A comprehensive guide to the operating partners of the leading private equity firms
Historical Evolution
Hellman & Friedman (H&F), founded in 1984, long favored a lean operating model focused on backing strong management teams. For decades, H&F did not maintain a formal in-house operating group, reasoning that its strategy of buying high-growth businesses led by capable managers made an internal ops team less necessary. This hands-off approach began to evolve in the mid-2000s. In 2007, H&F took the notable step of hiring its first Operating Partner, marking a shift toward augmenting its deal teams with operational expertise. Throughout the 2010s, H&F continued to rely primarily on deal professionals and external advisors for portfolio support. However, by the early 2020s the firm accelerated the build-out of dedicated operating resources. Starting around 2021, H&F brought on several senior specialists – for example, hiring experts in procurement/supply chain, product & technology, and pricing & marketing – to help drive operational effectiveness across its portfolio. This gradual evolution has transformed H&F’s model from an almost purely deal-team-driven approach to one that blends investment acumen with targeted operational support as of 2025.
Structure and Scale of Current Model
H&F today employs a hybrid operating partner model that combines a small in-house team of operating professionals with a network of external advisors. The firm’s Operating Team & Advisors roster includes a handful of full-time Operating Executives on staff, complemented by part-time Senior Advisors and Operating Partners who are not firm employees. This model gives H&F flexibility to tap expertise as needed while keeping the core team lean. In total, H&F’s operating specialists likely number in the single digits (versus ~140 total employees at the firm across San Francisco, New York, and London offices). For instance, H&F’s in-house operating personnel in 2025 include domain experts focusing on areas like finance (a Finance Center of Excellence led by a dedicated partner), technology and cybersecurity, human capital, pricing, and ESG. Alongside them, H&F has engaged distinguished industry veterans in advisory Operating Partner roles. These advisors (often former CEOs) serve on H&F’s “CEO Council” and assist the firm on a part-time basis (their titles are marked with an asterisk on H&F’s team page to denote non-employee status). Geographically, the operating team is primarily U.S.-based, but supports H&F’s global portfolio (North America and Europe) by traveling and working alongside deal teams in those regions. In summary, H&F’s current model is smaller in scale and more centrally organized than some peers – it favors a tight-knit group of internal experts and senior advisors integrated with the deal team, rather than a large standalone ops department.
Key Features and Practices
H&F’s operating partners are integrated throughout the investment lifecycle in a collaborative, as-needed fashion. Notably, the firm maintains that its deal team remains the primary “oversight team” on each investment, working jointly with management from day one to craft and execute a value creation plan. Operating professionals are deployed to support this effort where they can add the most value. In practice, H&F will involve operating specialists during due diligence for input on operational assessments in their areas of expertise (e.g. evaluating a target’s IT stack or procurement efficiency). Post-acquisition, these experts work with portfolio company management on targeted initiatives rather than blanket mandates. For example, H&F’s in-house procurement lead may help a portfolio CEO implement a new strategic sourcing program, or its product/technology advisor might consult on a software company’s tech roadmap. Operating partners often take on board roles or project mentorship positions rather than full-time line management jobs. They coach management teams and provide functional playbooks, but H&F deliberately avoids undermining the authority of portfolio CEOs. To facilitate knowledge-sharing, H&F formed an internal CEO Council composed of its most experienced operating advisors. This council convenes forums and one-on-one mentoring for portfolio CEOs, leveraging members’ leadership experience to advise on strategy, talent, and culture across H&F companies. In governance, H&F typically places at least one Operating Partner or Senior Advisor on the board of each major investment, alongside deal partners, to guide operational improvements and monitor progress. Focus areas for H&F operating engagements often include growth initiatives (pricing optimization, salesforce effectiveness, digital product strategy), efficiency projects (cost optimization in procurement or organizational design), and talent (leadership development and recruitment of key executives). Overall, H&F’s practice is to embed operating partners as collaborative coaches – they work hand-in-hand with management rather than dictating, ensuring that improvements are tailored to the business and implemented in alignment with the company’s leadership.
