AVCJ Private Equity Forum Dubai
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Mr. Arougheti is a Co-Founder of Ares and the Chief Executive Officer and President, as well as a Director of Ares Management Corporation. He is a member of the Ares Executive Management Committee, the Ares Enterprise Risk Committee and is on the Board of Directors of the Ares Charitable Foundation. He additionally serves as Co-Chairman of Ares Capital Corporation ("ARCC"), Co-Chairman of Ares Acquisition Corporation ("AAC") and as a director of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation ("ACRE"). Mr. Arougheti also is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending and Pathfinder Investment Committees, the Ares Equity Income Opportunity Strategy Portfolio Review Committee and the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2004, Mr. Arougheti was employed by Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") from 2001 to 2004, where he was a Managing Partner of the Principal Finance Group of RBC Capital Partners and a member of the firm's Mezzanine Investment Committee. Mr. Arougheti oversaw an investment team that originated, managed and monitored a diverse portfolio of middle-market leveraged loans, senior and junior subordinated debt, preferred equity and common stock and warrants on behalf of RBC and other third-party institutional investors. Mr. Arougheti joined RBC in October 2001 from Indosuez Capital, where he was a Principal and an Investment Committee member, responsible for originating, structuring and executing leveraged transactions across a broad range of products and asset classes. Prior to joining Indosuez in 1994, Mr. Arougheti worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Mr. Arougheti also serves on the board of directors of Operation HOPE, a not-for-profit organization focused on expanding economic opportunity in underserved communities through education and empowerment. Additionally, Mr. Arougheti is a member of the PATH Organization Leadership Council. Mr. Arougheti received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics, cum laude, from Yale University.
Michael manages Allstate's portfolio of corporate and infrastructure private equity investments including funds, co-investments, and other direct investments. He is responsible for overall portfolio management and strategy as well as leadership of Chicago and London-based investment teams. He serves on numerous fund advisory boards and as a director of many private companies.
Prior to Allstate, Michael spent nine years at Pritzker Group Private Capital where he focused on control acquisitions of middle-market companies. Previously he was a Senior Associate with CIVC Partners, a middle-market private equity fund based in Chicago, and an investment banking analyst for Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup). Michael earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doug joined the Guardians of NZ Super in 2018 and is the strategy lead for climate solutions investments as well as covering a variety of the Guardian’s public and private investment strategies ranging from Private Equity and Venture Capital to Real Estate, listed equities and Hedge Funds.
Doug’s career spans over 22yrs where he has held a variety of buy-side and sell-side investment roles. He was Head of Equities for ANZ Private Bank (NZ) before moving to Hong Kong with HSBC (2013-2018) where he spent much of his time in the Global Research division (part of Global Banking & Markets) helping to establish and run their research offering to wealth clients. Originally from the UK, Doug started his career in the technology field.
Doug holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics from the University of Manchester, UK and an MBA (dist.) from the University of Canterbury.
Mr Darryl Chan was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive from 1 November 2022, and is responsible for overseeing the work of External, Monetary Management and Research departments. Mr Chan joined the HKMA as Executive Director (Corporate Services) in February 2013 and took up the post of Executive Director (External) in August 2019. Before joining the HKMA, Mr Chan was an Administrative Officer in the Hong Kong SAR Government and had worked in different policy bureaux and departments on policy formulation and administration.
Richard Chau, Chief Investment Officer
Richard joined the Tulane Investment Management Office in 2013. Prior to Tulane, Richard was a Vice President in Bessemer Trust's Private Equity Funds Group in New York, where he helped manage a multi-billion dollar global private equity portfolio. Prior to Bessemer Trust, Richard spent over two years as an Investment Analyst at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, focused on the private equity portfolio. His previous experience also includes investment banking in the mergers and acquisitions group at Houlihan Lokey. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Consulting Associate at Cambridge Associates in Boston. Richard has a BA in Economics and Chinese from Williams College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Jewel Chen, JD, CFA, CPA, Private Equity Portfolio Manager, Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation
Jewel is a Private Equity Portfolio Manager at Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation. She leads underwriting and monitoring of primary funds and co-investments across diversified strategies and geographies. Previously, Jewel worked at CalPERS Private Equity, covering large buyout, secondary, coinvestments, and emerging manager strategies.
Previously, Jewel was a real estate attorney and a lead analyst at California State Treasurer’s Office, focusing on multifamily affordable housing developments with private equity investments via syndicated tax credit.
