Kelly joined Asante in New York in May 2017, being promoted to Director in 2019 and Managing Director in 2023.

Kelly was promoted to Managing Director in April 2023, and today leads a number of North American GP advisory projects, is responsible for distribution across Canada and the US West Coast, and origination of new North American business for the firm.

What do you enjoy most about working at Asante?

Asante has a strong team-oriented culture that fosters a collegial work environment and makes it a pleasure to come to work each day. We have a balanced set of skills and a thoughtful incentive structure to motivate us towards a one team, one dream mentality that helps us drive strong results for our clients while maintaining a great working atmosphere.

What are your three biggest learning points so far?

1. No two fundraises are the same – while some situations may seem similar on the surface, each fundraise carries a unique set of challenges and opportunities and requires a bespoke approach to meet the task.
2. No two fundraisers are the same either! Leading a team requires a flexible approach to learning how to motivating your colleagues to achieve results in a fundraise while helping them reach their own professional goals through learning opportunities.
3. The fundraising market is incredibly dynamic – investor interest by types of product, strategies, sectors and geographies varies widely and is constantly in flux. While some broad themes can be identified easily, other nuances are subtle and require a focus on individual investor types and networks in order to deliver thoughtful advice to our clients. Just when you think you’ve nailed the latest trend, the market has already started to move on – so staying close to LPs is of the utmost importance.

What would your advice be to someone joining Asante as an experienced hire?

Lean into the learning curve at Asante and be prepared for a new way of looking at fundraising. While experienced hires have a great sense of the market, standard processes, and general investor sentiment, the Asante Fused+ model is unique. It often takes a bit of time to understand how best to prioritize your time to be effective across GP advisory work, distribution of our mandates and origination of new business. Your team is here to help you prioritize effectively and are happy to lend a helping hand so we can achieve our clients’ goals together.

View Kelly’s team page here.