Key Takeaways
- • Ara Partners, a global private equity and infrastructure firm specializing in industrial decarbonization, appointed Masumi Waida as Chief Financial Officer effective September 2026, strengthening its finance leadership as the platform scales.
- • Waida brings over 20 years of investment management experience, most recently serving as CFO at ACON Investments (middle-market private equity), and previously held senior finance roles at Fortress Investment Group's Mount Kellett Funds and Lehman Brothers.
- • In his new role, Waida will oversee corporate and fund finance, accounting, tax, financial reporting, treasury, and the build-out of finance and operations infrastructure across Ara's private equity, infrastructure, and energy strategies.
- • Ara Partners, founded in 2017, operates as a differentiated platform focused on decarbonizing the industrial economy with capital deployed across multiple asset classes and geographies.
- • The appointment signals Ara's commitment to infrastructure development as the firm enters a period of significant growth and platform scaling.
Summary
Ara Partners announced the appointment of Masumi Waida as Chief Financial Officer, effective September 2026. The move reflects the firm's expansion strategy as it continues to scale operations across its private equity, infrastructure, and energy investment platforms. Waida joins from ACON Investments, where he served as CFO of the middle-market private equity firm.
Waida's career spans more than two decades in institutional asset management and finance leadership. Prior to ACON, he was a Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Mount Kellett Funds at Fortress Investment Group, where he built finance infrastructure supporting multi-billion dollar investment operations. Earlier in his career, he held the position of Vice President at Lehman Brothers, where he managed products and operations for private equity and hedge fund strategies. Waida holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and maintains a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) designation from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.
At Ara Partners, Waida's mandate extends across comprehensive finance operations: corporate and fund finance, accounting, tax, financial reporting, treasury management, and the strategic build-out of the firm's finance and operations function. Troy Thacker, Managing Partner at Ara Partners, stated that "Masumi has built and led finance functions at global investment firms through periods of significant growth, and that experience will serve Ara and our investors well," emphasizing the CFO's track record scaling finance organizations during expansion phases.
Ara Partners, founded in 2017, operates as a global private markets firm with a specialized focus on industrial decarbonization—a differentiated market positioning where institutional capital demand remains robust. The appointment of an experienced CFO with institutional infrastructure-building credentials underscores the firm's intention to formalize governance and operational scale as it deploys capital across multiple strategies and geographies. Waida's statement that "Ara has built a differentiated platform in an area of the market where capital is genuinely needed" reflects the firm's market positioning in energy transition and decarbonization infrastructure.
Waida's career spans more than two decades in institutional asset management and finance leadership. Prior to ACON, he was a Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Mount Kellett Funds at Fortress Investment Group, where he built finance infrastructure supporting multi-billion dollar investment operations. Earlier in his career, he held the position of Vice President at Lehman Brothers, where he managed products and operations for private equity and hedge fund strategies. Waida holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and maintains a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) designation from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.
At Ara Partners, Waida's mandate extends across comprehensive finance operations: corporate and fund finance, accounting, tax, financial reporting, treasury management, and the strategic build-out of the firm's finance and operations function. Troy Thacker, Managing Partner at Ara Partners, stated that "Masumi has built and led finance functions at global investment firms through periods of significant growth, and that experience will serve Ara and our investors well," emphasizing the CFO's track record scaling finance organizations during expansion phases.
Ara Partners, founded in 2017, operates as a global private markets firm with a specialized focus on industrial decarbonization—a differentiated market positioning where institutional capital demand remains robust. The appointment of an experienced CFO with institutional infrastructure-building credentials underscores the firm's intention to formalize governance and operational scale as it deploys capital across multiple strategies and geographies. Waida's statement that "Ara has built a differentiated platform in an area of the market where capital is genuinely needed" reflects the firm's market positioning in energy transition and decarbonization infrastructure.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.