Jewel holds a J.D. cum laude, from University of Minnesota Law School. She received a B.S. with highest distinction from Purdue University Northwest with double major in Finance and Accounting and a minor in Applied Mathematics. Jewel is a licensed attorney, a CFA charterholder, and a CPA.
Mr. Chen is a managing partner at L Catterton, where he oversees the firm's Asia and RMB fund strategies.
Prior to joining L Catterton in 2020, Mr. Chen spent nearly 20 years at TPG investing across the broad consumer and healthcare landscape throughout Asia Pacific, most recently serving as a partner and managing director. During his second decade at TPG, he also led the firm’s investments in Greater China and drove the expansion of its China franchise. Before joining TPG, Mr. Chen worked in the Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Lehman Brothers in New York.
Mr. Chen received a BS in Business Administration with honors from the University of Colorado.
David Chiang is the Chief Investment Officer of Pritzker Family Foundations and leads Ganesh Investments, which provides investment advisory services to the family offices of Penny Pritzker (PSP Partners), Tom Pritzker (TPO), Gigi Pritzker / Michael Pucker (DNS) and their foundations. Prior to joining Ganesh Investments in 2021, David was Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Idyllic Partners, an outsourced CIO firm. Previously, David served as Head of External Funds at Soros Fund Management, Managing Director at Wilshire Private Markets and also worked for GIC, Acon Investments, L Catterton and DLJ.
David earned dual BA degrees in Business Economics and Psychology from Brown University and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School Management. He currently serves on the Board of The Opportunity Network, a non-profit focused on helping underrepresented students gain access to high quality education and career opportunities.
Mr. Sarit Chopra has 30 years of experience across special situations and credit investing, M&A advisory and financial advisory services. A majority of this experience over the last 20 years has been focused on investing in credit and special situations across Asia. He is Head of Special Situations for Asia for Bain Capital based in Hong Kong. Mr. Chopra joined Bain Capital in 2015 prior to which he worked for 12 years at Standard Chartered Bank where he was in their proprietary investment team focused on special situations investing across Asia. Over his career Mr. Chopra has led and closed a variety of investments ranging from high yield lending, structured capital solutions to support growth or restructurings; turnaround financings; secondary purchases of distressed debt and acquisitions of non-performing loan portfolios. He has been involved with setting up and managing large platforms for a variety of investment strategies across the region. Prior to his investing career, Mr. Chopra worked at KPMG, advising on a variety of M&A transactions, mostly in India and for brief period in the UK. Mr. Chopra received a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in economics from Hindu College in Delhi University and subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Mitesh Daga is a Partner with TPG, based in Mumbai. He leads investing in healthcare for TPG Capital Asia in India. Mitesh currently serves as a director or observer on the boards of Sai Lifesciences, RR Kabel and Manipal Hospitals. He has also led several investments for the firm including Jio Platforms Limited, Reliance Retail, Fractal Analytics and UPL.
Prior to joining TPG in 2014, he worked with Advent International in London and Mumbai. He also previously worked with Zephyr Peacock in India and CapitalOne in the USA. Mr. Daga received a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, and is a CFA charter holder.
Jeff is the Managing Partner and Head of Investments at Adams Street. He is responsible for the overall management of the firm and oversees the investment teams’ processes and strategies. Jeff joined Adams Street’s Growth Equity team in 2001 and focuses primarily on growth investments in application software, financial technology and consumer internet.
Prior to joining Adams Street, he served as a Principal for The Parthenon Group, a Boston-based strategy consulting and principal investing firm with Bain Consulting roots.
Jeff is Chairman of both Adams Street’s Portfolio Construction Committee and Executive Committee, and a member of the Growth Equity Investment Committee and New Product Committee.
CURRENT INVESTMENTS
Jeff led the Growth Equity Team’s investments in BoomTown, CBANC Network, Homeward, Millennium Trust, Paylocity (PCTY), Q2 Holdings (QTWO), SnagAJob, and Turnkey (merged with VCSA).
PAST INVESTMENTS
Past Adams Street investments include AMWINS (acquired by New Mountain), Ancestry.com (ACOM), Apto (acquired by BuildOut), ArrowEye, CBeyond (CBEY), Dolex, Gevity HR (GVHR), LogRhythm (acquired by Thoma Bravo), MagicJack (acquired by RILY), MxLogic (acquired by McAfee), Peerless Networks (acquired by Infobip), Setanta, Spiceworks (acquired by Ziff Davis), Stratavia (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), Sympoz (acquired by Comcast), T3Media (acquired by VERI), TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster) and Trendkite (acquired by Cision).
