Actis hires financial services specialist

Actis, an emerging markets private equity firm, has made its second hire in the last three months with the appointment of Mark Richards as investment principal in London.
 
At Actis, Richards will specialise in investments in the financial services sector. His appointment follows that of Rajiv Kaul, previously managing director of Microsoft India, who joined as a partner in April to focus on the technology sector in China, India and South East Asia.
 
Richards spent 18 years at Barclays, where he held the roles of director of group corporate development, director of group strategy and chief financial officer of Barclays International Banking. While there, Richards worked on banking, insurance and asset management transactions in the UK, France, Spain and South Africa.
 
Actis has invested over $200 million (€156 million) in financial services companies in emerging markets, including Banque Commerciale du Rwanda, the country’s second largest commercial bank, and DFCU, a financial institution in Uganda. Exits include the sale of UTI bank to HSBC in 2004 and SSB Bank of Ghana, sold to Societe Generale in 2003.
 
Actis has $3.4 billion in funds under management and operates out of 16 offices in Africa, China, South and South East Asia and Latin America.