Lightyear Capital LLC (“Lightyear”), a New York-based private equity firm focused on financial services investing announced the promotion of Michal Petrzela to managing director.

Petrzela joined Lightyear full time in 2005, after working at Lightyear as a Summer Associate in 2004. Before joining Lightyear, Petrzela worked at Barclays Capital in London in the Financial Institutions Group, where he helped to develop a balance sheet advisory practice. Prior to Barclays, Petrzela worked at Credit Suisse in New York, also in the Financial Institutions Group, where he advised on mergers and acquisitions in both the United States and Europe. Petrzela began his career at Arthur Andersen as a consultant in the Financial Markets practice.

“Michal has developed keen investment insights into the financial services industry and has gained substantial operational experience that enables him to add value to Lightyear’s investments,” said Donald B. Marron, Chairman and Founder of Lightyear. “Michal has demonstrated a strong commitment to Lightyear and is an excellent asset to our team.”

Petrzela also joins Lightyear’s Investment Committee, which includes Chris Casciato, Michael Doppelt, Stewart Gross, Thierry Ho, Donald Marron, and Mark Vassallo.

Lightyear Capital is a private equity firm making primarily control investments in North America-based, middle-market financial services companies.