Sarah is the Head of Private Equity for Europe and Asia at Allstate Investments, covering primary fund commitments and co-investments alongside growth equity and buyout managers. Prior to joining Allstate Investments, Sarah was running the international private equity platform of a large American family office based out of Switzerland. Sarah is originally from a direct investing and investment banking background and has worked in private equity for more than 20 years. She is a Chartered Accountant.
Andrew Farris is a Managing Director on the BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP) investment team within BlackRock Alternatives. He is a member of PEP’s Investment Committee with respect to healthcare investments. Prior to joining PEP in 2008, Mr. Farris evaluated investments at ImpreMedia, a media acquisition platform backed by Clarity Partners. From 2001 to 2004, he was in the Investment Banking Division of Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney where he worked on merger and acquisition and capital raising transactions. Mr. Farris earned a BA degree, magna cum laude, in economics from Princeton University and an MBA, with honors, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Farris is also a CFA charterholder.
Stefano Ghezzi joined OTPP in 2017 and is member of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources team based in Singapore covering the infrastructure and renewable sectors across Asia Pacific. During his time at OTPP Stefano has been involved in investments globally including the recent acquisitions of Caruna Networks, SGI and IDEAL, amongst others. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Stefano worked in the infrastructure and energy group at Citigroup and in derivatives trading at Commerzbank in London.
Stefano holds a M.Sc. in Finance from Warwick Business School and a B.Sc. in Economics from Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Alicia joined the Future Fund in 2019 as the Head of Private Equity. She was appointed Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Private Markets in June 2022 where she held responsibility for managing the strategy for the Private Markets portfolio including Private Equity, Property, Credit, and Infrastructure and Timberland. In October 2023 Alicia’s role expanded to oversee all physical asset classes.
She has over 23 years' experience in the financial services sector including 17 years at MLC. She is also Chair of the Australian Investment Council Board and a Non-Executive Director on the Tilt Group Board.
Alicia holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology Sydney, is a CFA charter holder, and has completed the General Management Programme at INSEAD.
Chirag has over 17 years PE industry experience globally. He is a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, a ~$80B sovereign endowment with a ~$15B Private Equity portfolio. Prior to joining APFC, Chirag was in PE roles leading co-investments and fund investments at two established institutional investment organizations, DB Private Equity and GE Asset Management. He started his career in investment banking at Citi / Salomon Smith Barney in New York and Singapore. Chirag is also actively engaged in the broader PE community, serving as an advisory board member of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance at The University of Texas at Austin and a member of SEO’s Alternative Investments Limited Partner Advisory Council. He holds a BBA and MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Michael Hill is a Managing Director and the Americas Head of Sustainable Energies, focusing on direct private equity investments across the energy sector. Michael also serves as Head of New York office.
Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2016, Michael spent more than two decades in investment banking, most recently as Head of M&A and Corporate Finance for Nomura Securities. While there, he was a member of the Global Investment Banking Executive Committee and the America’s Operating and Capital Commitments Committees. Previously, Michael was Global Co-Head of Natural Resources at Deutsche Bank and held various positions at Morgan Stanley, where he started his career in 1989. He has worked in New York, London and Toronto.
Michael holds an HBA from Ivey Business School, where he is also a Board member, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
He is on the boards of Wolf Midstream, Cordelio Power and Encino Energy.
Greg is the Global Co-Head of Private Equity at APG Asset Management US Inc.
Prior to joining APG US, Mr. Jania was a Managing Director, Partner, and member of the investment committee at WP Global Partners, a 25-person, $2 billion private equity firm founded in 2005. WP Global’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, international insurance companies, endowments, and pension plans. WP Global invested in global buyout, debt, and venture funds and was also an active co-investor.
Prior to that, Mr. Jania was a Senior Vice President in the Investment Management Group of GE Commercial Finance, which managed a $2.5 billion private equity portfolio consisting of over 230 buyout, mezzanine, and venture funds and direct equity investments. Prior to joining GE, he was Vice President at One Equity Partners, a subsidiary of Bank One that invested more than $1 billion in private equity funds during his tenure and managed a $2.2 billion private equity portfolio with over 125 fund investments. Mr. Jania started his career in credit analysis and debt underwriting at American National Bank, a subsidiary of Bank One in Chicago.
