Miras Investments Hires Matthew Lesesky, After 14 Years at UNC Management Company, as Global Head of Private Equity

Miras Investments, a Middle East-based family office, announced on 22 October 2026 that Matthew Lesesky has joined as global head of private equity, reporting to its chief investment officer, Elizabeth Hewitt. Mr. Lesesky comes from UNC Management Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he spent 14 years and most recently served as a managing director on the private investment team, overseeing private equity for the UNC Investment Fund, which the announcement described as a $17 billion pool. For a fund manager, the point worth noting is the direction of travel: a senior private equity investor trained inside a large endowment platform is moving to a family office that has now put a named global head over the asset class.

What was announced

The announcement said Mr. Lesesky joined Miras in October 2026. Before UNC Management Company he held roles at Hatteras Funds, Pacific Corporate Group Capital Partners, Citigroup, where he was an investment banking associate, and Fusion Ventures. The announcement did not give the size of Miras's assets or its private equity programme, did not say whether the global head role is newly created, and did not name a predecessor. We found no figure for any of them in other coverage, so we do not state them.

What the move may signal

This section is our reading, not a statement from the family office. A family office that names a global head of private equity and has that person report directly to the chief investment officer is giving the asset class a single owner. Hiring that owner from a large endowment platform suggests a preference for a structured process: pacing, manager monitoring and a disciplined view of how many relationships to hold. It does not tell us that Miras will commit more capital, that it will favour funds over direct deals, or that it will back first-time managers. None of those is in the announcement. Our expectation, which is an expectation and not a fact from the announcement, is that the first months in a new seat go mostly on reviewing what is already owned and which relationships to keep, so a manager should plan for a slow start rather than an early commitment.

How it compares

Senior private markets hires are a recurring theme among allocators this autumn. We covered Colorado Health Foundation hiring a managing director for private markets, and the exit of GPIF's long-serving private markets chief, Yoshitaka Todoroki, to StepStone as vice chairman. The difference here is the type of investor. Family offices tend to mix funds with direct deals, and the survey we reported found that 86% of North American family offices invest in private markets, with direct deals outweighing funds 45% to 36% of the book. That survey covers North America and Miras is based in the Middle East, so it describes a pattern in the wider family office market rather than Miras itself.

The named LP

Miras Investments is a Middle East-based family office. Its chief investment officer is Elizabeth Hewitt, and Mr. Lesesky now leads private equity globally under her. The announcement gave no assets under management, no ticket sizes, no list of managers it backs and no policy on emerging managers, so we make no claim on any of them. It also did not say where in the Middle East the family office sits or how much of its capital is in private equity, and we have not guessed.

What a GP should do

This section is our advice, not guidance from Miras. First, treat the arrival as a change of decision maker, not a change of strategy. A new head of an asset class usually reviews what the family office already owns before adding relationships, so a first approach is better framed as an introduction and a short note on your strategy than as a request for a commitment. Second, prepare for a diligence style shaped by an endowment platform. Expect questions about pacing, how your fund fits alongside existing exposure, realised results and the team behind them, and have a clear data pack ready before the first meeting. Third, offer both a fund route and a co-investment route if your strategy supports each, because a family office can choose either and we do not know which Miras prefers. Fourth, use a warm path rather than a cold email. The most credible link is a mutual contact from his earlier employers or from a manager both sides know, and a plain introduction request is more likely to land than a mass mailing. Do not assume that a 14-year endowment background means a preference for large buyout funds or for any one region.

What to watch next

Watch for further hires under Mr. Lesesky, for any public commitments from Miras in the next two quarters, and for whether the family office says more about how it will organise private equity. We also cover how to approach an investor when a new head arrives in our same-day warm paths guide. FundLinx members can see which institutions are active in your strategy.

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