Mapping Private Equity’s Gender Gap

 

SPEAKER

Michael Ewens

David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance, Columbia Business School

Building Data-Driven Private Investment Businesses

 

SPEAKER

Drew Conway

Head of Data Science, Private Investments, Two Sigma

New Evidence on Private Capital Returns and Risks

 

SPEAKER

Ashley Lester

Chief Research Officer, MSCI

The macro backdrop for private assets has been volatile in recent years: with investors facing disrupted supply chains to surging inflation, valuation swings and liquidity constraints. Is 2024 a classic inflection point, marking the year things return to “normal”? Or will the effects of these disruptions have more lasting effects? Will Fed cuts and lower costs of capital offer a boost to private assets? How do allocators and investors think about these issues?

 

MODERATOR

Gerald Cohen

Chief Economist, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise

 

PANELISTS

Dominic Garcia

Chief Pension Investment Strategist, CBRE

Elizabeth Weindruch

Managing Director, Barings

Joseph Zidle

Senior Managing Director & Chief Investment Strategist, Private Wealth Solutions, Blackstone

A panel discussion focusing on middle markets, a market that has traditionally been more insulated from the competition and valuation risks seen elsewhere. Market fragmentation, lack of institutional capital backing, and less access to debt have provided sustainable barriers to entry.  However, investors must balance the advantages of investing in this market with certain inherent risks often present–less developed management teams, risks to exogenous shocks, customer concentration, and more.  This panel will consider the opportunities inherent in middle markets investing.

 

MODERATOR

Alex Frick Arnsberger

Executive Director of Strategic Investing, Small Business Investor Alliance

 

PANELISTS

Tony Coletta

Executive Director, PGIM

Nitin Gupta

Managing Partner, Flexstone Partners

Katie Walker

Principal, Plexus Capital

This roundtable will discuss the dynamics expected to shape the sector this year. What does our panel of experts believe are the trends that could transform the PE landscape? And what do they see as appropriate portfolio responses?

 

MODERATOR

Ralph Eissler

Managing Director & Head of Private Markets Research, Neuberger Berman

 

PANELISTS

Susan Cates

Managing Partner, Leeds Illuminate

Peter Cornelius

Managing Director, Chief Economist, AlpInvest Partners / The Carlyle Group

Craig Demko

Director, Private Equity, NC Department of State Treasurer

David Marcus

Managing Director, Flexstone Partners

Steven Wacaster

Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Warren Equity Partners

David Yu

Vice President, Vista Equity Partners

“Calculating Outperformance in Dollars: Introducing the Excess Value Method”

Authors: Avi Turetsky, Ares Management; Matthew Pyrz, Ares Management; Barry Griffiths, Private Market Metrics; Joaquin Lujan, Cliffwater; Isaac Beckel, Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (presenting).

 

SPEAKER

Matthew Pyrz

Vice President, Quantitative Research Group, Ares Management

Isaac Beckel

Managing Investment Officer, MOSERS

“To Roll or not to Roll (Forward): LP NAV Estimation for Private Equity and Real Estate”

Author: Aili Chen, PGIM Institutional Advisory & Solutions

 

SPEAKER

Aili Chen

Vice President, Institutional Advisory & Solutions, PGIM

This panel will discuss the evolving role of individual investors in a traditionally institutional space. As access is “democratized” what are the educational, regulatory, product, and technology considerations that participants should take into account? Join the panel of experts as they identify both challenges and the opportunities.

 

MODERATOR

Claudia Harper

Director, Private Investments, Vanguard

 

PANELISTS

Shane Clifford

Managing Director, Head of Private Wealth Strategy, Carlyle

Bob Long

CEO, StepStone Private Wealth

Mark Robillard

Vice President, Research Analyst, Fidelity

How are investors thinking about managing portfolio liquidity, and how are exit strategies evolving? Whether through secondary buyouts, IPOs, and strategic sales, investors have a need for adaptability in a rapidly changing market. Are there unique strategies to that are being developed to help address some of these challenges (continuation funds, minority sales, NAV loans, fund securitization, etc) – and what role could those play in a well-diversified portfolio?

