Vistra appoints Caroline Baker as Country Managing Director for North America
Caroline Baker
Montreal, 17 July 2024 – Vistra, a leading provider of essential business services to companies and funds, is pleased to announce the appointment of Caroline Baker as Country Managing Director (CMD) for North America.
In March this year, Vistra set out its renewed purpose to partner with clients as they pursue their growth ambitions, helping them to drive progress and contribute to prosperity globally. This newly created role further reinforces the strategic importance of the North American market to Vistra as it seeks to support its clients’ growth ambitions. As part of its strategy, the company will invest and grow its brand and scale in the US and Canada, two of the largest economies in the world.
Vistra understands that clients across both countries are increasingly in need of cross-border services, and it has also witnessed rising interest from international clients wishing to expand and raise capital in North America. In response to these trends, Caroline will drive an active growth strategy for the region, expanding Vistra’s Commercial team. The expansion of Vistra in North America is already underway with the recent appointments of Kristen Badgley to lead the US Corporate Solutions Commercial team and Chris Murphy in the US Fund Solutions team.
Caroline reports to Jonathan Ferrara, Regional Managing Director for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Channel Islands, India, Americas, and Middle East (UKICIIAME). Jonathan states, “I’m thrilled to appoint Caroline in this new role for Vistra. We have an ambitious strategy, vision and goals, and her presence in this important market will be critical to achieving our objectives. Her global experience, most recently in Asia and North America, positions her perfectly to support our reimagined business. She is a strong leader for our colleagues and will play a huge part in making operating globally feel borderless and frictionless for our clients.”
Caroline Baker, Country Managing Director for North America at Vistra, comments, “I’ve been with Vistra through multiple phases of its growth journey and this next step feels the most exciting. We aim to create, innovate, and do great things that accelerate global progress, and our market presence in North America will play a huge part in achieving this ambition. I’m delighted to take on this new role to help our clients grow with confidence, and to bring new opportunities for our colleagues.”
Caroline began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Montreal, before moving to Sydney, London, and Singapore. She then became CFO at a large investment firm with USD$5bn of listed, private equity and real-estate investments across Asia. Caroline joined Vistra in Singapore in 2014 where she has held various leadership roles in Alternative Investments, Private Equity, and country management. She moved to Canada in 2018 to establish the Toronto office before returning to Singapore as Managing Director for Southeast Asia. In 2024, she relocated back to Montreal where she is based, and is now both the CMD for North America and Global Head of Operations for Funds.
In her funds role, she supports Abdel Hmitti, Global Head of Funds, and the broader Funds Business Unit with key global relationships and connections across Vistra’s global funds markets including Asia, Europe and the US. Vistra works with almost 70% of Private Equity International’s top 300 funds by facilitating the rapid deployment of private capital worldwide, and ultimately helping its clients achieve their fund growth goals.
Caroline is a Chartered Professional Accountant and member of CPA Canada, with a bachelor’s degree and postgraduate diploma, majoring in accounting from Concordia University in Montreal. A native English speaker, she is also fluent in French.
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About Vistra
Vistra is a leading provider of essential business services to help companies and private capital funds grow across the entire business and investment lifecycle.
Here at Vistra, our purpose is progress. As a close ally to our clients, our role is to remove the friction that comes from the complexity of global business. We partner with companies and private capital managers along the corporate and private capital lifecycle. From HR to tax and from legal entity management to regulatory compliance, we quietly fix the operational and administrative frustrations that hamper business growth. With over 9,000 experts in more than 50 markets, we can accelerate progress, improve processes, and reduce risk, wherever your ambition takes you.
For more information about Vistra, visit vistra.com