It isn’t just sovereign wealth funds that see an opportunity to cash in on the havoc wreaked on financial institutions by the credit crunch. Veteran banker Chris Casciato, betting on potential opportunities in insurance, securities lending and specialty finance, has left Goldman Sachs to join Lightyear, a private equity shop founded by former PaineWebber chairman and CEO Donald Marron. Lightyear, with $3 billion in committed capital, is one of the few private equity shops focused on such areas as asset management, banking, brokerage, financial technology and insurance. “The distressed environment has a lot of firms looking for private equity,” says Casciato. “Financial services private equity doesn’t rely on as much leverage, so there are still a lot of opportunities out there.” — J.S.
