HarbourVest poaches 3i veteran for COO role

Stuart Howard, a ten year veteran of UK-headquartered 3i Group, has joined HarbourVest Partners as chief operating officers of its European listed products unit.

Howard will be based in London, and will oversee the running of two of HarbourVest’s listed investment companies, HarbourVest Global Private Equity and HarbourVest Senior Loans Europe.

Stuart Howard

The appointment coincides with a raft of promotions at the firm, which included the elevation of David Atterbury to managing director. Atterbury was one of the architects of HarbourVest’s acquisition of listed fund Absolute Private Equity last year.

At 3i, Howard was latterly chief operating officer for Asia and the Americas. He has held senior positions within 3i’s infrastructure and quoted private equity units. Prior to joining 3i in 2001 he worked for Deloitte as a chartered accountant and then Crédit Agricole.

George Anson, managing director of HarbourVest Partners and a director of HVPE, said in a statement: “With a strong track record of senior positions in financial and operational roles within quoted investment companies, Stuart is ideally placed to lead on both HVPE and HSLE and continue to implement HarbourVest’s vision of providing access to private equity and private debt through listed companies.”