Jacob Meyer leads coverage of the U.S. economy on the Barings Economic & Thematic Research team. He joined the firm in September 2024. Previously he was on the U.S. economics team at Nomura and covered the North American economy for the Swiss Re. He has worked in financial services since 2018 when he joined UBS as a Quantitative Economist. He holds a bachelors in economics & political science from Ohio University, and an M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in the economics and political science inter-field from Claremont Graduate University. Prior to joining the financial services industry, he published academic research through the Claremont Institute for Economic Policy Studies and taught courses on econometrics and international macroeconomics at California State University Long Beach and Claremont Graduate University.

Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.

Bruce Zimmerman is a world-class investor, seasoned business executive, and experienced board member with a distinguished career spanning investment management, corporate leadership, and strategic advisory roles. He brings deep expertise in overseeing complex investment portfolios, guiding institutional strategy, and contributing meaningfully to governance and fiduciary oversight.

Bruce most recently advised Tresalia, a prominent high-net-worth family office. Prior to that, he served as the first Chief Investment Officer for Ray Dalio’s Family Office, where he served for four and a half years. Earlier, Bruce was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), where he oversaw the growth of assets from $20 billion to $40 billion and led a team that generated $4.5 billion in value add. Under his leadership, UTIMCO received multiple industry accolades, including Endowment of the Year and Outstanding Achievement by the Hedge Fund Industry.

Before UTIMCO, Bruce was Chief Investment Officer of Citigroup’s $13 billion pension plan and previously served as Chief Financial Officer for Citigroup Alternative Investments. His earlier career includes leadership roles at Bain & Company and JPMorgan Chase, where he led initiatives across investment banking, consumer marketing, and digital innovation, including launching Chase’s first online banking product.

Board Experience

Bruce’s board experience includes serving as Lead Independent Director for Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation and a board member of Blackstone’s Hedge Fund for individual investors  He has also served on the boards of Vistra Energy, the Duke University Investment Management Committee (DUMAC), the CommonFund (as Vice Chair), and as an advisor to the Houston Endowment. His governance experience spans public companies, endowments, and mission-driven organizations.

Bruce holds a magna cum laude degree from Duke University and earned First- and Second-Year Honors at Harvard Business School.

Mark Hoeing is President and CEO of CF Private Equity, Head of the firm’s Buyout and Growth Equity investment practice, a member of the Investment Committee and Senior Executive Group of CF Private Equity and a member of the Operating Committee of Commonfund Group. As President and CEO, Mark’s responsibilities include the strategic direction of the firm and oversight of investment solutions in buyouts, growth equity, venture capital, and real assets and sustainability. As Head of Buyouts and Growth Equity investments, his responsibilities include managing due diligence, investment selection, portfolio construction, monitoring, and fundraising for the firm’s buyout and growth equity strategies that include primaries, secondaries and co-investments. Prior to joining CF Private Equity, his experience includes positions at Deutsche Bank, evaluating third-party managers in the private capital funds division, as well as direct private capital investing with DB Capital Partners, Deutsche Bank’s merchant banking subsidiary. Part of Mark’s work at Deutsche included the bank’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific basin. Mark began his career as a credit analyst and commercial lending officer with Citizens Financial Group. He is presently a member of the advisory boards of several private equity limited partnerships. Mark has a B.S. in Health Policy and Management and an M.B.A. from Providence College.

Adam Levyn (Partner): Adam joined LGP in 2011 and is a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee and Investment Management Committee. Previously, Adam worked in private equity at KKR and in the Global Industrials group of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Adam presently serves on the Board of Directors of HUB International and OMNIA Partners, among others. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

David Phillips is a senior managing director based in our Boston office. He co-leads the firm's private equity investment activities in North America and is a member of the firm’s investment, portfolio review and executive committees. Mr. Phillips is currently a director of Accelerate Learning, Asurion, Modern Campus, Seesaw, TCP and Tenstreet. Previous board memberships include Anthology, Archipelago Learning, Ascend Learning, CSDVRS, PADI, Vector Solutions, Vistage and Worldwide Express. Prior to joining Providence in 2005, Mr. Phillips was a Luce Scholar and assistant director of business development at Hutchison Whampoa China. Previously, he worked at Goldman Sachs in the principal investment area. Mr. Phillips holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

A partner in the Paul, Weiss San Francisco office, Austin is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Groups. Austin focuses his practice on representing private equity firms in all aspects of their businesses, including domestic and cross-border leveraged and management buyouts, venture and growth capital investments, divestitures, other mergers and acquisitions, equity financings, restructurings and work outs, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. He has expertise in structuring, negotiating and managing the corporate, securities and tax aspects of complex transactions.

