba is joining Audax from Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., where he most recently served as the Head of Private Assets.

Wierzba will be a member of Audax Private Debt’s Investor Relations team and play an integral role in building out the firm’s presence in the wealth channel.

“Audax has built an expansive, cycle-tested platform with an investment-led culture and consistency in approach,” noted Wierzba. “It’s these same underpinnings, among many others, that support my long-term conviction in Audax and our ability to provide the wealth channel with a differentiated solution to meet the needs of high-net-worth families today.”    

Wierzba has focused on private assets for most of his career. He joined Stifel in 2015 from Barclays Wealth, where he was a senior member of the firm’s private assets manager research and selection team. At Stifel, he was responsible for building out the private markets segment of the firm’s alternative investment platform. There, he oversaw due diligence and manager selection as well as the structuring and distribution of private market strategies to financial advisors across the Stifel network.

Audax Private Debt provides a variety of financing solutions and equity co-investments primarily to private equity-backed middle market companies based in North America. Since inception, Audax Private Debt has raised over $32 billion across 37 funds and separately managed accounts, as of June 30, 2024, while high net worth investors and wealth management firms account for nearly 20% of the firm’s total investor base.

“John brings a deep knowledge base and keen perspective regarding the utilization of private capital strategies by financial advisors to preserve and grow client wealth,” remarked Audax Private Debt President Kevin Magid. “He also understands intimately the importance of service and execution, and what that looks like across the entire investment lifecycle. As an industry, we’re still in the early innings of democratizing alternative assets. We anticipate John will play an integral role in helping us further penetrate the private wealth channel with the requisite product set, structures, and tools for advisors to bring middle market private debt strategies to their clients.”