A Day in the Life: Private Equity Managing Partner
David Porter has over 30 years of experience in private equity and investment banking. Prior to co-founding Apposite in 2006, David worked on several large leveraged buy-outs with Nomura’s Principal Finance Group. He then founded and headed Nomura International’s healthcare investment and corporate finance groups. David is very involved in the UK healthcare industry, having served as a member of the UK government’s Health Reform Group looking at reforms to the provision of healthcare to NHS patients and on the London Health Commission. David has a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University.
What is your current role and what are your main responsibilities?
I am a Managing Partner of Apposite Capital LLP, a private equity firm exclusively focused on healthcare investing. Within a partnership context, I am responsible for the overall strategic direction of the firm, in terms of making investments, raising money and administering the funds that we manage.
What do you enjoy most about this role?
I enjoy assisting the growth of the companies that we invest in. In this role I can assist the members of the board of the firms we invest in, provide strategic advice and day-to-day assistance to the management team of the portfolio company.
What are the most important skills for success in this role?
Hard work, deep sector knowledge, extensive contact base, understanding of the determinants of the successful growth of an SME, being able to execute the changes required to achieve growth.
How did you get to this position and what would you advise CFA charterholders who would like to do a similar role?
The essential elements required to do my job are healthcare sector knowledge - although this wouldn’t be required if you are working for a generalist fund, corporate finance skills (project management, due diligence, legal knowledge (SPAs, TS, LOI, etc.)), other financial skills (buyout modeling, financial projection spreadsheets, etc.) and general corporate knowledge from managing companies. Like everyone in my deal team I worked in corporate finance and had a background in healthcare and financial skills. The best route to secure a role in private equity is to acquire corporate finance experience at a bulge bracket firm or similar and then go and run a company.
How has the role changed over the past ten years?
Funds have grown in number, but role remains the same. Portfolio companies are evolving with the rest of the corporate sector.
How do you see your role changing in the next ten years?
Companies’ needs are becoming more IT-related as the healthcare sector gets more digital.