Mr. Huff has over twenty years of experience in the private equity industry and has been a partner in several private equity funds raised by Austin Ventures and J. H. Whitney. Mr. Huff led investments in, and had board responsibilities for, profitable investments in industry-leading companies such as R360 Environmental Solutions, Brooks Sports, ICON International, Kana Communications, Metis and Tallan.

Prior to co-founding Blue Sage in 2002, Mr. Huff was a partner at Austin Ventures, a large private equity fund based in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining Austin Ventures, he was a managing member at J. H. Whitney, a private equity firm that grew from approximately Blue Sage’s size to over $5 billion of assets under management while Mr. Huff was with the firm. Before joining Whitney, Mr. Huff was a Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Singapore and worked with McKinsey and Company.

Mr. Huff is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and a Founding Board Member of ACG Central Texas. He was also elected to the national Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) Board of Governors in 2011.

Mr. Huff received his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he graduated first in his class, was President of the Student Center Governing Board and earned First-Team Academic All-American honors in track and field. He earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Campbell is a Senior Managing Director of Peak Rock. He is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including sourcing, structuring, financing, and supporting the execution of growth and operational initiatives. Mr. Campbell serves on the Board of Directors of numerous portfolio companies and has led investments across a wide range of industries including infrastructure services, chemicals, distribution, packaging, consumer packaged food, and industrials.

Previously, Mr. Campbell was with McKinsey & Company, a leading consulting firm, where he worked across a variety of industries on operational and organizational improvement initiatives. Prior to joining McKinsey, he was at Houlihan Lokey, where he was a member of the Financial Restructuring Group.

Mr. Campbell received a master’s degree in business administration, with distinction, from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.

Karl Schade has been structuring, analyzing, and managing private equity investments for over three decades. Today, he serves as Managing Partner of Presidio Investors, the private equity firm he founded in 2007. In this role, Karl has focused on middle market buyouts in the entertainment and business services industries in North America and Europe. At Presidio Investors, Karl, and the team he has recruited, have invested in seventeen platform investments through over forty acquisitions.

Karl also has significant CEO experience. From 2013-2016, he was the CEO of The Presidio Group, a San Francisco-based financial services firm with ~$5 billion of assets under advisement. As CEO, Karl worked with the team and Board of Presidio to grow assets, open a Washington D.C. office, and restructure the firm, resulting in a successful exit. During 2011, Karl also served as CEO of Hattrick Sports Group, one of Presidio Investors’ most successful technology investments.

Prior to founding Presidio Investors, Karl worked for a decade at several large private equity firms, including The Blackstone Group in New York City, Silver Lake Partners in Menlo Park, and Blum Capital Partners in San Francisco. While at these Firms, Karl learned industry best practices and was a team-member on deals representing approximately $1 billion of invested equity capital.

Karl received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Claremont McKenna College. Karl has served on numerous Boards and Associations and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Laura Stake is a partner in the Investment Funds Practice Group in the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Laura represents sponsors in connection with the formation of private investment funds within a broad range of strategies and industries, including energy, infrastructure, real estate, technology, ESG & impact, growth, and traditional buyout. Laura has handled fund formation matters ranging from first-time funds to funds raising over $15 billion. Laura’s practice also focuses on advising fund sponsors on a wide variety of related matters, including seed/minority investments, spin-outs, internal restructuring and governance, personnel matters, extraordinary events and regulatory compliance.

Nate Bishop joined HarbourVest in 2008 and is a Managing Director on the Institutional Investor Relations team. In this role, Nate partners with leading institutional clients and consultants across the Americas, helping to strengthen relationships with public and corporate pension plans, endowments, foundations, and insurance companies. He has been instrumental in advancing fundraising and strategic initiatives across HarbourVest’s global primary, secondary, co-investment, and credit platforms.

