Allstate infra exec joins Ridgewood

Michael Albrecht, who most recently served as acting global head of infrastructure and real assets at Allstate Investments, has joined Ridgewood Private Equity Partners (RPEP) as managing director where his primary role will be to originate and execute investments throughout the energy value chain, the firm told Infrastructure Investor in an e-mailed response.

Albrecht will report to senior managing director Ross Posner, who also joined Ridgewood recently to lead the firm’s real asset strategy. He will also serve as a member of RPEP’s investment committee.

Before being named acting global head of infrastructure and real assets when Posner left Allstate in July, Albrecht was associate director of Allstate Investments’ Infrastructure and Real Assets team, responsible for direct investments within the infrastructure sector. He joined Allstate in 2012, one year after Posner founded Allstate’s infrastructure and real assets business.

Prior to Allstate Investments, Albrecht focused on energy and other real asset equity investments while at the Infrastructure Investment Fund of JPMorgan Asset Management and Altrinsic Global Advisers.

While Allstate Investments has not directly replaced Posner and Albrecht, the firm announced two new appointments within its senior leadership team earlier this month.

Russell Mayerfeld joined Allstate Investments as a senior managing director, a newly-created position that will involve overseeing approximately $10 billion of Allstate’s investments, including private equity, infrastructure and real assets, real estate and commercial mortgage loans, the insurer said in a statement. He will report to chief investment officer Judith Greffin.

Peter Keehn, who has been with Allstate since 2003, has been promoted to managing director, private equity investing, which now includes the infrastructure and real assets team. He will report to Mayerfeld.

RPEP is part of the Ridgewood Companies, founded in 1982 by Robert Swanson. Since then, the companies have raised more than $4.5 billion in capital and commitments primarily focused on direct equity investments in energy, infrastructure and other real assets.

RPEP’s investment strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of investments primarily within the energy value chain – including upstream, midstream, downstream and services – principally in the US.