The private equity firm Permira recently took a minority stake in Carne, a business founded 21 years ago and the largest third-party management company – or "manco" – in Europe.

Carne Group, a European third-party management company, has appointed former PwC senior figure John Parkhouse as president.

Parkhouse will report directly to John Donohoe, founder and group chief executive, who is remaining as CEO, Carne said in a statement today.  

With more than three decades in financial services and asset management, Parkhouse worked for much of that time at PwC, most recently as territory senior partner and CEO for Luxembourg.

Carne is a major adopter of the industry’s super management company, aka “supermanco,” model. Managers are increasingly looking beyond compliance and asking specialist operational partners to also help them launch products faster, enter new asset classes, navigate different fund structures, and grow across markets, Carne said in a statement.   

This demand is being driven by a structural shift in the asset management industry, where traditional operating models are struggling in the face of increased competition and complexity, Carne said.

Permira, the private equity house, recently took a minority stake in Carne, based on an enterprise value of €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion). Carne says it is the largest third-party ManCo in Europe, overseeing more than $1 trillion in AuM globally. It was founded in 2004.