Team

Kirsty McAlpine is a founder of McAlpine McFadden and co-heads the firm out of London. Kirsty has over 30 years of experience recruiting senior executives for the global asset management industry. In 2003, Kirsty founded Jamesbeck’s EMEA affiliate. Prior to Jamesbeck, Kirsty served as partner and global co-head of the Asset Management Practice of Monster Worldwide Executive Search alongside Ashton McFadden. She joined Monster through its acquisition of Highland Search Group, where she was a partner leading the asset management executive search practice internationally, outside the US.

Earlier in her career, Kirsty was a partner of Korn/Ferry International in London and the youngest principal promoted to the partnership globally, serving asset management and investment banking clients in both EMEA and Asia/Pacific. She also served as an executive director at Russell Reynolds Associates in Hong Kong, working with asset management and investment banking clients for roles based in the Asia Pacific region. Kirsty holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Durham.

Ashton McFadden is a founder of McAlpine McFadden and co-heads the firm out of New York. Ashton has over 30 years of experience recruiting senior investment- management professionals. Prior to McAlpine McFadden, he was a founding partner of Jamesbeck, and earlier served as a partner and co-global head of the Asset Management Practice of Monster Worldwide Executive Search alongside Kirsty McAlpine. Ashton joined Monster through its acquisition of Johnson, Smith & Kinsley, where he led the investment management executive search practice.

Ashton began his career in portfolio management and securities analysis before moving into a sales role for the bank’s first generation of foreign exchange-based alternative investment products. Subsequently, he was involved in the development, marketing, and sales of portfolio management analytics and security transaction products. Ashton holds a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Rosie Brown is a founder of McAlpine McFadden responsible for executing global asset management searches across public and private markets. In 2003, Rosie was a founding team member of Jamesbeck’s EMEA affiliate.

Rosie worked briefly for RAH Partners, a private banking executive search boutique, returning to Jamesbeck EMEA in 2014 to continue working on senior level searches for both traditional and alternative asset management clients across a range of investment, distribution, and senior management roles in EMEA. She was formerly an associate in the Asset Management Practice of Highland Partners/Monster Worldwide Executive Search and started her career at a boutique financial services search firm. Rosie holds a BA (Hons) in Classical Studies from the University of Bristol.

Susan Lerner joined McAlpine McFadden shortly after its founding in 2025. She brings over 25 years’ experience in recruiting and coaching talent in the investment management industry. Prior to joining McAlpine McFadden, Susan founded Libra Coaching to offer a differentiated approach to talent advisory services for the investment management community and continues to serve coaching clients. Her significant experience in retained search includes over 14 years at Jamesbeck and eight years at a boutique financial services search firm previously. Prior moving into executive search, Susan spent ten years as an investment banker working with asset managers.

Susan earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis. She holds both the Certified Professional Coach (CPC) designation from iPEC in 2012 and the Hogan certification in 2021.