Benedikt leads executive searches for private equity funds and family offices with a particular focus on the identification and recruiting of senior-level investment professionals, senior financial services executives and CFOs. He works closely with investment teams and the C-suite of their portfolio companies. Before joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Benedikt gained experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he primarily focused on private equity regarding all stages of the ownership cycle, as a manager for strategy & business development at ABOUT YOU, where he focused on organic growth including the foundation and development of portfolio companies as well as the development and implementation of strategic initiatives and most recently as an Investment Professional at Waterland Private Equity, where he was holistically involved in the sourcing and execution of M&A transactions as well as the development of portfolio companies to realize buy-and-build strategies in different industries. Benedikt studied law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and completed his legal clerkship at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg with stations at different international law firms as well as the German Federal Foreign Office. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. He is fluent in English and German.