Meet the team
Neil McKay
Neil has completed numerous senior-level appointments for a broad range of financial services clients in London and other major financial centres.
He has particular expertise in corporate and investment banking in areas such as coverage (both industry and geographic), M&A, DCM, ECM, corporate broking and restructuring, but has also worked on a diverse range of roles across financial services.
Prior to his current role, Neil was a Senior Client Partner in London with Korn/Ferry International and has established investment banking search practices at two well-known global boutiques.
His early career was as an officer in the British Army serving in Germany, UK and Northern Ireland. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for Gallantry.
Mark Young
Mark specialises in conducting senior level, Buy-Side retained searches for Asset Managers, Hedge Funds and Private Equity houses in EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America. As a result of his extensive geographic connections, he has particular experience advising clients considering entry into new, strategic markets.
Functionally, Mark focuses on front office positions in Client facing roles including Sales, Business Development and Investor Relations, as well as Portfolio Management and Analyst roles across asset classes.
Mark has over 20 years’ experience in Financial Services initially in Fixed Income sales with HSBC and Nomura before joining Global Executive Search Firm, Sheffield Haworth in their Hong Kong office in 2005. Mark led the Asia Pacific business from 2007-2009. He returned to London in July 2009 to establish and lead the firm’s Global Hedge Fund Practice before joining Portman Square Partners in 2014.
Mark has been a regular speaker at Institutional Investor conferences and is a regular panelist on CAIA events in London.
Prior to his career in Financial Services he served in the British Army, which included an operational tour of Northern Ireland. He is a graduate of The University of Reading with a BA (Hons) in Politics and International Relations.
Andrew Gazitua
Andrew has over twenty years’ experience as an investment banker, with broad geographic experience both in emerging and developed markets. His early years were spent in Latin America where he completed his school education in Chile and the Dominican Republic before graduating from private school and college in the USA.
His investment banking career commenced with Merrill Lynch in New York in 1989 as a member of the FIG M&A team working on FIG transactions in the US, Latin America and Europe. Relocating full time to Europe in 1992, he became responsible for marketing and executing FIG advisory mandates in Europe as well as equity and advisory mandates in emerging markets. He spent time with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ)/ Credit Suisse and Putnam Lovell before re-joining Merrill Lynch where, as COO of Global Origination, his role included oversight of all senior investment banking hires. Following the integration with Bank of America he co-led the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) corporate and investment banking.
Richard More
Richard works with a range of clients across Emerging Markets, almost exclusively in Africa, and to a lesser extent across the Middle East. He concentrates on the full gamut of private equity and private credit – including direct investments, advisory groups, fund of funds, secondary’s and placement agents. Richard also works with Infrastructure and Real Estate funds as well as Family Offices and various global Impact Funds, and Microfinance Banks in Europe and developing nations.
Richard has over twenty years search experience initially covering the just the European private equity, mezzanine and infrastructure markets, starting in London with Sheffield Haworth in 1998.
Before executive search, he worked for a UK corporate finance boutique introducing transactions to UK venture capitalists and private equity groups. Previously, Richard led a management team in a buyout of a Parisian luxury delicatessen business from Guinness plc. His early career was in wine-making in Portugal