Prior to HarbourVest, Nate was an Associate Principal at Meketa Investment Group, focusing on marketing and due diligence for private equity fund-of-funds and secondary strategies. Earlier in his career, he held sales and marketing roles at The Baker Companies and Loomis, Sayles & Company. Nate received a BA from the University of Rochester.

Kaci Boyer is a Managing Director at Neuberger and a senior member of the Private Investment Portfolios and Co-investments team. Kaci 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 Neuberger 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. Kaci joined the Dallas office in 2007 and spent nine months in Neuberger’s Hong Kong office focused on private equity investments throughout the Asia Pacific region. In 2017, the National Association of Investment Companies recognized Kaci as a Rising Star for outstanding contributions she has made to the private equity industry early in her career. In 2024, Private Equity International ("PEI") selected Kaci to the PEI 40 Under 40, Future Leaders of Private Equity, Class of 2024. The award recognizes professionals that are expected to play a leading role in shaping the future of the asset class. Kaci received a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Kristin Custar is a Partner and the Head of the Global Investor Capital Group of TJC. She is also a member of the Executive Committee. Kristin joined TJC in 2007. Kristin oversees all fundraising efforts, investor relations and general marketing activities. Prior to TJC, Kristin was the Director of Investor Relations at First Reserve Corporation. Prior to First Reserve, she spent two years working at GE Equity as a limited partner and four years at Arthur Andersen in the Transaction Advisory Group. Kristin currently serves on the board of directors of Spectrio. Kristin also serves on the Advisory Board for Girls Who Invest. Kristin received a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.

António Caçorino is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of APEX.  APEX is the leading European-led sports-focused investment firm backed by over 150 world-class athletes, investing through venture, growth, and private equity strategies on behalf of a curated group of global institutional and strategic investors. Since founding APEX in 2020, Caçorino has led the firm’s growth across the global sports, media, and entertainment ecosystem, investing in companies that reshape how sports are performed, experienced, and consumed.  Under his leadership, the firm has invested in the NFL-backed Flag Football League, the Northern Super League, the BWT Alpine F1 Team, Baller League, Tiger Woods’ and Rory Mcllroy's indoor golf league TMRW Sports, The Bay Golf Club, Venezia FC, and a growing portfolio of early-stage sports innovators. Through APEX, Caçorino has built an exclusive athlete-driven platform that combines capital with deep industry expertise to unlock off-market opportunities, create long-term value, and deliver strong returns across every investment. By combining athlete insights, investment expertise, and a unique ecosystem, APEX identifies, scales, and maximizes the most promising opportunities across sports, media, and entertainment.

 Prior to founding APEX, Caçorino held senior roles in investment banking and private equity, including Head of Capital Markets at WELZ and Head of Iberia at Leonteq in London, where he focused on cross-asset investment solutions, strategic growth initiatives, and institutional investor engagement. His career combines deep financial expertise with a clear vision for innovation in the sports industry.

Leigh Sansone is the Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Paceline Equity Partners, a $2.4 billion private equity firm currently investing out of Paceline Equity Partners Opportunity Fund II with $780 million in commitments. Paceline is based in Dallas, TX and focused on special situations across three primary verticals: corporate credit, private equity, and real assets. The founding partners have worked together for over eighteen years, and including their experience together at a prior firm, have deployed over $20B across several economic cycles. 

Leigh also serves on the Advisory Board of all Paceline’s currently active private equity portfolio companies. Prior to forming Paceline, Leigh spent 20 years at Lone Star Funds beginning her career there in Fund I and leaving at Fund X in 2018 – along with five of her other founding partners to start Paceline. 

Leigh was involved in the formation and is still involved in the continued strategy of Gradus, an organization focused on investing in non-profit organizations in North Texas and New York City that provide children and their families with the tools needed to live lives of meaning. In 2023, Leigh was named to Pensions & Investments list of “Influential Women in Institutional Investing”, which celebrates women who are having an outsized impact on the investment market as well as driving positive change across the industry. Leigh graduated with honors from Texas A&M University with a BBA in Finance and is a CFA charterholder.

Eric Schwartzman serves as head of Baker’s Private Equity Group in California. Based in San Francisco, he leverages decades of transactional experience and business judgment to help clients across industries buy, build and sell companies. His practice spans a range of industries, including technology and its many subsectors, as well as telecom, media and entertainment, financial services, healthcare, consumer, retail, energy, manufacturing, and industrials.

