Edward "Ned" J. Kelly III, Former Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group at Citigroup, and Ranji H. Nagaswami, Former Chief Investment Advisor to Former Mayor Bloomberg, Join Corsair Capital

NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Corsair Capital LLC, a leading private equity firm investing in financial services globally, today announced that Edward "Ned" J. Kelly III, former Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group at Citigroup, and Ms. Ranji H. Nagaswami, a former Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg's administration for the City of New York, have joined Corsair as Senior Advisors. In becoming associated with Corsair Capital, Mr. Kelly and Ms. Nagaswami add to the competitive strengths of Corsair's platform, particularly with respect to its access to operating and regulatory expertise as well as its access to the spectrum of opportunities in the financial services sector.

Mr. Kelly and Ms. Nagaswami will support the firm in its identification and evaluation of new investments. Mr Kelly will focus his efforts on the U.S. financial services sector. Ms. Nagaswami will concentrate on new investment opportunities in the U.S. asset management sector. Both will provide strategic counsel across the firm's portfolio globally.

Nicholas B. Paumgarten, Chairman of Corsair Capital, stated: "Ned Kelly brings a wealth of operating and transaction experience to bear on our investment practice and is well known to our team. He  served as the firm's legal advisor during the formation of its first fund in 1992 and is a valuable contributor to our extended network.  We are equally pleased that Ranji Nagaswami is joining the Corsair team. Ranji brings a unique perspective to our business. She knows the investment management industry as an investor and business leader as well as serving in a very senior capacity on the investor client side of the business through her work with Mayor Bloomberg.

"Corsair's view is that the financial services industry is currently undergoing the most profound change in a generation. We believe that this transformation will create a number of investment opportunities that lend themselves to highly specialized and experienced firms like Corsair which can serve as a trusted and value-added partner to management teams and other stakeholders. Ned and Ranji joining Corsair will enhance Corsair's capabilities in this regard."

Mr. Kelly stated, "I have a long history with Corsair and am delighted to be joining the firm.  I look forward to helping the firm build on its success in the years ahead."

Ms. Nagaswami commented: "Corsair is a differentiated private equity firm and focuses on finding thoughtful ways to create value within its portfolio companies. I am excited to work with the team to develop attractive investments in the asset management industry and to collaborate with management teams to uncover opportunities presented by the evolving landscape."

Ignacio Jayanti, President of Corsair Capital, concluded, "Ned Kelly and Ranji Nagaswami add important value to our Corsair team. They are highly regarded professionals with a deep knowledge of the financial services sector. They provide Corsair a combination of operating experience, regulatory expertise, investment acumen and broad relationships across various sectors of the industry. They further position Corsair Capital capabilities to capitalize on attractive investment opportunities, add strategic value to its investments, and serve the best interests of Corsair's Limited Partners."

Edward "Ned" J. Kelly III

Mr. Kelly has more than 25 years of operating, regulatory and investment experience in the financial services industry at a senior level. Most recently, Mr. Kelly served as Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group at Citigroup.  While at Citi, Mr. Kelly served in a number of executive roles, including Chief Financial Officer, Head of Global Banking and President and CEO of Citi Alternative Investments.  Prior to joining Citi in 2008, Mr. Kelly was a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, where he led the establishment of a financial services team. Mr. Kelly was a Vice Chairman at PNC Financial Services Group following PNC's acquisition of Mercantile Bankshares in 2007, where Mr. Kelly had been Chairman, CEO and President.  Mr. Kelly was also General Counsel, and later a Managing Director and head of the financial institutions group, at JP Morgan, where he was an advisor to the firm on its 2001 merger with Chase Manhattan Bank.  Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Kelly was a partner at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he specialized in matters related to financial institutions.

Mr. Kelly is currently a director of XL Group plc and serves as the lead director of CSX Corp.   Previously he served on the board of several public companies in the financial services sector, including The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Axis Capital Holdings Limited and CIT Group Inc.

Ranji H. Nagaswami

Ms. Nagaswami has over 28 years of experience in the asset management sector. She began her career at UBS Asset Management in the fixed income division serving in a variety of Senior Portfolio Management roles covering various fixed income sectors before becoming the Co-Head of U.S. Fixed Income of the merged UBS and SBC Brinson. Subsequently she joined Bernstein to head their Fixed Income Team.  In 2004 she was appointed Chief Investment Officer and a member of the Executive Board of Alliance Bernstein Investments, the $180 billion retail mutual fund division, to design and implement a sweeping overhaul of that business division which was highly successful.  In 2010 Ms. Nagaswami became Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for the New York City pension system with a focus on creating a restructuring plan for strategic investment policy allocation and overhauling the Boards' decision making processes. Prior to joining Corsair Capital, Ms. Nagaswami was at Bridgewater Associates, a $130 billion macro hedge fund where she was recruited to focus on the firm's strategic institutional client relationships globally.

Ms. Nagaswami is actively promoting sound investment policy and pension governance reform through public speaking engagements and advisory consultations with institutional investors.  Earlier this year Ms. Nagaswami was a Visiting Executive Fellow at the Yale School of Management's International Center for Finance and is working to launch the Finance Fellows program within the Aspen Institute's Global Leadership Network. Ms. Nagaswami is a Member of the $55 Billion UAW VEBA Medical Benefits Trust Investment Advisory Council, the CFA Institute's Ethics and Standards Advisory Council, and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. She was previously a member of the Yale University Investments Committee, the Yale School of Management Advisory Board, a Trustee of Greenwich Academy and on the North American Council of Ashoka, a global fellowship of social entrepreneurs.

About Corsair Capital

Corsair Capital, LLC is a specialist private equity firm focused on investing in the financial services industry.  Corsair has invested across a range of geographies and cycles, and in substantially all of the subsectors of the financial services industry including payments, insurance, asset management, depository institutions, and specialty finance in North America, Western Europe, and the Emerging Markets of Asia, Latin America and Central Europe.  More information about the firm may be accessed through the website www.corsair-capital.com.

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SOURCE Corsair Capital