Investment manager Downing has appointed Nick Burley, the former chief financial officer at European healthcare services business Alliance Medical, to its new capital solutions team to lead strategic transactions and work closely with investors.

Downing’s stated that its capital solutions team will deploy funds from institutional investors into opportunities with high return potential, in sectors such as healthcare services in the private equity space and European real estate, where the team has strong investor and investee networks.

Burley will work alongside former M&G fund manager Paul Taylor, who recently joined to lead the new capital solutions team, which will launch a series of new investment activities and funds, managing capital on behalf of institutional investors.

Burley has more than 30 years’ operational and transactional experience and has held senior operational and corporate finance roles in GE, Allied Domecq, McCormick and the Vita Group, prior to joining Alliance Medical, spending the past 20 years at finance director or chief financial officer level. His experience has included more than 50 M&A transactions, a planned IPO, as well as several operational and balance sheet restructuring and turnaround situations.

Burley said: “Our new capital solutions team is focused on identifying off-market opportunities, which have the potential for delivering enhanced returns to investors and which require operational as well as capital solutions to unlock that potential – I look forward to supporting its expansion and success. It is exciting to bring together a team that has a history of delivery to an entrepreneurial and fast-growing investment manager such as Downing, whose commitment to sustainable investing is underlined by its recent accreditation as a B Corp.”

Taylor added: “Both transactional investment and portfolio management expertise are key to our ability to build a business of significant scale and Nick has decades of experience in both of these areas. As we move forward, we look forward to announcing more new joiners and activities soon.”

Kostas Manolis, head of private market investments at Downing, said: “Nick’s appointment is another vital building block in the establishment of our new capital solutions strategy. His experience will bring invaluable insights and ensure operational excellence from the beginning, as we continue to strengthen our private markets activities.”