 

MODERATOR

Todd Ulrich

Senior Managing Director, EY

 

PANELISTS

David Pareja

Principal, AlpInvest Partners

Pierre-Antoine de Selancy

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, 17Capital

Louise Smith

Managing Director, Apogem Capital

Drew Snow

Principal, HarbourVest

Allocations to real asset investments – including real estate, natural resources, and agriculture, among others, have been increasing as investors sought attractive total returns over the long term, while maximizing the potential for real returns in periods of rising inflation. The current inflationary environment, political uncertainty, housing affordability, technology disruption and climate change all pose threats and potential opportunities to a diversified portfolio. This roundtable will review strategies for positioning institutional investor portfolios using real assets.

 

MODERATOR

Mark Corigliano

Founder, Corigliano Investment Advisers

 

PANELISTS

Isaac Beckel

Managing Investment Officer, MOSERS

Trey Dempsey

Partner, SilverCap Partners

David Hirschberg

Managing Director, H.I.G. Capital

William Kieser

Principal, Quantitative Research Group, Ares Management

“Fees in Private Markets: A Look at Trends, Performance, and Portfolio Construction”

Authors: Lisa Larsson, Stepstone; Qi Liu, StepStone

 

SPEAKER

Lisa Larsson

Managing Director, StepStone

“Hedge Fund Performance and Portfolios”

Authors: Christian Lundblad, Kenan Flagler Business School, UNC

 

SPEAKER

Christian Lundblad

Richard "Dick" Levin Distinguished Professor of Finance & Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

The illiquidity and long-term nature of private market investments presents unique challenges to allocators, especially when market volatility increases. Successful portfolio rebalancing involves a careful evaluation of market dynamics, risk factors, and the evolving investment landscape. This panel will discuss how investors approach portfolio composition and realignment in today’s markets – and how they consider these factors within the risk and return objectives of their own investment strategies.

 

MODERATOR

Tobias True

Partner, Investment Strategy and Risk Management, Adams Street

 

PANELISTS

Paramdeep Jassi

Managing Director, CPP Investments

Andrew Spellar

Chief Investment Officer, Fairfax County Employees' Retirement System

2023 was marked by strong shifts in VC investing worldwide, on both a deal and dollar volume basis. The landscape for technology, startups, and the economy has rapidly changed; competition for investment opportunities has increased, and firms face increased scrutiny from regulators and the public. Do these market shifts represent a cooling off period, or a more permanent change in the market? How should investors and allocators think about the role of VC? Join our panelists for a discussion of the challenges and the opportunities facing venture capital now, and for the years to come.

 

MODERATOR

David Jones

General Partner, Bull City Venture Partners

 

PANELISTS

Mindy Isenstein

Partner, Venture Capital, Andreessen Horowitz

Hunter McCrossin

Managing Director, Columbia IMC

Shiloh Tillemann-Dick

Research Director, NVCA

A discussion of the outlook for private debt: an asset class that became the third largest private market strategy supported by positive macro factors such as negative real rates and accommodative monetary and fiscal policy. Our roundtable will discuss the impact of the sharp reversal in those factors in the last few years, as well as discuss the major trends and themes of credit quality, liquidity, and regulation.

 

MODERATOR

Scott Chappell

Managing Director, Global Private Finance, Barings

 

PANELISTS

Michael Becker

Partner, Plexus Capital

Laurence Gottlieb

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Fundamental Advisors

Vineet Gupta

Managing Director, BlackRock

Ashok Vishnubhakta

Head Of Middle Market Credit, American Equity

“The Private Equity Premium Puzzle”

Authors: Daniel Murphy, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs 

 

SPEAKER

Dan Murphy

Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

“A Scalable Approach to Dynamic Asset Allocation with Illiquid Alternative Investments”

Authors: Stephen Boyd, Blackrock; Nicholas Crain, Blackrock; Mykel Kochenderfer, Blackrock; Xinyang Li, Blackrock; Kunal Menda, Blackrock; Vidy Vairavamurthy, Blackrock; Misha van Beek, Blackrock.

 

SPEAKER

Nicholas Crain

Vice President, Quantitative Research, BlackRock