Financial Services Team

Home / Sector Focus / Financial Services Team

We focus on investment opportunities in two large, complex and capital-intensive industries: Financial Services and Energy.

Financial Services Team

Combined
Financial Services Team Alone
Howard H. Newman
Howard H. NewmanManaging Partner

Mr. Newman is a managing partner of Pine Brook, which he co-founded in 2006. He is also a member of the Firm’s Management Committee and Investment Committee. Mr. Newman represents Pine Brook as a board director of Elevation Resources Holdings LLC.

Prior to co-founding Pine Brook, Mr. Newman was with Warburg Pincus for 22 years, most recently as vice chairman and senior advisor, and as a senior member of the firm’s management and investment committees. At Warburg Pincus, he led or co-led the energy, financial services, media, real estate and general investment practices. Before joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Newman spent 10 years in energy and financial services investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.

Over the course of his career, he has been a director or observer on the boards of more than 45 companies, including 18 public companies. Mr. Newman’s previous board experience includes Bill Barrett Corporation, Encore Acquisition Partners, Gryphon Exploration Company, Kosmos Energy LLC, J. Makowski Company, The Marine Drilling Companies Inc., Newfield Exploration Company, Spinnaker Exploration Inc. and Targa Resources, Inc., as well as Cox Insurance Holdings PLC, Dime Bancorp, Inc., RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., SLM Corporation and TAC Bancshares, Inc.

In addition to overseeing Pine Brook’s portfolio, Mr. Newman is a trustee of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and serves on the board of the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund. During the term of Governor George Pataki of New York, Mr. Newman was an advisor on energy policy and a senior advisor to the Long Island Power Authority. Mr. Newman has served as a chairman of the Yale Alumni Fund and as a member of the Yale University Council and the advisory board of the university’s Climate & Energy Institute.

Mr. Newman holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude with Distinction) and an M.A. in Economics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University. He was a Marshall Scholar at Cambridge University.

Managing Partner

Mr. Newman is a managing partner of Pine Brook, which he co-founded in 2006. He is also a member of the Firm’s Management Committee and Investment Committee. Mr. Newman represents Pine Brook as a board director of Elevation Resources Holdings LLC.

Prior to co-founding Pine Brook, Mr. Newman was with Warburg Pincus for 22 years, most recently as vice chairman and senior advisor, and as a senior member of the firm’s management and investment committees. At Warburg Pincus, he led or co-led the energy, financial services, media, real estate and general investment practices. Before joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Newman spent 10 years in energy and financial services investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.

Over the course of his career, he has been a director or observer on the boards of more than 45 companies, including 18 public companies. Mr. Newman’s previous board experience includes Bill Barrett Corporation, Encore Acquisition Partners, Gryphon Exploration Company, Kosmos Energy LLC, J. Makowski Company, The Marine Drilling Companies Inc., Newfield Exploration Company, Spinnaker Exploration Inc. and Targa Resources, Inc., as well as Cox Insurance Holdings PLC, Dime Bancorp, Inc., RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., SLM Corporation and TAC Bancshares, Inc.

In addition to overseeing Pine Brook’s portfolio, Mr. Newman is a trustee of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and serves on the board of the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund. During the term of Governor George Pataki of New York, Mr. Newman was an advisor on energy policy and a senior advisor to the Long Island Power Authority. Mr. Newman has served as a chairman of the Yale Alumni Fund and as a member of the Yale University Council and the advisory board of the university’s Climate & Energy Institute.

Mr. Newman holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude with Distinction) and an M.A. in Economics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University. He was a Marshall Scholar at Cambridge University.

W. Dana LaForge
W. Dana LaForgePartner, Financial Services Investment Team

Mr. LaForge joined Pine Brook in June 2020 and is a partner on the financial services investment team. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. Mr. LaForge represents Pine Brook as a board director of Amedeo Holding Company Limited, Belmont Green Limited, Clear Blue Financial Holdings and Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited.

Mr. LaForge has over 20 years of private equity investment and management experience. Prior to joining Pine Brook, Mr. LaForge was a managing director and head of the North American financial institutions investment banking groups at Bankers Trust, Alex Brown, and Deutsche Bank. Mr. LaForge also served as a partner of several entrepreneurial investment businesses and private equity funds focused in financial services, where he worked closely with the portfolio companies. These businesses included Brera Capital Partners and Colonnade Financial Group, a spin out from Deutsche Bank created to manage a private equity portfolio.

Mr. LaForge holds a B.S. in Commerce and Accounting from Washington & Lee University and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. Mr. LaForge also serves as a director of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and as Chairman of the Board of the Myeloma Investment Fund.

Partner, Financial Services Investment Team

Mr. LaForge joined Pine Brook in June 2020 and is a partner on the financial services investment team. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. Mr. LaForge represents Pine Brook as a board director of Amedeo Holding Company Limited, Belmont Green Limited, Clear Blue Financial Holdings and Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited.

Mr. LaForge has over 20 years of private equity investment and management experience. Prior to joining Pine Brook, Mr. LaForge was a managing director and head of the North American financial institutions investment banking groups at Bankers Trust, Alex Brown, and Deutsche Bank. Mr. LaForge also served as a partner of several entrepreneurial investment businesses and private equity funds focused in financial services, where he worked closely with the portfolio companies. These businesses included Brera Capital Partners and Colonnade Financial Group, a spin out from Deutsche Bank created to manage a private equity portfolio.

Mr. LaForge holds a B.S. in Commerce and Accounting from Washington & Lee University and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. Mr. LaForge also serves as a director of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and as Chairman of the Board of the Myeloma Investment Fund.

Cody Sheedy
Cody SheedyAssociate, Financial Services & Energy Investment Teams

Mr. Sheedy joined Pine Brook in February 2022 and is an associate on the financial services and energy investment teams.

Mr. Sheedy came to Pine Brook from HSBC where he spent four years as an analyst / associate in the firm’s Debt Originations Group.

Mr. Sheedy holds a B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Georgia.

Associate, Financial Services & Energy Investment Teams

Mr. Sheedy joined Pine Brook in February 2022 and is an associate on the financial services and energy investment teams.

Mr. Sheedy came to Pine Brook from HSBC where he spent four years as an analyst / associate in the firm’s Debt Originations Group.

Mr. Sheedy holds a B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Georgia.

<< Back to Financial Services

Print Team