TA sees leadership changes as it preps next fund

TA, one of the oldest growth equity managers in the industry, has shifted management over the past several years, sources said.

The biggest change was the loss of Kevin Landry, TA’s longtime chief, who moved into an advisory role in 2012 during a battle with lung cancer. Landry died in 2013.

Managing Director Brian Conway has essentially taken over the top spot, said two of the sources, both LPs familiar with the firm. Conway is listed on the firm’s website as chairman of the firm’s executive committee, co-chair of the core investment committee and chair of the portfolio committee.

However, TA also has a “fairly collaborative” management culture through its group of managing directors, two sources said. That group also is changing.

Two managing directors, Kurt Jaggers, co-head of the North American Technology Group, and Roger Kafker, head of the North American Services Group, will step into advisory roles in 2016 on what is described as a path to eventual retirement from the firm, one of the LPs said.

Jaggers and Kafker are part of a larger group of managing directors who have transitioned into advisory roles over the years. It’s not clear how involved advisors are in day-to-day business.

MDs who have transitioned into advisors include Jeff Chambers, Michael Child, Jonathan Goldstein, Bruce Johnston and Richard Tadler, according to one of the LPs and a comparison of TA’s current website with an archived version.

A TA spokesman declined to comment.