From pilot seat to defense lead: How Tower Peak’s Paul Hockel leverages unique career path in dealmaking

London-based Hockel will lead the buildout of an investment team focused on the aerospace and defense segment.

Paul Hockel Tower Peak Partners
Paul Hockel, Tower Peak Partners

At a glance, Paul Hockel’s career path reads like the logline of an action movie. It features an intelligence officer, fighter jets and a shattered dream. In an interview for PE Hub’s Dealmakers to Watch series, Hockel, a newly appointed managing partner at Tower Peak Partners, shares how this unusual arc lends itself to deal sourcing and how his new employer is prepared to utilize its balance sheet to secure positions in aerospace and defense companies.