Mr. Jania received an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago and earned a B.A. in political science and economics, magna cum laude, from Wabash College where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Jasrai joined Gulf Capital in 2020 as a Managing Director, where he leads the Investor Relations and Fundraising function. Prior to Gulf Capital, Mr. Jasrai worked at Eaton Partners, where he spent seven years as Managing Director covering global investors and where he was celebrated as a top performing distribution professional in the firm’s EMEA operations.
During his career, Mr. Jasrai has personally raised well over $1 billion in institutional capital from Limited Partners including pension funds, endowments, family offices and sovereign wealth funds across Europe and the Middle East for private markets strategies.
Throughout his career, which saw him work for UBS Investment Bank in London and Standard Chartered Bank in the Middle East, Mr. Jasrai has worked across a broad spectrum of alternative investments strategies including buyout, growth capital, venture capital, credit and real estate with top-tier managers in Asia, Europe and the United States of America.
Mr. Jasrai holds degrees from Oxford University (BA Hons.), and the London School of Economics (MSc.).
Masashi Kataoka is General Manager of Alternative Investment Department at Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company. Prior to his current role, he had led various teams since 2014; hedge fund investment, PE fund investment, infrastructure fund investment, venture fund and direct investment team. He worked 4 years until 2014 at Dai-ichi Life’s NY office and led the manager selection / due diligence practice as well as strategic activities with US asset managers. Since joining Dai-ichi Life in 1997, he has about 20-year-experience in investment related sections including Investment Planning Department where he engaged in the asset allocation of entire Dai-ichi Life’s general account asset. He also has an experience working at an US based hedge fund as a trainee in 2007. He earned Bachelor of Economics in Keio University.
Adrian Kerley an Executive Director in the Private Equity team at IFM Investors, responsible for sourcing, structuring and negotiating new investments, managing existing investments as well as Private Equity fundraising. Mr. Kerley has extensive finance and private equity experience, joining IFM Investors from Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, the pension fund for Australian government employees and members of the Australian Defence Force, where he was Head of Private Capital. In this role, Mr. Kerley was responsible for CSC’s Global Private Equity program, including developing and implementing investment strategies, portfolio planning and execution, relationship management, and operational enhancements. Mr. Kerley also previously worked in the investment team at CHAMP Ventures and for Woolworths in various operational and strategic roles.
Dr. Mark Konyn is the Group Chief Investment Officer responsible for providing oversight of the management of the investment portfolios of the Group as well as supervising and supporting the many investment professionals throughout the Group. He is a director of various companies within the Group, including Chairman of AIA Investment Management Private Limited and AIA Investment Management HK Limited. He joined the Group in September 2015.
Dr. Konyn joined AIA from Cathay Conning Asset Management, where he was Chief Executive Officer responsible for the company’s investment business and strategic expansion in the region. He had held senior positions at Allianz Global Investors (where he was Asia-Pacific CEO for RCM Global Investors), Fidelity Investments and Prudential UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and holds a Diploma from the London Business School in Investment Management, having previously completed his Ph.D. in Operational Research sponsored by the UK Government.
Mr. Sanjay Kukreja is a partner and part of the founding team of ChrysCapital, India’s leading Private Equity Firm with over $5.5 bn in AUM across nine funds. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer at ChrysCapital, overseeing all of the firm’s investment activities. Prior to his CIO role, Mr. Kukreja led the Financial Services and Business Services sectors, which together accounted for over $1.5 billion of invested capital and almost $3 billion of realizations for the ChrysCapital funds.
Mr. Kukreja currently serves on the Boards of Hero Fincorp, GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, Infogain, Intas Pharmaceuticals, and has previously also served on the boards of several other companies such as KPIT Technologies, LiquidHub, and Shriram Transport Finance Company.
Mr. Kukreja holds an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University. He has also attended the Executive Leadership Course for top management at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
David Kushner, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer of the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System. Kushner helms the $3 billion pension fund’s investment program, working collaboratively with the Executive Director, Investment Committee, and the investment consultant to guide the strategic investment decisions of the Board.
As an industry veteran, Kushner has spent nearly four decades as an expert in the field of investment management and finance. Before joining COAERS, Kushner served as a founding partner of Global Asset Management Consultants and served as CIO of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA). Prior to that, he spent 10 years as the investment chief of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. Kushner is a two-time member of the CIO’s Power 100 list.
Kushner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.
Dong-ik (Don) Lee is the Director General, Investment Operations, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). During 2014-2016, He was Corporate Advisor for Temasek and was the Senior Advisor for KIC (Korea Investment Corporation). He also worked as the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of KIC from April, 2012 to January, 2014. Mr. Lee was responsible for managing KIC’s US$75 billion portfolio globally. He joined KIC in 2008 as the Head of Private Markets Group when KIC started to expand its strategy to alternative investments.
