Josh Armstrong Deputy Managing Editor MERGERMARKET

Josh Armstrong is deputy managing editor for Mergermarket in North America. He founded the Southeast US editorial bureau in 2018, building out Mergermarket's coverage in the region from a home base in Charlottesville, Virginia. He previously oversaw financial services coverage at S&P Global Market Intelligence and did a little bit of every job at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.

Rene Benedetto Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager THE CARLYLE GROUP

Rene Benedetto a Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager responsible for business development, investor relations and strategic fundraising initiatives with institutional investors across Carlyle’s three business segments. Rene is based in Austin, Texas.

Rene has 25+ years of private equity investing, business development, fundraising, and board experience.  Prior to Carlyle, Rene was a Managing Director of Certares Management LLC, an investment firm with ~$10B of AUM across Private Equity, Credit and Real Estate, where she focused on private equity investing and fund marketing for Certares Real Estate and Private Equity platforms. Prior to Certares, Rene was a Managing Director of Trivergance LLC, a mid-market private equity firm, where she led investments, debt and equity capital raising, business development and strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 brands.

Prior to Trivergance, Rene was a Principal at Halyard Capital, a middle-market private equity fund focused on media and tech-enabled business services investments.  Prior to Halyard, Ms. Benedetto was a General Partner at Impact Venture Partners, a technology-focused venture capital fund. Rene also held positions as a Director at CIBC’s merchant banking group and a Senior Analyst at Bank of America’s growth equity and investment banking groups.

Rene has served on the boards of multiple companies and currently serves as on the Deans Advisory Council of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and on the Executive Council of New York for McCombs. She is also a Member of Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN).

Rene received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and a B.B.A. in Finance with Highest Honors, from The University of Texas at Austin.

Kaci Boyer Managing Director, Private Equity NEUBERGER BERMAN

Kaci Boyer is a Managing Director of Neuberger Berman and a senior member of the private equity investment team. Ms. Boyer focuses on designing and implementing customized private equity portfolios for institutional clients, acting as a program manager and a client investment contact for some of NB Private Equity’s largest custom account mandates. In addition, she is also responsible for evaluating and executing private equity investments and assists with business development activities across the private equity platform. Ms. Boyer joined the Dallas office in 2007 and spent nine months in Neuberger Berman’s Hong Kong office focused on private equity investments throughout the Asia Pacific region. In 2017, the National Association of Investment Companies recognized Ms. Boyer as a Rising Star for outstanding contributions she has made to the private equity industry early in her career. Ms. Boyer received a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Tiffany Kosch Managing Partner CENTERGATE CAPITAL

Tiffany Kosch is a Managing Partner at CenterGate Capital. Tiffany has over 25 years of investment experience creating value in lower middle market companies. She was a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, where she invested in underperforming lower middle market companies for eight years. Her experience covers a broad range of investment structures and types, among them corporate spin-outs and orphans, turnaround equity and distressed debt. Sectors covered are also broad, including business services, consumer products and manufacturing. Tiffany received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S., cum laude, from Georgetown University.

Kathy Reiland Investor INTEGRUM

Kathy Reiland is a member of the Investment Committee at Integrum.

Kathy has over thirty years of investment and acquisition experience most recently during her tenure at Standard Industries (“Standard”) and 40 North Management (“40 North”) and Evercore Partners (“Evercore”).

Kathy joined Standard and 40 North in 2016 as Head of Strategy and Development and a member of the executive leadership team. Standard is a privately held global industrial company with a broad array of investments, technologies and holdings including building materials assets and next-generation solar solutions. 40 North, a related investment business of Standard Industries, is a fundamentally based investment platform that takes concentrated, long-term positions across a range of sectors to create value for all stakeholders. During her tenure, Kathy was involved in both public and private investments totaling more than $10 billion in enterprise value and ranging from early to late stage including Braas Monier, W.R. Grace, Clariant, Hover, and Hippo.

Prior to joining Standard, Kathy spent eighteen years as a Senior Managing Director at Evercore, a global independent investment banking advisory firm, and Evercore Capital Partners, Evercore’s private equity platform. During that time, Kathy was a general partner of the private equity funds, and ultimately served as the Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s investment businesses that included private equity, traditional asset management and wealth management. Later, she served as head of Evercore’s international joint ventures in Asia. Kathy was involved in Evercore Capital Partner’s investments in Fidelity Information Services (FIS), Sedgwick, Bollinger, and Causeway Capital. In addition, Kathy was actively involved in Evercore’s diversity and recruiting efforts responsible for launching the Women’s Forum which was designed to establish relationship networks and training to position women for senior leadership roles.

Prior to joining Evercore, Kathy was a buy-side equity analyst at Sanford Bernstein and a consultant at Bain & Co.

Kathy earned her B.A. degree from Duke University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth.

Courtney Villalta Managing Director APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT

Courtney Villalta is a Managing Director in the Client & Product Solutions group at Apollo, where she leads Product Management for Private Equity. Prior to joining Apollo in 2022, Courtney was Director on the Investment Team at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, managing private equity investments in addition to the Firm’s Private Markets Strategic Partnerships.