Benoît Durteste, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of the global private markets specialist ICG, has been named the inaugural winner of the newly created Leadership Alpha Award. An independent international jury unanimously selected him for the 2026 distinction, as announced by the initiators in Zurich on Wednesday.
The award honors leadership figures within European asset management who combine sustained investment success with strategic foresight, a robust corporate culture, and responsible corporate governance. Durteste has headed ICG as CEO and CIO since 2017. Under his direction, the firm evolved from a provider primarily focused on structured financing solutions into a broadly diversified, globally active investment company specializing in private markets.
The jury emphasized that Durteste successfully combined the firm's growth with a clear investment philosophy and a distinct entrepreneurial culture. Alongside strategic expansion, the panel recognized his dedication to talent development, a culture of personal accountability, and the long-term orientation of the enterprise. His readiness to address openly the challenges accompanying the growth of private markets and their progressive opening to new investor groups was also evaluated positively.
Jonathan DeSimone, a jury member and former CEO of Alcentra and Bain Capital Credit, stated that Benoît Durteste merges clear investment convictions with the discipline required to build a long-term successful institution, demonstrating how growth, corporate culture, and long-term judgment reinforce one another. ICG characterized the distinction as recognition for the entire company and its consistent focus on investment discipline alongside long-term alignment of interests with clients.
The Leadership Alpha Award was established by Eleway, an executive search and board advisory firm specializing in the asset management sector. Designed as an annual honor, the prize aims to recognize leaders who deliver a lasting contribution to the development of their firms beyond short-term commercial results. Evaluations rely on five criteria: investment competence and innovation, strategic execution and organizational resilience, corporate culture and governance, trust and integrity, and responsible leadership.
The selection process rests on a comprehensive analysis of leading European asset managers and their CEOs, with the final decision remaining exclusively with the independent jury. Additional jury members include Sheila Patel, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International; Fiona Frick, former CEO of Unigestion; Elisabeth Stheeman, board member at M&G; Arno Kitts of Aberdeen Group; and Nick Ring of UBS Asset Management UK.
Christian Haas, managing partner at Eleway, and Arnaud Tesson, senior advisor at the firm, explained that the prize was created to make visible the leadership achievements underpinning long-term success in asset management. With the newly instituted Leadership Alpha Award, the initiators intend to set a benchmark for leadership quality across the European wealth management sector by focusing not solely on short-term investment performance, but on the capacity to build robust organizations and lead them successfully over the long term.