Philosophy and Differentiators
H&F’s philosophy toward operational value creation is rooted in its long-held belief that “great businesses are powered by great people” The firm has always emphasized partnering with top-tier management teams and nurturing those partnerships. Historically, H&F differentiated itself by not relying on a heavy-handed operations playbook – instead, it trusted proven managers to run companies, stepping in only selectively. This is evidenced by H&F’s view (cited in a 2009 study) that because it invests in high-growth companies with strong management, an in-house ops team would add only marginal value. That ethos persists in 2025: H&F’s approach remains management-centric and collaborative, in contrast to some peers that impose more rigid operating frameworks. What has changed is H&F’s recognition that it can provide more structured support without compromising its partnership culture. The firm describes its operating model as “collaborative and differentiated” – leveraging seasoned executives’ know-how to tailor value creation plans to each company’s situation. Unlike firms with a one-size-fits-all methodology, H&F prides itself on bespoke operational strategies customized for each investment’s context. Another differentiator is the H&F CEO Council, which formalizes the mentorship of portfolio leadership by elite former CEOs. This council concept (led by Operating Partners Aron Ain and David Simmons) is relatively unique and stems from H&F’s belief that leadership and culture are key drivers of value. H&F also maintains an integrated firm culture – deal and operating professionals sit on the same team – which fosters internal alignment and quick action. Additionally, H&F’s operating model is selective: it intervenes on specific priorities rather than managing day-to-day operations. This measured approach is grounded in the firm’s core belief of leaving companies better than they were found, but not micromanaging them. In summary, H&F’s model is distinguished by its light-touch, high-impact ethos – it seeks to empower, not replace, management, adding operational muscle only where it truly moves the needle. This contrasts with more process-driven PE firms, and H&F sees its flexibility and deep sector insight as key advantages in driving growth in partnership with management.
Examples and Case Studies
H&F can point to multiple success stories where its operating partners contributed to significant value creation and transformation:
- Kronos/Ultimate Software (UKG) – H&F led investments in Kronos (2007) and Ultimate Software (2019), enterprises in the human capital management (HCM) software space. Under the stewardship of CEO Aron Ain (who later became an H&F Operating Partner), these companies merged in 2020 to form UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), creating one of the world’s largest private software firms. H&F’s collaborative support was instrumental in this merger’s success. Ain fostered a unified culture and leveraged H&F’s capital for strategic growth, resulting in UKG achieving a top-6 ranking on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list shortly after the merger. This example highlights how H&F’s model of backing an exceptional operator and providing strategic and operational guidance led to a transformative outcome (a scaled, industry-leading company with strong employee culture). Today, Aron Ain brings those lessons learned to other H&F portfolio companies as an Operating Partner and CEO Council member.
- PPD – In 2011, H&F invested in Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD), partnering with CEO David Simmons (now also an H&F Operating Partner) to accelerate the company’s growth. During H&F’s ownership (2011–2021), PPD’s global workforce more than doubled from roughly 11,000 to over 26,000 employees. With strategic guidance from H&F, Simmons expanded PPD’s service offerings and geographic reach, while implementing operational improvements in clinical trial management. The company earned industry accolades for performance, and in 2021 H&F and co-investors sold PPD to Thermo Fisher Scientific for $17.4 billion, capping a highly successful decade-long value creation story. This case underscores H&F’s philosophy of empowering strong leaders: Simmons remained at the helm throughout, executing a growth plan supported by H&F’s capital and advice, ultimately delivering a premium exit. His leadership excellence was so evident that he received The Carlyle Group’s CEO award in 2017 during H&F’s ownership, and he now helps H&F replicate such success at other portfolio companies in an Operating Partner capacity.
(Additional examples from H&F’s portfolio further illustrate its operating model in action. For instance, in the auto services sector, H&F helped Caliber Collision grow from a regional chain into the nation’s largest collision repair company through operational improvements and over 30 acquisitions. In financial technology, H&F’s partnership with Verisk/WoodMac drove a successful carve-out and transformation. While individual circumstances differ, the common thread is H&F’s selective but impactful use of operating expertise to support management in driving significant growth and efficiency.)