Stephen works with investment team members and other Partners to identify, analyze, and assess potential investment opportunities.

Stephen is a seasoned technology executive with in-depth experience with Fortune 100 and growth-stage organizations. He brings over 30 years of experience across SaaS applications, AI and analytics, and IoT services in industries including healthcare, manufacturing, and consumer goods. Currently he is the CMO for SparkCognition, where he has been instrumental in helping the AI solutions provider achieve unicorn status.

Previously Stephen served as General Manager of Honeywell’s $2.5 billion IoT and software business, leading the digital transformation of this century-old $40 billion manufacturer. Prior to joining Honeywell, Stephen was Group CMO of IBM Watson, where he was one of the principal business architects that delivered next-generation AI technology, driving over $5 billion of revenue in six years and 10,000 engagements. Other positions include President of Aberdeen Group (HHS), President & CEO of Azerity, which was acquired by Model N, Inc. (MODN), and CMO of Digital Market, which was acquired by Oracle (ORCL). Additionally, Stephen has served on various private and public boards, most recently the supercomputing company Cray Inc., which was sold to Hewlett Packard (HPE).

Rohanjit Chaudhry is an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley and is based in New York. Rohan joined Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 2022. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Rohan was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company where he led value creation programs for private equity backed companies, with an emphasis on commercial acceleration and go-to-market development. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Fairway, American Restoration and Prescott’s Inc.. Rohan holds a B.Com from Delhi University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Thomas Chadwick is an Investment Partner on the Manufactured Products team for Pritzker Private Capital. Thomas joined PPC in 2017 as a Vice President. Prior to PPC, Thomas was an Associate at Madison Dearborn Capital Partners and an Investment Banking Analyst at Deutsche Bank. Thomas received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Ms. Liu is Managing Director and Head of AI at StepStone Group, where she leads the firm’s artificial intelligence strategy and its application across the global private markets platform. Her work spans the full AI lifecycle, from research and development through firm-wide deployment, with a focus on building investment intelligence, underwriting, portfolio analytics, and enterprise AI capabilities. Combining deep expertise in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence with more than a decade of private markets experience, she bridges investment, data, and technology to translate emerging capabilities into practical outcomes for the firm and its clients.

Prior to leading StepStone’s AI initiatives, Ms. Liu was a member of the firm’s private equity and portfolio management teams, with experience spanning US small-market buyouts, energy, and co-investments. Before joining StepStone, she held private markets investment and research roles at TorreyCove Capital Partners, Macquarie Group, Ballentine Finn & Company, Inc., and Wellington Management Company.

Ms. Liu holds dual BS degrees in Mathematics and Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completed the MIT xPRO AI for Senior Executives program, and is a CFA charterholder.

Daniel Render, Partner and Co-Chair, Sports and Sports Facilities

As the Co-Chair of the Sports and Sports Facilities team, Daniel Render represents a wide range of clients in the professional sports teams and technology industries: including National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Football League, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, Women’s National Basketball Association, National Women’s Soccer League, United Soccer League and NBA G-League teams, arenas and stadiums, investors and sponsors.

Daniel counsels clients on a variety of transactional matters, including among them acquisitions and sales (including private equity investments in sports franchises), debt and equity financings, media rights agreements, sponsorship agreements (including naming rights agreements), venue ticketing agreements, retail merchandising agreements, concessions agreements, and coach and executive management employment agreements. Clients describe him as “thoughtful and thorough.” (Chambers USA 2026) As a result, Daniel was named in the prestigious "Forty Under 40" list by Sports Business Journal, the premier sports business industry publication in the United States, and as a Rising Star by Law360, a top legal industry publication. Additionally, in a widely-read recent Katten report detailing how dealmakers are balancing hope for a steadying private equity market against lingering economic and policy uncertainty, Daniel was featured as a leading voice.

Walker Brumskine is a Partner at Bluestone Equity Partners, where he helps lead the firm’s investment activities. He is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, structuring, and overseeing investments, and works closely with founders, executives, and boards to drive strategic growth, operational improvement, and long-term value creation. An investment professional with more than 15 years of experience, Mr. Brumskine has executed private equity, growth equity, structured capital, and credit investments across multiple industries and geographies.

