DARIEN, Conn., July 20, 2026 — Aqualis Partners (“Aqualis”), a private equity secondaries firm founded in 2025 by Cari Lodge, a 25-year veteran of the secondary market, today announced that Hong Pan and Steve Talbot have joined the firm as Partners. Pan and Talbot worked alongside Lodge at CF Private Equity for more than 12 years, helping build its secondaries fund business.

“Hong and Steve are two of the most talented secondaries investors I know, and there is no one I would rather have at my side as we build Aqualis,” said Cari Lodge, Founder and Managing Partner. “Hong and Steve bring deep expertise across both LP-led and GP-led transactions, and, just as importantly, a shared investment discipline honed over many years of working together. The secondary market is at a significant inflection point, with demand for liquidity outpacing dedicated capital, and their addition gives Aqualis the depth to capture that opportunity at scale.”

Hong Pan, Partner
Pan joins Aqualis from CF Private Equity, where he was a founding member of the firm’s secondaries fund program and most recently served as a Managing Director. Over more than 12 years, he evaluated and executed secondary investments spanning LP liquidity solutions and GP-led transactions, helping invest all four of the firm’s dedicated secondary funds. He also supported investing across the firm’s broader platform, including its buyout, growth equity, venture capital, and real assets and sustainability strategies. Pan began his career in the investment banking group at Oppenheimer & Co., where he advised companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with Distinction.

Steve Talbot, Partner
Talbot joins Aqualis from CF Private Equity, where he helped launch the firm’s secondaries fund program as a founding member and most recently served as a Managing Director. During his more than 12 years with the firm, he evaluated and executed secondary transactions across LP liquidity solutions and GP-led deals, contributing to the deployment of all four of the firm’s dedicated secondary funds. He also supported investments across the firm’s broader platform, spanning its buyout, growth equity, venture capital, and real assets and sustainability strategies. Talbot began his career in investment banking at BB&T Capital Markets, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital markets financings. He holds a B.S. in Business and Enterprise Management from Wake Forest University.

Alongside the two new Partners, Aqualis is also highlighting the recent addition of Dylan Arpey as Director of Investor Relations and the arrival of its inaugural class of analysts.

Dylan Arpey, Director of Investor Relations
Arpey leads investor relations, capital formation, and business development for Aqualis. He joins from SV Health Investors, where he served as Director of Investor Relations for the firm’s Growth Buyout team, leading marketing and capital formation for its healthcare-focused strategy. Previously, he was Vice President of Investor Relations at Orangewood Partners, a lower-middle-market private equity firm, where he led investor relations and capital formation for the firm’s third institutional fundraise. Earlier, Arpey founded and served as Co-Managing Partner of Geyser Advisors, a boutique alternative investment placement agency, where he advised emerging and diverse alternative investment managers on new firm creation and capital formation.

Inaugural Analyst Class
Cameron Cavanna, an Investment Analyst, was previously a Private Equity Summer Analyst at StepStone Group and holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University. Colin Costigan, an Investor Relations Analyst, supports the firm’s investor relations and capital formation efforts and holds a B.S. in Energy Engineering from Purdue University and a B.A. in Economics from Butler University. Michael Ofodile, an Investment Analyst, was previously a Software Engineer Intern at Oracle and a Data Science Research Assistant at the Yale Department of Economics and holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Yale University. Zach Lipsher, an Investment Analyst, was previously a Private Equity Summer Analyst at StepStone Group and holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.

About Aqualis Partners
Founded in 2025 and headquartered in Darien, Connecticut, Aqualis Partners is a generalist private equity secondaries firm focused on purchasing small LP interests, primarily in the United States and Western Europe, complemented by opportunistic investments in GP-led transactions, directs, preferreds, seasoned primaries, and opportunities in other geographies. The firm combines decades of experience in the secondaries market with an entrepreneurial mindset, leveraging innovation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to deliver creative liquidity solutions for the evolving needs of the private markets.

The name “Aqualis” derives from the Latin word meaning “of or pertaining to water.” Just as water is liquid and adapts to its environment, Aqualis aims to provide investors with innovative and reliable liquidity solutions, helping them unlock value, rebalance portfolios, manage cash flows, and enhance returns.

Aqualis is pronounced “AH-kwa-lis” (aqua like the color and lis like bliss).

For more information, please visit www.aqualispartners.com.

Media Contact:
Jason Holley
[email protected]

SOURCE Aqualis Partners