Meet the Partners

Paul Buckley

Managing Partner

Paul is Managing Partner. Prior to co-founding FIRSTavenue, Paul worked in the European capital markets principally at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. He has covered investors and run coverage groups across every region of Europe since 1987.

Nick Chronias

Partner

Nick is Head of Private Placements and has been raising private capital for funds and direct investments for ten years. Prior to FIRSTavenue, he held similar roles as an independent fundraising adviser and as head of research at Helix Associates. Nick has a post graduate degree in Finance from London Business School.

Jonathan Davie

Partner

Jonathan is Chairman of and provides corporate governance to FIRSTavenue. He has operated in a number of senior roles across Credit Suisse and its predecessor organisations.  Most recently, he served as Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse (formerly Credit Suisse First Boston) and Chairman of IG Group plc. Jonathan is a full time operating partner while also serving as Non-Executive Director for Persimmon and Hansa Trust.

Derek Dietrich

Partner

Derek is a Partner and is Head of Marketing, Americas. He has been a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group, as well as a Senior Vice President in the Private Fund Marketing Group at Lehman Brothers. Derek began his placement career at Deutsche Bank’s Alternative Investment Fundraising Group and his finance career with Salomon Brothers. He has a BA from Yale University and a MBA in Finance from Wharton.

Clive Norton

Partner

Clive is Head of Private Equity and primarily responsible for origination and marketing of private equity funds. Clive was formerly a Managing Director at Helix Associates and Co-Head of the Fund of Funds Group at Goldman Sachs covering Europe and Asia. Prior to Goldman Sachs Clive worked in the Private Equity Group at Merrill Lynch.

Caroline Weir

Partner, CFO, COO

Caroline holds the positions of Partner, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining FIRSTavenue, Caroline was a partner within the NewSmith Group and was responsible for financial control, tax and regulatory matters for both corporate and fund entities. Before joining NewSmith, Caroline spent 4 years working with Ernst & Young, London and 2 years with Ernst & Young, Jersey in their Investment Management Group. Caroline qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1999 with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.