LONDON / NEW YORK - FIRSTavenue, a leading global private funds placement agent and investment advisory firm, is pleased to announce that Jess Larsen has joined as Partner and Head of Americas. Mr. Larsen will lead distribution, origination and project management in the Americas and manage the teams in the New York and San Francisco offices.

Mr. Larsen has over twenty three years of experience. He joins the firm from Highland Capital Management where he served as Global Head of Institutional Sales and led a team of 12, based in Dallas, New York, Korea and Tokyo. Prior to Highland Capital, Mr. Larsen was a senior member of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s European Capital Introduction team with responsibility for Scandinavia and Middle East. Other appointments include Partner and Head of Sales at VCM Fund Management and establishing and managing Merrill Lynch’s European Family Office Group. Mr. Larsen’s track record spans the key alternative asset classes, most notably credit and private equity, complimenting FIRSTavenue’s business model.

“It’s a great pleasure to join First Avenue and have the opportunity to work with such a strong brand in the fundraising industry. I view the appointment as a perfect match and trust my background will be beneficial to the firm’s growth strategy. In addition, my institutional connectivity will contribute to the firm’s ability to compete as a top-tier placement agent,” commented Mr. Larsen.

Paul Buckley, Managing Partner and Founder, said “We are delighted that Jess has agreed to join First Avenue to lead our business in the Americas. This reflects our increasing strategic commitment to scale our presence across all of our business lines”.

About FIRSTavenue

FIRSTavenue is a leading independent global advisory and capital placement business focused on private funds and private companies. FIRSTavenue covers the significant investors in the developed world and developing world. FIRSTavenue is differentiated by the breadth and depth of its reach through five global offices and benefits from a large team of former pension consultants on staff. FIRSTavenue’s clients include leading GPs and management teams across the key private market and industry sectors: private equity, private credit, real estate and real assets.