Chris Picotte

Chris Picotte joined Ara in 2021 as Partner and is a member of the firm’s Investment Committees for Private Equity and for Infrastructure. He is the Chief Investment Officer for Ara’s Private Equity business since 2026.

Active in the energy, utilities, and industrial sectors for over 30 years, Chris has been a private equity investor since 2001. Prior to joining Ara, Chris co-founded Aksiom Group, where he successfully acquired and exited several mid-market buyouts in the European technical services sector. He previously served as a Managing Director and Senior Advisor at ArcLight Capital Partners from 2001-2014, where he led their European investment activity. As both an institutional and private investor he has originated and managed several billion dollars of equity investments in the infrastructure services, power, midstream, and natural resources sectors throughout Europe and in the US.