Prior to joining KIC, Mr. Lee spent five years as Head of Investments at STIC Investments, a private equity/venture capital in Korea, where he was in charge of managing Korea Global IT Fund and closed 30 investments. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Lee was Head of Overseas Investments Team at Samsung Life Insurance, where he managed US$5 billion overseas investment portfolio. From 1987 to 1997, Mr. Lee worked as Emerging Equity Market Analyst at the International Finance Corporation (IFC/World Bank) in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Lee received a B.A degree in Economics from Korea University, Seoul, Korea and an M.B.A. (Finance and Investments) and M.S degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
James Lilico is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Australian Retirement Trust, a $260 billion profit-for-members superannuation fund and is responsible for management of the $9 billion private equity portfolio of ART’s public offer division. His role encompasses portfolio strategy and management, investment and manager selection, and ongoing investment management of fund, co-investment and direct assets in Australia and offshore.
ART’s public offer division private equity portfolio consists of primary funds, secondary funds and direct co-investments across the buyout, venture/growth and distressed/special situations areas. James represents Australian Retirement Trust on various advisory boards in Australia and overseas.
James has over 20 years’ experience in investment management and financial markets. Prior to ART, he was at RMB Capital Partners and Grant Samuel. He has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Science in Decision and Information Sciences from the University of Florida.
Tadasu Matsuo leads JST’s alternative investment from January, 2022.
Before joining JST, he led HarbourVest Partners Japan as a managing director and co-head from April, 2020. As a head of alternative investment, he oversaw Japan Post Insurance’s alternative investment, ranging from private equity and infrastructure funds to real estate and hedge funds since September 2016. Before joining JP Insurance, he headed Daido Life’s alternative investment.
Served as Senior Managing Director, he also engaged in private equity fund investment and headed a business development of Alternative Investment Capital (AIC), a leading private equity FOF manager and gatekeeper in Japan. Before seconded from Daido Life to AIC, he managed Daido Life's private equity and other alternative investment for five years. Previously he was in charge of group's business development and investor relations at T&D Holdings, a listed holding company of Daido Life.
Prior to joining Daido Life, Mr. Matsuo held such posts as Director and Managing Director and served as an M&A advisor to various insurers' transactions at PwC Financial Advisory Services Japan from 1999 to 2002. Earlier in his career, he worked for Nippon Life Insurance Company for 13 years, where he managed overseas sovereign credit loans and investments.
Mr. Matsuo received his MBA from Duke University and BA in Economics from The University of Tokyo. He passed the US CPA exams.
Matthew Michelini is Partner, Head of Asia-Pacific at Apollo and a member of the Firm’s Leadership Team. Matt joined Apollo in 2006 in Private Equity and has played a pivotal role in the creation and success of many of Apollo’s largest growth initiatives, including Athene, Hybrid Value, Apollo Dedicated Insurance Program, Natural Resources, and the development of the Financials Group. Matt serves as Investment Chair for Apollo’s Hybrid Value business and on the board of directors of Athene Holding Ltd. and Venerable Holdings, and previously served on the boards of Aleris Corporation, Metals USA, Noranda Aluminum, One Main Financial, and Warrior Met Coal. Previously, Matt was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Lazard Frères & Co.
Luca Molinari is an Executive Director who is responsible for global investments in Financial Services as well as investment activities in Asia as part of Mubadala’s Direct Investments platform. Prior to joining Mubadala, Luca was a Partner and Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, where he worked in Europe and in Latin America, leading transactions across a broad range of sectors and geographies. Prior to that, he worked at the Merchant Banking Division and the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London.
At Mubadala, Luca has overseen several significant transactions, including an investment in Truist Insurance Holdings, the three-way merger of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank and the sale of a 40% interest in Tabreed to Engie.
Luca holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan, and is fluent in English, Italian and Portuguese. He serves on the Board of Directors of Unicredit Spa.
Mr. Shantanu Mukerji recently joined Gulf Capital as Managing Director based out of Singapore. Mr. Mukerji will lead the firm’s activities in Asia, looking at private equity investments and portfolio growth opportunities. Mr. Mukerji brings more than 20 years experience covering the Asia region, with leadership roles in private equity with a focus on consumer and luxury industries.
