Carlyle loses private equity CFO to EJF Capital – exclusive

Thomas Mayrhofer takes up his new position at the firm, led by hedge fund manager Manny Friedman, in April.

Thomas Mayrhofer, chief financial officer of Carlyle Group’s private equity division, has left the firm, pfm has learned.

Mayrhofer will take up the newly created role of deputy chief operating officer and deputy chief financial officer in April at alternative asset manager EJF Capital, which is run by former Friedman Billings Ramsey executives Manny Friedman and Neal Wilson.

It is understood that Mayrhofer’s hire is part of an effort to further institutionalise the firm. He will report to Wilson, the COO.

Mayrhofer, who was a partner at Carlyle where he spent almost 18 years, left the firm at the end of February. His position there will be taken up by Norma Kuntz, according to a source familiar with the matter. Kuntz joined Carlyle in 2011 and is a managing director and the global head of fund management.

“Tom’s move to EJF represents another step in our plan to establish the most robust operational platform available for investors to take advantage of the regulatory tailwinds impacting the financial services asset class,” Wilson told pfm in an emailed statement.

“His breadth of industry knowledge and experience will strengthen EJF’s 12-year old alternative asset management platform and increase the firm’s ability to provide state-of-the-art operational and financial support for our investors.”

EJF Capital manages more than $8 billion of assets, which includes $2.6 billion of securitized assets managed by EJF affiliates. Around a third of this is in private equity products, a third in hedge funds, and a third in structured products.

It is understood the firm has raised several closed-end and open-end private equity funds focused on a variety of strategies.

Friedman and Wilson founded EJF Capital in 2005 with a small team of professionals from FBR. EJF operates from three offices in Arlington, Virginia, London and Shanghai.