AltoPartners Appoints Global Chair
December 14, 2020 – AltoPartners, an international alliance of boutique executive search and leadership consulting firms, has elected Sonal Agrawal as its new global chair. Ms Agrawal has served on the global board for AltoPartners since its inception in 2006 and has been at the forefront of various initiatives across governance, geographic expansion, and marketing strategy over the years. Ms Agrawal is managing partner of Accord | India, an AltoPartners founding member firm. She is the first woman and the first Asian to chair the alliance.
Outgoing chairman, Stephen Dallamore, of Search Partners International / AltoPartners South Africa, said that Ms. Agrawal was a unanimous and obvious choice to chair the alliance in a new and disruptive era. “Sonal is a highly respected industry figure who embodies our global values of innovation, collaboration and inclusion,” said Dr. Dallamore. “She has been instrumental in championing the alliance’s efforts to promote diversity, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because we know that diverse boards and leadership teams are more successful and more resilient when it comes to solving problems and re-imagining the future. In a post-COVID world, this will be more important than ever.”
Ms Agrawal is an advisor to Indian and global conglomerates in South Asia and actively serves private equity and financial services firms in the region. In addition to being an advocate and speaker on leadership, gender, and diversity, she also serves on the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) diversity and inclusion task force.
“It’s an honor to be elected global chair of AltoPartners, which serves the interests of our partners across five continents,” said Ms. Agrawal. “Under Stephen Dallamore’s leadership, AltoPartners has capitalized on the uniquely entrepreneurial spirit of its members, harnessing the power of local knowledge with global best practice. This has led to significant growth over the last five years, specifically in key territories in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.”
“Partners are attracted by our shared values and that we collaborate internationally to serve our clients across our executive search and leadership consulting offerings,” she said. “Our goal is to continue to build on the foundations of collaboration, trust and integrity to drive sustainable leadership solutions based on inclusivity and diversity.”
Growing Consortium
With 58 offices in 34 countries, AltoPartners maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
In September, AltoPartners added Colombian search firm Executive Connection. Founded in 2011, Executive Connection is a professional services firm with offices in both Bogota and Cali. The founding partners have experience working in global organizations and are able to offer a variety of executive search, talent management and board advisory solutions designed to meet the macro challenges of the organization.
AltoPartners Adds New Member Firm in Morocco
AltoPartners has added Moroccan search firm Seeliger y Conde Morocco. Headed by Javier Canals, a multilingual search consultant and executive advisor, the firm is based in Casablanca and covers the North Africa region. “The addition of Morocco to the AltoPartners alliance solidifies the African continent and Middle East coverage and provides on-the-ground support in Angola, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa and United Arab Emirates – coverage that also extends to neighboring African and Middle Eastern countries,” the consortium said. Through these firms, AltoPartners offers clients support in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.
“I am delighted to welcome the team from Executive Connection into the global AltoPartners family,” said Dr. Dallamore. “We continue to enhance the global reach and value of the alliance and 2020 has proven to be a significant year of growth for our alliance through the addition of partners in Mexico, Hong Kong, Spain, Morocco and now Colombia.”
AltoPartners also recently added Hong Kong-based Fowler Fox & Co, advisors to some of the world’s most respected private banks, wealth managers and family offices. Headed by Simeon Fowler and supported by Katie Brunt, managing director and head of APAC, Fowler Fox & Co strengthens AltoPartners’ presence in Asia, “and greatly amplifies our global financial services practice and international client impact,” the organization said. The addition expands AltoPartners’ footprint to 56 offices across 32 countries.
“Simeon Fowler is widely regarded as one of most experienced head hunters in the private banking sector and has earned the trust and respect of senior executives in the industry,” AltoPartners said. He has spent the last decade assisting clients to manage their global talent requirements and provide them with executive search, M&A advisory and board-level succession planning services. Mr. Fowler founded Fowler Fox & Co in 1999.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
