Our Team

Andrew Malk, Founder and Executive Chairman of Malk Partners, founded the firm after recognizing that even the most astute investors and well-managed companies need guidance to leverage environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management to protect and create value. Andrew has worked with over 60 investment firms, representing more than $350 billion in assets under management, to design and deliver impactful ESG strategies. Andrew has built long-standing advisory partnerships by earning the trust of Malk’s clients.

Andrew is a recognized ESG expert and his views are sought by industry publications and organizations such as Bloomberg/Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, Private Equity International, Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst, ILPA, ACG, and Responsible Investor. He has presented at SuperReturn, American Investment Council, PEI’s Responsible Investment Forum, and Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conferences.

Andrew is a member of the Private Equity Working Group of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative and a content contributor to the American Investment Council. He is also a sustainability advisor to various Stanford University departments.

Education

Andrew holds a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Science from Stanford University and M.B.A from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Additional Information

Prior to founding the firm, Andrew led strategy and acquisitions for the Midtown National Group, a real estate private equity firm. At Midtown National Group, Andrew started the firm’s Green Finance Program, an investment program promoting development of high-performing, more energy efficient greener buildings. Before joining Midtown National Group, Andrew built the business development group at Entrisphere, a telecom start-up bought by Ericsson. Andrew began his career at the World Resources Institute, a globally-respected environmental think tank and leader in sustainability and climate change issues.

Andrew was born in South Africa, where he developed a passion for wildlife conservation.

Max Hong, Chief Executive Officer of Malk Partners, joined the firm in 2022. A veteran in private equity and consulting, Max brings a track record of innovation, entrepreneurial drive, and a strategic mindset to the talented Malk team during a time of high growth and the global finance community’s accelerating adoption of ESG management. Currently, Max serves on the board of Integrum ESG.

Prior to joining Malk, Max was an Operating Partner at Crosspoint Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on cybersecurity and infrastructure software. Max was a member of the founding team, which closed a $1.3 billion Fund I in April 2021, and invested in several segment-leading companies in cybersecurity. Max helped lead post-investment value creation activities and supported fundraising and due diligence activities.

Prior to Crosspoint Capital, Max was a Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he led the West Coast TMT Practice, serving leading technology companies and private equity sponsors investing and driving value in enterprise software companies.

Max also held senior executive roles where he led two high-growth light-emitting diode (LED) businesses. He was the General Manager of Philips Lighting LED Systems Global Business Unit where he accelerated growth and profitability. He also was EVP of Sales & Marketing for Bridgelux, Inc., an LED chip on-board manufacturer, ramping the revenue growth and helping guide a strategic exit for its venture capital investors.

Prior to these executive roles, Max was a Partner at McKinsey & Company where he served financial services and technology companies across the U.S. and Asia.

Education

Max holds a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Additional Information

Max resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife and two children.

Margaret Spear is the Chief People Officer at Malk Partners where she partners with the team on key aspects of the Malk employee experience. With over 10 years of professional human resources experience, Margaret provides counsel and support to the team to help them achieve personal and firm-wide strategic and operational goals. Practice areas include culture and engagement, people enablement through learning and performance, leadership development, diversity equity and inclusion, employee relations, people programs, analytics, and initiatives, organizational development, recognition and reward, and internal policies and practices. In addition to the People & Culture department, she oversees and advises on several internal committees and employee resource groups.

Margaret has spent her career serving as a strategic business partner with expertise in high-growth environments directing and scaling people initiatives and advising on talent management strategies. Before joining Malk, Margaret grew and led a People & Culture team at FIRST, a brand experience agency, through its global expansion and had worked in Human Resources at Bessemer Trust and Credit Suisse.

Education

Margaret holds a B.A. in Sociology, Linguistics and French from Emory University. She is also a graduate of the Cornell University Industrial Labor Relations School.

Ryan Werffeli is the Chief Operating Officer of Malk Partners. As an early Malk employee and an ESG veteran, he has worked on hundreds of Private Equity transactions and has a deep knowledge of incorporating ESG both into the investment and fundraising process. As COO he is based in New York and oversees Malk’s Private Equity as well as its Venture Capital and Growth Equity offerings.

Prior to working in ESG, Ryan was a management consultant focused on growth strategy at Marakon.

Education

Ryan holds a degree from Northwestern University.

Anastassia leads Malk’s ESG Solutions practice, helping drive ESG adoption and innovation for private market investors and their portfolio companies. In her role, she oversees Malk’s ESG monitoring service, supporting GPs’ portfolio companies on operational ESG management over the hold period, and manages Malk’s data partnership with Integrum ESG. Prior to stepping into the SVP Solutions role, Anastassia advised dozens of GP clients on building their ESG programs and led consulting teams performing ESG diligence across hundreds of transactions.

Prior to Malk, Anastassia worked at Notch Partners, where she advised private equity clients on executive-driven buyout and growth equity strategies.

