Orchard Taps Healthcare Vet Farah to Drive Secondary Market Strategy

CHICAGO, IL – March 31, 2026 – Orchard Investment Partners, a specialized secondary investment firm, has significantly bolstered its leadership team, announcing that private equity veteran Michael Farah has joined as a Co-Founder and Partner. The move signals a strategic deepening of the firm's expertise, particularly in the healthcare sector, as it aims to capitalize on the explosive growth of the private equity secondary market.

Farah, who brings over two decades of investment experience, most recently served as a Partner at the healthcare-focused firm Linden Capital Partners. His arrival unites him with Orchard Co-Founders Scott Pasquini and Mark Tresnowski. Together, they plan to advance the firm’s distinct model of investing in continuation vehicles, a rapidly expanding segment of the private equity landscape. This strategy centers on high-quality, sponsor-backed businesses in sectors where the firm's leadership possesses direct experience and extensive professional networks.

A Strategic Play in a Booming Market

Farah’s appointment comes at a crucial time for the private equity industry. The secondary market, once a quiet corner of finance, has surged in activity, with total volume reaching a record $132 billion in recent years. A major driver of this growth has been the rise of GP-led transactions, particularly continuation vehicles (CVs), which now account for more than half of all secondary market volume.

CVs are specialized investment structures that allow a private equity firm (the General Partner or GP) to move a successful company from an older fund into a new vehicle, rather than selling it. This provides liquidity to the original fund's investors while allowing the GP and new investors to continue backing a high-performing asset. For GPs, it’s a way to hold onto “trophy assets” and maximize their value beyond a traditional 10-year fund life. For new investors, it’s an opportunity to buy into a de-risked, proven business with a familiar management team.

Orchard is positioning itself to be a key player in this evolving ecosystem, but with a specific focus. While mega-firms like Ardian and Lexington Partners dominate large-scale secondary deals, Orchard is targeting the lower- and middle-market, often focusing on single-asset CVs where its team’s operational and sector-specific knowledge can provide a distinct advantage.

“Michael brings extensive investing experience, extraordinary healthcare industry insights, and a deep professional network built over more than two decades in private equity,” commented Orchard Co-Founder and Managing Partner Scott Pasquini. “Beyond his credentials, he shares our strong conviction in Orchard’s strategy that centers on collaboration, economic alignment, and a steadfast commitment to partnering with exceptional investors and executives. I have known Michael for 20 years, and could not be more excited to welcome him as a Co-Founder and Partner to accelerate our efforts in building Orchard into a market leader.”

Deep Healthcare Expertise Meets a Niche Strategy

Farah’s background makes him uniquely suited to execute Orchard’s strategy. His career has been heavily concentrated in the healthcare industry, a sector known for its complexity, regulatory hurdles, and long-term value creation cycles—all factors that make its assets prime candidates for continuation vehicles.

Prior to his nearly 12-year tenure at Linden, where he was a Partner for nine years, Farah was an investment professional at both Metalmark Capital and Summit Partners. Throughout his career, he has evaluated and executed investments across life sciences, pharmaceutical services, medical devices, and healthcare services, serving on the boards of 12 different portfolio companies. This hands-on experience provides the kind of granular insight that is critical when evaluating the long-term potential of a single asset within a CV.

Healthcare investments, particularly in areas like drug development or medical technology, often require longer hold periods to navigate clinical trials, regulatory approvals, and market adoption. A premature sale to meet a fund's end-of-life deadline can leave significant value on the table. Continuation vehicles offer a solution, and firms with genuine sector expertise like Orchard are well-positioned to be credible partners for GPs looking to execute such transactions.

“I’m thrilled to join Orchard’s leadership team at such a pivotal time, as the rising adoption of continuation vehicles reshapes the private equity landscape,” said Farah. “Scott and Mark had tremendous vision in launching a truly differentiated strategy for investing in the secondary market, combining a diverse set of direct investing expertise with a collaborative and network-enabled approach, which thoughtfully positions Orchard to capitalize on an incredibly attractive market opportunity.”

Building a Differentiated Firm

Orchard’s model is predicated on the idea of being “private equity investors investing in private equity.” This philosophy distinguishes it from more purely financial secondary buyers. The firm's leadership team, now including Farah, consists of veterans who have spent their careers as direct investors—sourcing deals, conducting due diligence, sitting on boards, and driving operational improvements within portfolio companies. This background positions them not just as capital providers, but as value-add partners to the GPs whose assets they are backing.

The firm’s expansion builds on a year of strong momentum, during which it successfully completed three investments. While details of the transactions remain private, the firm noted that they reflected its disciplined underwriting process and selective deployment of capital into its four core sectors: financial services, healthcare, industrials, and technology & business services. This activity demonstrates that Orchard's focused strategy is already gaining traction in the market.

With Farah’s addition, the firm solidifies its leadership trio and sends a clear message about its ambitions. By combining a targeted middle-market focus with deep, sector-specific operational expertise, Orchard is building a competitive advantage in one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing segments of the alternative investment universe. This strategic hire is a definitive step in scaling the firm's market impact and solidifying its role as a key partner in the next generation of private equity value creation.