James Pitt, who resigned as head of Axa Private Equity's London office last week, will join Lexington Partners, a US private equity manager with $10bn (€8.2bn) in assets under management, next month to launch a dedicated co-investment fund for Europe.

He will report to Marshall Parke, head of Lexington's London-based office, and work with the six-strong investment team that manages Lexington's co-investment fund in the US. Pitt is expected to appoint additional managers for the new fund.