AXA swoops for MD as Citi ‘winds down’

Fund manager AXA Private Equity has hired Juan Angoitia as a managing director in its infrastructure team in Paris.

Angoitia had previously spent around five and a half years at Citi Infrastructure Investors (CII) as a senior asset manager and senior investment principal.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that CII, a unit of US bank Citigroup, was winding down its $3.4 billion infrastructure fund and – rather than pursuing new deals – would focus on managing the assets in its portfolio (though it is apparently also considering transferring those assets to a new manager).

This news came after a string of high-profile departures from CII including global co-head Felicity Gates and partners Colin Campbell, Ghislain Gauthier and John-George Duthie-Jackson. Holly Koeppel, CII co-head, remained at the helm.

Angoitia managed CII’s investments in the UK’s Kelda, a holding company of Yorkshire Water, and Spain’s Itinere Infraestructuras, the Spanish infrastructure construction and management company.

Prior to joining CII, Angoitia had spent 10 years at Grupo Ferrovial where he was involved in a string of airport investments including Sydney International Airport, the UK’s BAA and Bristol International Airport, ASUR in Mexico and Cerro Moreno in Chile.

Mathias Burghardt, head of infrastructure at AXA Private Equity, said Angoitia’s “extensive industrial experience in infrastructure, and particularly in the airport sector, will prove invaluable to our existing and future investments”.

AXA Private Equity recently signed an agreement for the acquisition of London Luton Airport alongside AENA, the world’s largest airports operator.

In March this year, AXA Private Equity closed its latest infrastructure fund on €1.75 billion.