Stonepeak’s European head Daniel Wong has been transitioned to a new role of chairman of the manager’s European business with a “broad senior supporting” remit, sources said, amidst question marks over the firm’s deal flow volume in Europe.

Wong – who joined the firm in 2022 to spearhead its European push after over two decades in infrastructure and energy investment banking at Macquarie – no longer has the title of head of Europe, although the firm has no plans to find a replacement with this job description, the sources added.

Stonepeak declined to comment.

The role of chairman is typically associated with overseeing the work of a firm’s board rather than leading the company itself. However, a source close to the situation said Wong will have a “broad senior supporting role for Europe” working across deal origination and developing “relationships with LPs and other counterparties”.

Wong has played a pivotal role in building the London team to its current tally of around 25 staff, including such senior executives as Allianz Capital Partners’ former head of renewables, Georg Hoefler, former Macquarie executive Nikolaus Woloszczuk and the ex-Blackstone executive Anthony Borreca.

He is also one of the leaders of the manager’s global core infrastructure fund that launched in 2022 and has also been closely involved in the firm’s global renewables strategy

In his new role, he will remain effectively in charge of the manager’s European business, according to a source close to the firm. He also retains his title of senior managing director and remains on the firm’s main executive committee, the source close added.

Notwithstanding this, while Stonepeak has made 16 investments worldwide in the last 12 months, the firm has made only two deals in Europe since Wong arrived at the firm just over two years ago: a GBP 450m investment into the UK roadside assistance business AA and the purchase of a 49% stake in Cellnex’s Danish and Swedish towers businesses.

Sources said that Wong while playing an important role at the firm has not been as active as expected in sourcing, leading and executing new deals. The sources added that this might be behind Stonepeak’s reason for placing him into the new chairman role.

“To be valued at Stonepeak you need to be delivering deals and leading them,” one of the sources said.

Another source said: “He fits well at Stonepeak but he has not led any transactions. Only a few deals have happened in Europe and they did not have his name on the tin.”

But the same sources also said that Stonepeak highly values Wong’s relationships among limited partners and stakeholders in general. “Stonepeak is really happy with Dan’s connections,” said one of the sources.

Another described him as a very hard-working guy”, a “good leader” and whose “relationships open a lot of doors”.

The sources also praised his ability to analyse deals, one saying that as an “investor, he is pretty sophisticated” and that “he cuts right to the heart of the investment analysis”.

Stonepeak since its establishment by former Blackstone infrastructure executive Michael Dorrell has grown to become one of the biggest success stories in infrastructure history, with some USD 71bn of assets under management today and currently fundraising for its fifth flagship fund with a USD 15bn target.

Stonepeak last month hired the former vice chairman of BofA Securities, Yuichi Jimbo, as chairman of its Japan business, and former Deutsche Bank executive Sung Eun Ahn as chairman for Korea.

However, the sources said the decision to appoint chairmen in Asia is completely unrelated to Wong’s movement to chairman, and not part of a strategy of appointing chairman in certain regions.

Stonepeak’s other chairman is its co-founder, Mike Dorrell, who is also its CEO.