By 
Private equity firms often lose their best people to competing shops or to the allure of starting fresh. Retention at the senior level is one of the harder problems in the business, and it shows up in the revolving-door partner rosters that mark many mid-market firms. Reeve Waud has taken a different approach, one that favors internal development over lateral hiring.
Waud Capital Partners promoted three professionals to Partner and one to Principal in January 2025, drawing from a bench that’d spent years inside the firm. The promotions went to Matthew Cremieux, who joined WCP in 2017 and works on the healthcare side; Kyle Lattner, who arrived in 2013 and also focuses on healthcare investments; and Scott Sutphin, a 2013 hire who leads software deals. Joe Lehman was moved up to Principal.
The Common Thread
Each of the newly promoted Partners had been with the firm for at least seven years before earning the title. That tenure is unusual. Junior professionals in private equity frequently hop between firms in search of faster advancement. At WCP, the path runs through deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio company oversight; it’s a full cycle that gives each person direct exposure to how investments actually perform over time, not just how they look on paper at the underwriting stage.
Reeve Waud framed the promotions in terms of the firm’s overall operating philosophy: “At Waud Capital, we firmly believe that exceptional people drive exceptional value, and it holds true in both our portfolio and firm. I am proud of the caliber of talent we have within Waud Capital”.
Matt Graber, a Managing Partner at the firm, added context: “All of these new Partners have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, delivering value, insights and expertise to their portfolio companies and contributing to the continued success of Waud Capital”.
What the Promotions Signal
Mike DuPere, another Managing Partner, tied the personnel decisions to the firm’s deal pipeline: “These promotions underscore our momentum going into 2025 as we look to deploy capital across key sectors”.
Waud Capital manages approximately $4.6 billion across healthcare and software, with more than 460 completed investments since 1993. Keeping the people who built that track record, rather than watching them leave for a competitor, is part of how Reeve Waud has maintained continuity across three decades of fund cycles.
Comments