Steven Meier Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Comptroller for Asset Management New York City Retirement System (NYCRS)

"Steven Meier | Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Comptroller for Asset Management

As Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Comptroller for Asset Management, Steven Meier, oversees the five pension systems that compose the New York City retirement systems.

Mr. Meier brings over 40 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, previously serving as Assistant Treasurer and Interim Chief Investment Officer for the Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden, overseeing the investments of Connecticut’s $40 billion public pension system and its ESG initiatives. Before joining the Connecticut state treasurer’s office, Meier spent more than a decade at State Street Global Advisors, where he rose to Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Global Fixed Income, Currency, and Cash Management, overseeing over $900 billion in assets.

Prior to his time at State Street, he worked at Credit Suisse as Director, Global Head of Fixed Income & Money Market Electronic Trading and Senior Trader in the Global Financing Group at Credit Suisse. His experience also includes roles at Oppenheimer Capital, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, and Irving Trust Company.

Meier is a CFA Charter Holder and certified Financial Risk Manager. He holds an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business and a BBA from Hofstra University’s Zarb School of Business."

Margaux Buridant Global Co-Head of Private Wealth Solutions Tikehau Capital

Margaux Buridant joined Tikehau in 2024 as Co-Head of Private Wealth Solutions after 15 years in Wealth Management. Prior to joining Tikehau Capital, Margaux served at Bank of the West (BNP Paribas, and more recently BMO) in New York as a Senior International Wealth Strategist and Wealth Management Regional Manager. Before that, she began her career as a Notary in France, later transitioning to legal services as a Managing Director at Colombus Consulting Group NY.

Education: Master’s degree in business & law and a Notaire diploma from Aix-en-Provence University, US International Tax certification from New York University

Brian Chu Senior Managing Director Centerbridge

Brian joined Centerbridge in 2016 and focuses on the Firm’s portfolio operating effort.

Prior to joining Centerbridge, Brian worked at Bain Capital Private Equity for nine years as an Operating Partner, where he partnered with executive teams to drive growth-oriented and operating initiatives at portfolio companies.

Previously, Brian was a Vice President and General Manager at Boston Beer Company, Inc. Prior to Boston Beer, he was a Manager at Bain & Company, Inc., where he worked in a variety of industries, including consumer products, industrial manufacturing, technology and healthcare. Brian began his career in financial and information technology positions in the healthcare industry.

Education

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, B.S.

MIT Sloan School of Management, M.B.A.

Cynthia Do Nascimento, Managing Director of Investments, joined RWJBarnabas Health in 2024 where she collaborates with the CIO to devise and implement investment strategy, risk management frameworks, and asset class structures.  Prior to joining RWJBarnabas Health, she spent 11 years at the New York University investment office where she was a senior member of the investment team, specifically responsible for public and private equities and credit, with generalist responsibilities across the portfolio.  Prior to joining NYU, Ms. Nascimento was a Vice President at Marathon Asset Management, a $10 billion global credit investment manager, where she focused on distressed and situational investments.  Prior to Marathon, she was an Associate at CHS Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, and an Analyst in the Investment Banking division of William Blair & Company.  Ms. Nascimento holds a Bachelor of Science with the Highest Distinction Honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.  She is a recipient of accolades including the Top 22 in ’22 by Kayo Conference Series, Top 30 Investors at Next Generation Leading Endowments by Trusted Insights (2019), as well as nominations as a Fellow of the Robert Toigo Foundation and of The Economic Club of New York.  She is fluent in Portuguese and conversant in Spanish.

David Fann Partner, Senior Managing Director, & Head of IR VSS Capital Partners

David Fann is a Partner, Senior Managing Director, and Head of Investor Relations. He joined VSS in 2024. David has executive leadership roles in organizations that have invested over $50 billion in private equity, private credit, real assets and real estate for institutional clients and limited partners.    Prior to joining VSS, David was Vice Chairman of Apogem Capital, a subsidiary of New York Life Investment Management.  

Previously, he was a Partner and Vice Chairman of Aksia LLC.  He was also a co-founder, President and CEO of TorreyCove Capital Partner LLC (merged with Aksia in 2020) and was President and CEO of PCG Asset Management.  He was a Managing Director (Head of Alternatives) of US Trust and started his career at Citibank, where he was a Vice President of Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd.  

David holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in Industrial Engineering and Economics from Stanford University.  He serves on the advisory boards of the Robert Toigo Foundation and the Association of Asian American Investment Managers.

Dan Goetz Operating Principal HIG Capital

Dan Goetz is an Operating Principal based in H.I.G.’s New York office. He is responsible for supporting portfolio value-creation efforts across the firm’s U.S. private equity funds.

Dan has over 15 years of portfolio operations and investment experience in middle market private equity, spanning a range of industries.

Prior to joining H.I.G., Dan was a Managing Director at Siris Capital Group, LLC, where he led the firm’s portfolio operations and value creation practice. Earlier in his career, he worked as an investment professional at Veritas Capital and in investment banking at UBS.

Dan earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University.

Amyn Hassanally Partner and Global Head of Private Equity Secondaries Pantheon

Amyn is a Partner and Global Head of Private Equity Secondaries. Prior to joining Pantheon Amyn was an Investment Partner at Coller Capital, where he worked for 17 years in both London and New York and was formerly the global Co-Head of Investment Execution. Prior to joining Coller, he practiced corporate law, focusing on private equity transactions and fund structuring. Amyn holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics from Brandeis University and a JD in Law from the Duke University School of Law.