Prior to joining Gulf Capital, Mr. Mukerji spent 9 years at L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity group, where he worked on origination, transaction execution, financing, syndication, consortium formation, post-investment value creation, restructuring and divestment of private equity investments. He was also involved in the establishment of a number of SPACs in the US and Singapore. His operational experience includes senior leadership roles in the consumer industry at prestigious brands such as LVMH, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Nike.
Mr. Mukerji received a B.Tech degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management.
Sandeep Naik is a Managing Director and Head of India & Southeast Asia at General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm with $73 billion in assets under management. He is also a member of the firm’s Management and Portfolio Committees. Sandeep serves as a board member at General Atlantic portfolio companies BillDesk, Biofourmis, KFin Technologies Private Limited, PT MAP Boga Adiperkasa (MBA), Rubicon Research, and Mable, as well as serves as a board observer at BYJU’S. He also sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Centre Advisory Panel and serves as a board member at EDB Singapore.
Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, Sandeep served as a Partner and Co-Head of India for Apax, leading investments in the healthcare, financial and business services, and retail and consumer sectors. Earlier in his career, he was Global Marketing Manager at Medtronic Inc., a scientist at Mayo Clinic, and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He is also the Co-Founder of InfraScan Inc., a medical device business focused on detecting bleeding inside the brain using a handheld device. Sandeep was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has served on the Global Agenda Council of the New Order of Economic Thinking.
Sandeep holds a B.Tech in Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Mumbai, an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Medical College of Virginia, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. O'Brien is Senior Director, Private Equity at CDPQ on the direct investment team based out of NYC. Previously he led North American Private Equity, Direct Investments within the Abu Dhabi Investment Council's Private Equity Department. Prior to joining the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Mr. O'Brien worked as a private equity investor at The Carlyle Group within their US Buyout team and LLCP. In addition, Mr. O'Brien worked in the Investment Banking Division of Deutsche Bank. Mr. O'Brien holds an A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University in Economics and an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he earned the Sonkin Prize for Value Investing. Mr. O’Brien is a CFA Charterholder.
Jumpei Ogura is a Managing Director of Carlyle’s Japan Buyout team, and leads the team’s investments in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors. He is based in Tokyo.
Prior to joining Carlyle in 2006, Mr. Ogura was an Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank Tokyo in the Financial Institutions Group. During his career, he spent two years in the New York office focusing on bank and asset manager transactions.
Mr. Ogura received his B.A. from Keio University.
Mr. Ogura serves on the Board of Directors of Money Square Holdings, Inc., and AOI TYO Holdings Inc.
He previously served as a board member for ARUHI Corporation, Simplex Inc., Walbro Co., Ltd., and a Corporate Auditor for Chimney Co., Ltd. and Tsubaki Nakashima Co., Ltd.
Lincoln Pan is a Partner of PAG, a leading Asia-based alternative investment fund managing over US$50bn in capital. He is a co-head of the Private Equity strategy where he leads the non-China Investment Team and the Operations team and is a member of the Investment Review Committee. He is also a member of the PAG Group Management Committee.
Lincoln has led work for many of PAG’s overseas investments, including Patties and Vesco, Cordina Foods, Unispace, Edelweiss Financial Group, Rex Airways, Acme Formulation, Gamot API, Craveable Brands, Joyson Safety Systems, Cushman & Wakefield, Lexmark International, Home Credit China, Fenix Technologies, Food Union Group, The Cheesecake Shop and Young Toys. He is on the public board of Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) where he chairs the Nomination & Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee and Regional Express (ASX: REX) where he sits on the Audit Committee.
Prior to joining PAG, Lincoln was Regional CEO, Greater China for Willis Towers Watson. He previously worked with Advantage Partners, the leading private equity firm in Japan, GE Capital, McKinsey & Company and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Lincoln holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Williams College. He has previously qualified to practice law in the State of New York.
Managing Partner, joined CVC in 2010. Siddharth was based in the London office for seven years in the global TMT team and, as of 2017, is based in Singapore where his responsibilities include CVC India and Asia TMT. Prior to joining CVC, he was with Apax Partners where he spent nine years in the technology and telecommunications team leading or co-leading transactions across the sector. Siddharth holds first class MA and BA degrees from the University of Oxford.
Simon is a founder of Pacific Equity Partners and chairs the firm's Operating Committee. Prior to founding PEP, Simon was a Partner with Bain & Company and worked as a strategy consultant in the US, Singapore and Sydney. He started his working life as an engineer with The Royal Dutch/Shell Group in The Netherlands. Simon received a first class degree (BSc (Eng) in Civil Engineering) from the University of Bristol where he received the Institution of Civil Engineers Award, and an MBA from the Wharton School where he was a Thouron Scholar.
