Nicholas Speer

Nick Speer is the co-founder of Cheviot, an Australian private markets investment firm he founded with John Russell. Cheviot says it was created to pursue underserved parts of the private equity market, with a focus on secondary and co-investment transactions in Australia and New Zealand and selective activity in other developed markets.

Before Cheviot, Speer was Head of Australia & New Zealand for Affinity Equity Partners, a pan-Asian buyout firm. Australian Financial Review reported in March 2023 that Affinity hired him to lead its Australian team and source investments for its $US6 billion fund. Subsequent market reports indicate he left Affinity in October 2024.

Earlier, Speer spent nine years at The Riverside Company in Australia, where Cheviot describes him as a Managing Partner. During that period, Riverside Australia invested in mid-market companies across Australia and New Zealand, including healthcare, software, business services, consumer, and specialty manufacturing/distribution assets.

Speer’s earlier career included Catalyst Investment Managers and investment banking at Caliburn, now Greenhill. Cheviot lists him as having 20 years of private equity investing experience focused mainly on mid-market companies in Australia and New Zealand. His education includes a Bachelor of Commerce with honours in Finance from the University of Melbourne and the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.

• Cheviot’s stated focus is “secondary and co-investment transactions in Australia and New Zealand,” with additional activity in other developed markets.
• The firm positions itself around “Private Markets Alpha” and says its “flexible capital seeks to remove constraints and unlock investment potential at both the fund and portfolio company level.”
• Cheviot’s value proposition emphasizes integrity, long-term partnerships, alignment with investors, flexibility, creativity, speed, conviction, and adding value for private equity partners and portfolio companies.
• Speer’s historical Riverside activity points to a bias toward profitable, growing, mid-market businesses in Australia and New Zealand with scope for geographic expansion, add-on acquisitions, internationalization, and operational scaling.
• Riverside Australia’s stated criteria while Speer was there included partnership and control investments in profitable, growing Australia/NZ-headquartered companies with EBITDA up to A$25 million, often with global presence or ambitions.