Bo Huang Partner Advent International

Bo Huang joined Advent in 2016 and is a Managing Director in Boston. He advises on investments in the business & financial services sector. Bo has advised on 16 investments during his career, eight while at Advent.

Prior to joining Advent, Bo worked at Apax Partners, where he focused on investments in the technology and healthcare sectors. Before that, he worked at Lazard in mergers & acquisitions.

Bo received a BA in Economics and Biology and BAS in Biomedical Science, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Eli Nagler Senior Managing Director Blackstone

Eli Nagler is a Senior Managing Director in the Private Equity Group, where he leads investments in the Technology and Financial Services sectors. Since initially joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Nagler has been involved in the execution of the firm’s investments in Alight Solutions, BankUnited, Bayview Asset Management, Ellucian, Exeter Finance, IntraFi Network, Lendmark Financial Services, MB Aerospace, Paysafe, Refinitiv, Renaissance Learning, Sphera, Tradeweb, Viva Capital, Vivint, and Vivint Solar. He currently serves as a Director of Ellucian, IntraFi Network, Paysafe, Renaissance Learning, and Sphera.

Before rejoining Blackstone after the completion of an MBA, Mr. Nagler worked at the United States Treasury Department in the Office of Capital Markets.

Mr. Nagler received an AB magna cum laude from Harvard College and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a John L. Loeb Fellow. He is a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Partnership for New York City Rockefeller Fellow.

Ben Perl Managing Director and Global Co-Head of NB Secondary Private Equity Neuberger Berman

Benjamin Perl is a Managing Director of Neuberger Berman and Global Co-Head of NB Secondary Private Equity. He is a member of the Secondary, Real Estate Secondary and Strategic Capital Investment Committees. Ben joined the firm in 2001 and Neuberger Berman Private Equity in 2007. Prior to that, he worked as an associate at Lehman Brothers Venture Partners (now Tenaya Capital), where he was responsible for executing and evaluating mid-through late-stage equity investments across a wide range of industries. He also worked in Lehman Brothers’ Investment Banking Division in New York and San Francisco as part of both the Consumer Retail and Equity Capital Markets groups. Ben holds an MBA, with High Distinction (Baker Scholar), from Harvard Business School and a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from Wesleyan University.

Stefanie Raiola Principal Hg

Stefanie is a Principal on the Genesis team with a focus on Fintech and GRC opportunities.

Experience

Stefanie joined Hg in 2021 to support Genesis in North America. She is currently involved with Hg’s investments in Nitrogen (board member), Ncontracts (board member), Mitratech (board member), and Gen II.

Prior to Hg, Stefanie spent five years at Atairos focused on hospitality, leisure & entertainment, and financial services investments. Stefanie began her career at JP Morgan in the TMT & Fintech investment banking group.

Christopher Sand Managing Director Ardian

Christopher Sand is a Managing Director with Ardian’s Buyout team, which invests in high-quality mid- and large-cap companies in both Western Europe and North America, applying transformational strategies to develop global leaders in their niche markets. Based in New York, Christopher focuses on the food and beverage, healthcare, and specialty chemical sectors. The New York team seeks to identify transatlantic opportunities, North American businesses that the team can support as they expand internationally, and compelling acquisitions for European portfolio companies. Previously, Christopher was responsible for investments in the food & beverage, financial services, and industrial sectors at Centre Partners Management. He began his career in leveraged finance at RBS. Christopher received an honors degree in economics, politics, and philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sophia Tsai Managing Director Trinity Church Wall Street

Sophia Tsai is Managing Director at Trinity Church, a ~$6 billion endowment. Sophia covers asset allocation, fund investments and co-investments across all alternative and traditional asset classes globally.

Prior to joining Trinity Church in 2017, Sophia was Managing Director and Co-Head of Hedge Funds at State Street Global Advisors. She co-led the hedge fund program and was also responsible for private equity direct investments, co-investments and fund investments for GE Pension. Sophia joined State Street in 2016 through its acquisition of GE Asset Management. At GE, Sophia was based in the US more recently for eleven years, and also held several roles in Asia during 1995 to 2005 at three GE Capital divisions including GE Equity, GE Capital Asia Pacific’s M&A Group and GE Capital Finance.

Sophia chairs the Investment Committee of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong, and a BBA in Accounting from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sophia is a CFA charterholder.

Joyce Zhang Senior Investment Officer Wallace Foundation

Joyce Zhang joined the investment team at Wallace in 2016. She assists the chief investment officer in the management of the foundation’s investment portfolio. Her responsibilities include the monitoring of investment managers, and risk management and analytical support.

Prior to Wallace, Zhang worked as a senior fixed income trader at Ping An Asset Management, one of the largest insurance companies in China. There, she traded Chinese and Hong Kong stocks and international bonds for 200 portfolios with more than $100 billion in assets and was one of the firm’s top traders. 

Zhang received her M.B.A. from Yale University. She holds an M.S. in global business from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. She is both a chartered financial analyst and chartered alternative investment analyst.

Zhang is a Kauffman Fellow, part of a two-year program dedicated to advancing education, leadership, and networking for venture capitalists and innovation leaders. She also serves as a New York chapter leader for the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, advocating for greater diversity and inclusion within the investment industry.