Brian Allen leaves Soros for Bloomberg’s family office

Brian Allen, a managing director in private equity at Soros Fund Management, left and joined the family office of Mike Bloomberg in late June, Allen confirmed for Buyouts.

It’s not clear why Allen left. He joined Willett Advisors at the end of June as a director in private equity. Willett makes commitments to private equity funds and invests directly in private companies.

Willett formed in 2010 when former New York City Mayor Bloomberg pulled $5 billion from Quadrangle Group to set up his family office. A group of Quadrangle executives, including Steven Rattner, who oversaw ex-President Barack Obama’s auto industry restructuring, left to run Willett Advisors.

Allen worked at Soros’s family office from 2013 to June, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he worked at Portfolio Advisors from 2009 to 2013, and before that he worked as an associate director at UBS in the private funds group.

Private equity professionals have been making their way to family offices. Last year, Megan Bethke, former senior portfolio manager in private equity at APG Asset Management, joined family office Mousse Partners.

Also last year, Andrew Cantwell left Norwest Equity Partners and formed Carlson Private Capital Partners, which launch May 1, 2018.

Soros’s family office spun out its 25-member private equity team last October and pledged to allocate up to $2 billion to the group, Bloomberg reported. Soros also has been shopping a portfolio of private equity fund commitments on the secondary market, sources told Buyouts.

Action Item: Reach Willett Advisors at 212-783-9500.