Ms Poh was appointed Managing Director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) on 4 October 2021. She was previously Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, which leads and organises the Public Service to develop and implement the strategic priorities of the Government. She also oversaw the National Population and Talent Division and the Centre for Strategic Futures.
Ms Poh was the founding Chief Executive of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), and was previously the Managing Director of the Infocommunications Development Authority (IDA). She has also held key positions in the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Defence.
Ms Poh is an alumnus of Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD (MBA) and Stanford. She has three teenagers and more patience than before she had them. She currently sits on the Boards of SingHealth, the Singapore Institute of Technology and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. She is the Chairperson of the DesignSingapore Advisory Board and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation.
Ms. Renuka Ramnath is the Founder, Managing Director, and CEO of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity manager and advisor to funds of ~ USD 3 bn in AUM.
Renuka Ramnath is one of the most experienced private equity fund managers in India, with a career of over 35 years in financial services across private equity, investment banking, and structured finance. Ms. Ramnath started her career with the ICICI group, which culminated in becoming the MD & CEO of ICICI Venture. She was instrumental in building it into one of the largest private equity funds in the country. In 2009, she took an entrepreneurial turn and founded Multiples, an India-focused private equity platform. Renuka is driven by the ripple effects of supporting entrepreneurs in building sustainable businesses, resulting in employment generation, economic simulation, and facilitation of nation-building. She is a Board member of GPCA, the global industry association for private capital. She is the Chairperson of Tata Communications Limited, a public company in the TATA Group.
Renuka was the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association 2020 – 2022. Under her helm, IVCA took comprehensive steps to engage deeply with the government and regulators to bring focus on increasing deployment of domestic long-term capital and positioning India as an attractive investment destination through Maximum India Conclave. Recognizing the role of alternative assets as an important currency for economic growth, her endeavour has been to enlarge and encourage industry participants, empower them with knowledge, and focus on growth balanced by good governance.
Scott Ramsower leads the Private Equity Funds Team at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). Through his role at TRS, Scott has oversight responsibilities for the group’s approximately $33 billion private equity fund investment portfolio. In addition, he is a member of the Private Equity Investment Committee and Management Committee, through which he assists in the strategy and development of the overall private equity team and portfolio. Scott is also a member of the ILPA Board of Directors and an ILPA Faculty Member, helping to educate fellow practitioners in the private equity industry.
Prior to joining TRS in 2010, Scott was in the New York office of AlpInvest Partners, a leading private equity investor with over €35 billion in AUM. At AlpInvest, Scott focused on evaluating new private equity fund commitments to various strategies around the globe. Prior to AlpInvest, Scott was an associate in the equity research department of Morgan Stanley. Previously, he also worked in the consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Scott received a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University.
Heads Japan Post Bank’s $30B private equity investment program and has been responsible for all aspects of its creation and construction. Prior to joining Japan Post Bank in January 2016, worked at Nippon Life Insurance Company, where he established and lead Nippon Life’s private equity operations in the US, and was also Head of Product Development at Nissay Asset Management Co. the asset management subsidiary of Nippon Life.
He has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo, LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School, has passed the New York Bar Exam and also is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts
Association of Japan.
Jean Eric Salata is the Head of BPEA EQT and Chairperson of EQT Asia. Jean started the regional Asian private equity investment program for UK-based Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd in 1997 and later led the management buyout of this program in 2000 to establish BPEA as an independent Firm. He has since been responsible for the investment activity of BPEA until 2022, when the company joined forces with EQT and was renamed BPEA EQT.
Prior to BPEA, Jean was a Director of Hong Kong-based AIG Global Investment Corporation (Asia) Ltd., the Asian private equity investment arm of AIG. Prior to that, Jean was the Executive Vice President of Finance of Shiu Wing Steel, a Hong Kong-based industrial concern, and prior to that a management consultant with Bain & Company based in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Boston.
Jean holds a B.S. (Hons) in Finance and Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Rajith Sebastian is Head of ESG and Sustainable Investing at NYSIF where he is responsible for the sustainable investing team and strategy across NYSIF’s $20bn portfolio. He has over 20 years of experience in the finance and investment industry globally. Rajith also serves as Head of Impact Investments at the ESG Initiative of the Wharton School. He has previously worked in investment banking, private equity, and management consulting, and has a Bachelor of Business Science degree from the University of Cape Town, an MBA from the Wharton School, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Nikos Stathopoulos is Chairman, Europe, a member of the Management Committee and Private Equity Investment Committee and plays an active role in shaping the Firm’s strategy, recruiting talent, sourcing new investment opportunities, and portfolio company operating reviews. He leads the Firm’s TMT investment vertical in Europe and has led several franchise investments for BC Partners including Acuris, Pharmathen, ComHem, United Group, and Springer Nature.