Education

Anastassia holds a BA in Sociology and English Literature from Colgate University.

Brian has worked across many roles within Malk, including ESG due diligence, client advisory, and internal strategy and operations. With experience across dozens of clients and hundreds of transactions, Brian is an expert in building and executing ESG strategies in the middle market for clients across a wide variety of industries and investment strategies. Brian leads Malk’s Private Equity Advisory group, advising global clients with hundreds of billions of dollars of assets under management.

Education

Brian holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Government from Claremont McKenna College.

Jon Cross is the Head of Business Development at Malk Partners, where he collaborates with all client-facing Malk professionals to drive new client acquisition, customer expansion, and firm partnerships.

With over 20 years of experience selling software, professional services, and data to the institutional investment community, Jon has worked at companies of all shapes and sizes, from investment banks to global technology companies to early-stage start-ups.

Jon held business development and sales leadership positions at IHS Markit – arriving via the acquisitions of iLEVEL and Ipreo – where he provided portfolio monitoring, reporting, and valuation solutions to firms across the private markets spectrum, including private equity, private debt, real estate, venture capital, LPs and other allocators.

Prior roles include his work at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), the world’s largest expert network, where Jon partnered with investment banks and asset managers to deliver custom projects based on their specific research needs. Additional sales roles include Drawbridge, a cybersecurity provider to the alternative investment industry, and Thomson Financial, a global information and technology company serving the financial and corporate markets.

Education

Jon holds a B.A. in History from Amherst College

Julia began her ESG career in Private Equity due diligence, supporting hundreds of transactions across a range of industries. As Senior Vice President, Julia now oversees Malk’s ESG GP Advisory practice, supporting all asset classes including Private Equity, Growth/Venture, Private Credit and Multi-Strategy. Julia works closely with GPs to intentionally integrate ESG into their investment lifecycle to better drive capital to responsible investments. She has extensive experience in standing up and supporting GPs’ ESG programs including, but not limited to, UN PRI reporting, DEI initiatives, LP reporting, framework alignment and ESG data.

Prior to joining Malk, Julia led a technology startup in Austin that helped teens learn programming skills (e.g. Python, Javascript, etc.).

Education

Julia holds a BS in Marketing and International Business from Indiana University.

Peter Ekman, Senior Vice President of ESG Value Creation, joined in 2023 to further operationalize and improve the work Malk provides directly to private and public companies. Peter brings vast experience in leading results-driven consulting businesses, serving corporate clients.

Before joining Malk, Peter founded and led Level Company, a venture-backed platform for relationship-based sales, as CEO and member of the board. Level helps small and mid-sized fast-growing companies secure large enterprise contracts with major enterprises.

Prior to Level, Peter was VP of Strategic Solutions at GLG, the world’s leading insight network. In this role, Peter built, led, and matured a division that provided more hands-on and long-term consulting services for corporate clients leveraging GLG’s vast network of industry experts. Under Peter’s leadership, the practice was one of GLG’s fastest growing businesses globally and the full-service consulting offering became the primary service model for GLG in the corporate space.

Prior to GLG, Peter began his work in management consulting at McKinsey & Company for 5 years, first at the firm’s London office, serving primarily large European enterprises on operations strategy, then at Stanford where his focus shifted towards slightly smaller businesses in advanced industrials.

Education

Peter holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

Additional Information

Peter divides his time between Brooklyn and Millbrook in upstate New York with his wife and two children.

Chase began his ESG career in private equity due diligence, before transitioning to build Malk’s Venture and Growth Equity practice, leading hundreds of diligence reviews in the growth and venture space and supporting these firms in building industry-leading ESG programs. Chase now leads Malk’s Multi-Strategy practice, helping large GPs investing across asset classes build industry-leading ESG programs. Chase also oversees Malk’s work with clients investing in asset classes including Real Estate, Infrastructure, Secondaries, and Hedge Funds, supporting these clients in developing effective due diligence strategies, align to relevant ESG frameworks, and communicate their ESG progress to LPs.

Education

Chase holds a B.S. in Finance and International Business Regional Studies (Latin America) and a Minor in Spanish from Georgetown University.

Eric leads Malk’s Information Technology, Data Privacy, and Security functions, overseeing IT strategy and delivery, while ensuring alignment with the needs of Malk’s rapidly scaling business. In his role, he develops, implements, and supports our technology strategy and roadmap while continuing to enhance and mature our policies, procedures, and overall posture. He serves as our primary contact with external parties and partners on all Information Technology matters, and serves as our primary escalation point for technology and compliance matters both internal and external.

Prior to Malk, Eric worked across several industries including Education, Media & Entertainment, and Managed Services. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer for TNTMAX, a New Jersey based Managed Service Provider, and has held IT Leadership positions within organizations such as DreamWorks Animation and Classic Media, where he aided in the achievement of overall business goals through IT strategy and innovation.

Education

Eric holds a BS in Organizational Leadership from Manhattan College.