Lazard Ltd. hired former UK national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove, as incoming chief executive officer Peter Orszag seeks to build out a geopolitical advisory practice the firm began about a year ago.
(Bloomberg) — Lazard Ltd. hired former UK national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove, as incoming chief executive officer Peter Orszag seeks to build out a geopolitical advisory practice the firm began about a year ago.
Lovegrove, who was tapped by ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the top security role in 2021, is joining as a senior adviser in London and will also serve clients in the UK financial advisory practice. For Lovegrove, it’s a return to investment banking, his career before joining the civil service in 2004.
Lazard is expanding its geopolitical practice with a mix of political risk advisers, former government and defense officials and longtime investment banking talent. William H. McRaven, a retired US Navy four-star admiral who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, and Jami Miscik, who had been CEO of Kissinger Associates and deputy director for intelligence at the US Central Intelligence Agency, has also joined Lazard in recent years to help the effort.
The team is led by Theodore Bunzel, who joined Lazard from BlackRock Inc. and has worked at the US Treasury Department and embassy in Moscow. Since the beginning of last year, the group has expanded to roughly a dozen people with experience across the globe, including General John Abizaid, former commander of US Central Command who focuses primarily on the Middle East and Europe for Lazard.
Lovegrove, who also worked at the UK Department of Energy, “brings a deeply informed perspective on business and geopolitical topics developed over decades of experience,” Orszag said in a statement. “His insight into the energy transition will be of particular interest to our European clients.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.