Nikos joined BC Partners in 2005 and has nearly three decades of experience in private equity across a multiple sector and geographies. Prior to BC, Nikos was a Partner at Apax Partners in London where he spent seven years working on large buy-out transactions across Europe. He started his career as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in London.
Nikos is Chairman of the Board of United Group, Cigierre, Dental Pro, and Pharmathen, Vice-Chairman of Migros Turk and Member of the Board of Springer Nature, Acuris and Advanced. He is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of Harvard Business School, the Board of Trustees of the American School in London, the Board of Trustees of Impetus, the Board of The Hellenic Initiative, the Council of Serpentine Galleries, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Chairman of the BC Partners Foundation.
Education
Nikos holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in Business Administration from Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB).
Josh Stern joined the Investment Office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in January 2012. At the Foundation Mr. Stern is part of the group overseeing all private investments. Mr. Stern came to the Foundation from Rockefeller University where he was responsible for the private investment portfolio. In that role he oversaw a portfolio of Venture Capital, Buyout and Growth Capital and Real Assets investments. Previously he worked at Standard & Poor's as a director in the Higher Education and Not-for-Profit Group, which was part of the Public Finance Department. At S&P Mr. Stern worked closely with a large number of universities and foundations across the United States. Over the course of his career he also worked as an investment banker, focusing on higher education institutions. Mr. Stern received an M.P.A. in public finance from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, an M.S. in non-profit management from New York University and a B.A. in history and sociology from Binghamton University.
Mr Tang is the Chairman and Managing Partner of Affinity Equity Partners following its spin-off from UBS in 2004. Prior to that, he was the Chairman of UBS Capital Asia Pacific, the private equity arm of UBS since 1999. Before UBS Capital, he was the Chief Executive for Investment Banking, East Asia at Union Bank of Switzerland since 1995. Following the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation to form UBS, Mr Tang became Chief Executive, Hong Kong, of UBS Group and Asia Regional Head of Investment Banking for UBS Investment Bank. Prior to Union Bank of Switzerland, he served as President and CEO of Banque Indosuez's Asian investment bank and Chairman of WI Carr (Far East) Limited, one of the leading stockbroking firms in Asia. Mr. Tang began his financial career with Chase Manhattan Bank. During his 17 years at Chase, he served in a number of senior roles in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Damien Webb joined Aware Super in January 2014 and is now the Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of International. He has over 25 years’ experience in funds management having previously worked at Perpetual Investments and ING Investment Management. As Head of the Real Assets team at Aware Super, which manages A$150 billion on behalf of its 1.1 million members, Damien leads the team’s investment activities across the strategies of infrastructure, agriculture and property. The team has made investments in Vocus, NSW and Victorian Land Registries, Bankstown and Camden Airports, Renewable Energy, Almond Farms, New Bendigo Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital, International Convention Centre Sydney, the Barangaroo precinct, Retirement Villages and the NSW Fire & Rescue Academy. Damien is also a director of several these assets. Damien received a Bachelor of Economics degree from Sydney University and is an Associate of the Securities Institute of Australia having completed his Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment. In 2006, Damien completed his Masters in Applied Finance with Macquarie University.
Eiji Yatagawa (Tokyo) joined KKR in 2006 and is a Partner on the Private Equity team. He is on the Board of Directors of PHC Holdings (formerly Panasonic Healthcare), Koki Holdings (formerly Hitachi Koki), Seiyu Holdings, dataX (formerly From Scratch), NETSTARS, Transphorm, and Yayoi. Mr. Yatagawa was also previously involved with KKR’s investments in Unisteel (Singapore), Intelligence, AlphaTheta (formerly Pioneer DJ), Marelli Holdings (formerly Calsonic Kansei), and Kokusai Electric (formerly Hitachi Kokusai Electric). From 2010 to 2012, he worked in KKR's Hong Kong office. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Yatagawa was with Goldman Sachs & Co.'s investment banking team, based in New York and Tokyo, where he focused on the telecommunications, media, and technology sector and was involved in a number of mergers and acquisitions as well as financing projects. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. from the University of Tokyo.