Immediately prior to joining Bluestone, Mr. Brumskine was Co-Founder & Managing Director of 127 Wall Holdings, an independent private equity sponsor. While there, he co-led all aspects of investing and operations, including the acquisition, integration, and operation of a multi-state roll-up of consumer businesses with more than 30 locations across Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas.

Earlier, Mr. Brumskine worked in the private equity groups of Apollo Global Management in New York and Helios Investment Partners in London. At Apollo, he focused on media, consumer, and sports-related investments, including equity and credit transactions and complex structured financings in partnership with leading management teams. At Helios, he executed private equity transactions across Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a focus on operational improvement in companies operating in emerging and growth markets. He began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Brumskine earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and a B.S. from Harvard College.

Greg Grissom - Executive Director, Sports Investing

Greg Grissom serves as Executive Director of Sports Investing at CAZ Investments, where he partners with the firm’s investment management leadership to evaluate sports investment opportunities, strengthen relationships across professional sports ownership groups, and help expand CAZ’s growing sports investing platform.

Prior to joining CAZ, Greg spent nearly 25 years with the Houston Texans, most recently serving as President. Throughout his tenure, he held senior leadership roles across corporate development, revenue generation, operations, and business strategy, ultimately overseeing the full scope of the franchise’s business operations. He began his career in professional sports with the Houston Astros before transitioning into NFL leadership.

Drawing on his extensive network of team owners, league executives, and industry leaders, Greg brings a unique operator’s perspective to sports investing. His experience leading a world-class professional sports organization provides valuable insight as CAZ continues to invest across professional sports franchises and related opportunities.

Greg earned his degree from Baylor University and is actively involved in the Houston community through nonprofit service, including the United Way of Greater Houston. He resides in Houston with his family and enjoys golf, travel, and supporting Houston sports teams.

Matt LaPorta brings a rare combination of elite athletic credibility, private equity deal experience, and deep relationships across the sports and family-office worlds to every engagement. A former MLB first baseman, 7th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist with Team USA, Matt has spent the years since his playing career building expertise at the intersection of sports, capital markets, and wealth. He holds an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a two-time SEC Player of the Year from the University of Florida.

At Dynasty Financial Partners, Matt serves as Executive in Residence, connecting an institutional wealth platform to a world of relationships- professional athletes, founders, and family offices- that traditional financial firms struggle to reach.

As a current board member and former partner of True Up Capital, Matt works alongside family-office principals and UHNW investors as both an advisor and co-investor across the sports landscape. His deal experience spans professional franchises - including MLB and WNBA transactions - down to youth sports platforms. He has led or contributed to transactions ranging from eight to ten figures, bringing the same performance mindset to the boardroom that defined his career on the field. His athlete network and insider credibility provide access to ownership pipelines, league relationships, and co-investment opportunities that remain invisible to traditional institutional capital.

Through Wayfinder Capital Partners, Matt targets founder-owned businesses in sports, sports services, recreation, and adjacent industries with EBITDA of $3M–$10M. His focus is on buy-side acquisitions where his background as a professional athlete accelerates trust, unlocks proprietary deal flow, and creates a differentiated path to value creation that traditional PE firms simply cannot replicate.

Matt’s greatest differentiator is relational. Having lived the professional and Olympic athlete experience, he speaks the language of the clients he serves -bringing peer-level trust and credibility alongside real financial and deal sophistication. For the professional athletes, founders, and families in his network, that combination opens doors and earns confidence that traditional financial firms cannot replicate.

Matt is married to Dara -a better athlete than he’ll ever be - and together they are raising four incredible kids in Tampa, Florida. When he’s not closing deals or coaching youth tackle football and baseball, you’ll find him on the golf course, where he brings the same competitive intensity that got him to the big leagues (with slightly less success).

Taylor Beaupain | Managing Partner 

Taylor Beaupain is a Managing Partner at K1 Investment Management and oversees the Firm’s Execution function and is a member of K1’s Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. 

Mr. Beaupain is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he received an MBA and was a Dean’s Scholar, and of Washington and Lee University, where he received a BS in Business Administration, summa cum laude. 

