By Mike Cordingley and Michelle Yelaska
Curzon & Ferguson Partners’ research shows that nearly 30 percent of today’s infrastructure investment management leaders are also the founders of their firms. These founder-CEOs have a median tenure of 16 years — double that of non-founders. With many founders reaching critical inflection points in their careers, a wave of succession events is on the horizon.
The research further shows that infrastructure leadership demands a distinct combination of operational expertise, financial capability and long-term trust-building with limited partners (LPs). In a sector where capital is committed for decades, succession planning becomes inseparable from strategic planning. Without a deliberate approach, founder-led firms face heightened risks to performance, culture and investor confidence.
Five succession planning practices have been identified as particularly important for infrastructure managers:
1. Make succession continuous, not episodic.
2. Develop internal pipelines with structured pathways.
3. Balance cultural continuity with leadership innovation.
4. Engage stakeholders transparently.
5. Plan succession across all leadership levels, not just the CEO.
These practices have been observed across the sector and within many firms. To illustrate how they are applied in practice, insights were gathered from Niall Mills, global head of Igneo Infrastructure Partners, and Richard Nourse, founder of Greencoat Capital, on their approaches to succession.
Mills estimates he spends a quarter of his free-thinking time to succession activity, demonstrating how intentional, transparent and culture-focused planning sets infrastructure managers apart. Mills’s career spans more than 35 years, ranging from civil engineering and utilities to investment leadership. His operational grounding gives him credibility with management teams, while his investor-facing acumen has grown Igneo from approximately AU$12 billion ($7.93 billion) to more than AU$37 billion ($24.46 billion) assets under management (AUM), with a plan to reach AU$50 billion (33.05 billion) in the next few years.
Nourse, founder of Greencoat Capital, built the United Kingdom’s largest specialist renewable-energy investor, managing nearly £11 billion ($14.6 billion) before successfully transitioning leadership to Minal Patel in 2024 following Greencoat’s acquisition by Schroders in 2019. His ability to design and execute a credible handover preserved investor confidence, strengthened cultural cohesion and positioned the firm for long-term growth under Schroders Capital.
The following case studies are intended to highlight where Mills and Nourse exemplify best practices in succession planning.
1. Make succession continuous, not episodic.
For both Mills and Nourse, succession is not an event, it is a mindset. Mills often describes the process as a “plate of spaghetti” that must be continuously untangled, reflecting his view that leadership planning should evolve alongside strategy, fund cycles and talent needs.
“I want to be the guy who, two or three years after I’ve retired, sits at the back of the annual meeting and thinks, ‘This is even better than when I was here.’ And ‘I wish I had thought of that.” -Niall Mills
Similarly, Nourse began planning his eventual handover years before stepping down. When Schroders acquired Greencoat in 2019, he noted that its leadership needed confidence in Greencoat’s succession options as a core part of risk management, with trust that was built through years of broadening ownership, lifting out teams and strengthening internal capability.
Both demonstrate that true continuity comes from foresight and embedding leadership transition into the normal rhythm of running the business rather than reacting to a moment of crisis.
2. Develop internal pipelines with structured pathways.
Both leaders reject the notion that successors emerge by accident, which aligns with our research that regional and functional leadership roles are critical feeder positions for the CEO seat. For Mills, regional and functional leadership roles act as proving grounds, where his successors gain hands-on experience by running meetings, leading client relationships, and making decisions without a safety net.
For Nourse, the path was equally intentional. He gave his successor direct exposure to the intersection of capital formation and investment strategy, placing her within Schroders’ private markets platform to gain experience in both handling the sources of capital and designing products that best met investor demand.
“To perpetuate the returns we give to investors, I have to have a successor. I have to pass the baton as soon as there’s someone better than me and they are ready.” -Niall Mills
In both cases, structured exposure, not title, is the currency of readiness. By the time transition occurred, their successors were not just familiar faces but proven leaders who had operated in the firm’s most complex intersections of capital, clients and culture.
3. Balance cultural continuity with leadership innovation
For both Mills and Nourse, effective succession planning starts with culture. They see it as the anchor that sustains performance through change and the lens through which future leaders must be chosen.
Mills views succession as a cultural exercise as much as a structural one. At Igneo, he is intentional about developing leaders who not only perform but also live the firm’s core values of empathy, humility and transparency. He spends significant time mentoring across levels and ensuring that those stepping into greater responsibility understand how culture drives decision making. For Mills, succession succeeds only when the next generation embodies these values while bringing fresh ideas to the table.
“You can’t have leaders who inspire confidence if they’re not authentic.” -Richard Nourse
Nourse shares this belief that leadership continuity depends on authenticity and cultural fit. When selecting Minal Patel as his successor, he found that her combination of investment prowess, credibility, empathy and steadiness reflected the tone he wanted Greencoat to sustain under Schroders’ ownership.
Both leaders show that preserving culture is not about cloning a founder’s style. It is about choosing successors who live the firm’s values, inspire confidence and lead the organization into its next chapter.
4. Engage stakeholders transparently
Succession in infrastructure is as much about maintaining investor confidence as internal alignment. Mills has long brought LPs into the conversation, introducing them to rising leaders and inviting candid feedback on potential successors. This transparency builds confidence that the bench is strong and the strategy stable.
Nourse also emphasized the careful consideration required when managing the process with internal stakeholders. After appointing Minal, Nourse intentionally stepped back to make her authority visible, recognizing that real succession depends on employees seeing and experiencing the change in leadership firsthand.
Both understood that leadership transitions are both external and internal events. By aligning investors, boards, and acquirers early, they turned succession into a trust-building exercise rather than a source of uncertainty.
5. Plan across levels, not just at the CEO seat
“Sometimes I needed to not be in the room. They needed to see her succeeding to make it absolutely clear that she’s in charge” -Richard Nourse
Effective succession planning in infrastructure extends far beyond the top job.
Mills convenes Igneo’s senior partner group several times a year, dedicating full sessions to talent development and leadership readiness across all levels. This cascading approach mitigates key-person risk in a sector where continuity of relationships is central to value creation.
Nourse’s philosophy mirrors this. By expanding ownership from four to nine partners years before his own transition, he distributed leadership accountability and preserved institutional knowledge.
Both leaders demonstrate that a resilient organization depends on multiple ready successors, not a single anointed heir.
The infrastructure investment industry stands at a critical inflection point as founder-led and longtenured leaders approach transition. Curzon & Ferguson Partners’ research highlights the urgency of planning for succession today.
Mills and Nourse, in their own ways, show that effective succession is not about departure — it’s about stewardship. Mills treats leadership continuity as a strategic discipline woven into operations. Nourse frames it as an act of trust: creating space for a successor to lead authentically and visibly.
Together, their stories illustrate that succession done well is not an act of letting go, but of building something that lasts and ensures the next generation leads with the same conviction and clarity that built the firm in the first place.
Mike Cordingley is a managing director at Ferguson Partners, leading the North American Management Consulting and Leadership Consulting business units.
Michelle Yelaska is a vice president on the management consulting team at Ferguson Partners and is based in the Chicago office.