# Ian Charles

> Ian Charles is the Dallas-based co-founder, Managing Partner and CEO of Arctos and a Partner and Head of KKR Solutions. His career spans secondary-market advisory at Cogent Partners, investment and quantitative research at Landmark Partners, minority sports franchise investing, and capital solutions for alternative asset managers. KKR acquired Arctos in 2026.

- **Role:** Managing Partner and CEO at Arctos; Partner and Head of KKR Solutions at KKR
- **Organizations:** Arctos, KKR, Landmark Partners, Cogent Partners
- **Education:** BBA in Finance and Accounting, with honors, Texas Christian University, MBA, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** CFA charterholder., Co-founded Cogent Partners, an early dedicated sell-side advisor in private equity secondaries., Built Landmark Partners’ quantitative research group.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked on an investment team now part of Neuberger Berman’s alternative investments platform.
- **Before Landmark Partners** — Co-founded Cogent Partners; managed daily operations and sourced and led large secondary advisory mandates.
- **Before 2019** — Partner at Landmark Partners; served on private equity and infrastructure investment committees and built the quantitative research group.
- **2019** — Co-founded Arctos with David “Doc” O’Connor.
- **2023** — Supported the launch of Arctos Keystone, extending the firm into capital and liquidity solutions for alternative asset managers.
- **2026** — Became Partner and Head of KKR Solutions following KKR’s acquisition of Arctos.

## Achievements

- CFA charterholder.
- Co-founded Cogent Partners, an early dedicated sell-side advisor in private equity secondaries.
- Built Landmark Partners’ quantitative research group.
- Co-founded Arctos, whose sports investments extend across the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS and into European sport.
- Named with Doc O’Connor in Sports Business Journal’s 2024 Most Influential coverage.
- Leads KKR Solutions, which includes Arctos Sports and Keystone and is intended to expand into multi-asset secondaries.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Arctos Keystone Partners Fund I and affiliated vehicles closed with $6.2 billion in commitments on July 7, above the $4 billion original target; more than 30% of capital had been deployed across 11 sponsors.
- **2026-05** — KKR announced the closing of its acquisition of Arctos on May 5; Charles leads the new KKR Solutions business.
- **2026-02** — KKR announced an agreement to acquire Arctos for $1.4 billion in initial consideration, including vesting equity, with up to $550 million in additional contingent equity.

## Links

- Website: https://www.arctospartners.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancharles

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ian-charles
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-09