Mr. Beaupain has served as a director of numerous companies, serves on the board of the UCLA Anderson Fink Center for Finance & Investments and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Kevin is a Partner and Head of Strategy for Sapphire Ventures, where he is responsible for advising the investment teams, portfolio companies, and limited partners on key market trends and dynamics shaping the ecosystem, particularly in the areas of enterprise, SaaS, and artificial intelligence. Kevin authors research pieces and monthly market memos recognized by media and key industry influencers that covers VC investment activity, AI and tech trends impacting the enterprise software market. He works across all Sapphire strategies to help the firm best execute against current opportunities, while also identifying and evaluating future focus areas.

Prior to joining Sapphire, Kevin spent 7.5 years in Corporate Strategy at Microsoft where he was a Senior Director and member of the strategy leadership team. In this role, Kevin worked directly with Microsoft’s Leadership Team on the company’s most critical strategic growth initiatives, with work that touched both existing and new product categories, go-to-market, M&A, and partnerships. Prior to Microsoft, Kevin worked at Booz & Company in the firm’s Technology, Media, and Telecom practice where he consulted for several Fortune 100 technology clients in the software and ecommerce categories, and also was selected as one of the 3 members of the inaugural class of the Katzenbach Center’s Leadership Program.

Kevin is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas-Austin, as well as of Emory University, where he majored in Economics.  He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his beautiful wife Cassie and their two children, Olivia and Owen.

Casey Clinkenbeard joined Strattam Capital in 2025 as Principal, Product & Technology, where he focuses on portfolio company product, technology and AI execution to drive value creation.

Previously, Casey was Head of Product and Engineering at Noonlight, an API-first emergency response platform and subsidiary of Alarm.com. Prior to Noonlight, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product at Soluta, a Riverside-backed insurtech company. Earlier in his career, Casey was a founding engineer at HotSchedules and spent nearly two decades with the business as it scaled through multiple private equity transitions, ultimately serving as SVP of Product Management at Fourth following the merger.

Casey earned a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Austin, Texas.

Carl Press is a Partner on the Explore team at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, he joined the firm in 2015. Carl is responsible for founding and co-leading the firm’s Explore platform, which focuses on investing in high-growth, middle-market software and technology companies. GrowthCap named Carl to its list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors for 2021. Prior to Thoma Bravo, he was a technology investor at HighBar Partners, an Associate in the Special Situations Group at Oaktree Capital Management, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at SLS Preschool. Carl holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar, and a BS, with honors, in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Carl Press is a Partner on the Explore team at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, he joined the firm in 2015. Carl is responsible for founding and co-leading the firm’s Explore platform, which focuses on investing in high-growth, middle-market software and technology companies. GrowthCap named Carl to its list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors for 2021. Prior to Thoma Bravo, he was a technology investor at HighBar Partners, an Associate in the Special Situations Group at Oaktree Capital Management, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at SLS Preschool. Carl holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar, and a BS, with honors, in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brent Humphries joined AB in 2014 as a founding member and President of AB Private Credit Investors, where he has primary responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the business, including chairing the investment committee, fundraising, investor relations, investment originations, structuring and underwriting, as well as ongoing portfolio management and compliance. He previously held the same position with Barclays Private Credit Partners. Prior to joining Barclays, Humphries served as group head, generalist financial sponsor coverage for Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, and later led its structured private equity initiative. Before that, he served as a partner and managing director of the Texas Growth Fund, a middle market private equity firm. Humphries previously worked in leveraged finance with NationsBank and J.P. Morgan, and as a financial analyst with Exxon. He holds a BBA in finance with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Location: Austin

Christophe Browne is a Partner on the Secondary team primarily focused on the origination, evaluation, and execution of continuation vehicle transactions. Christophe joined Lexington in 2024 from ICG, where was a founding member of the strategic equity business serving as Managing Director and Head of North America. Prior to that, he was a founding partner at NewGlobe Capital Partners. Christophe graduated from Georgetown University with a BS in International Economics and from Columbia Business School with an MBA.

Mr. Shantz is the Managing Director of Credit and Hedge Funds for the $42 billion Employee Retirement System of Texas. He transformed its core-plus style fixed income portfolio into distinct Rates and Credit mandates and simultaneously developed its internal high yield management capacity. In 2022 he took the additional responsibility of leading the Hedge Fund team. Prior to ERS Mr. Shantz was a Managing Director and Investment Committee member for the Lockheed Martin Investment Management Company where he implemented a similar fixed income format utilizing liability driven investing and additionally created its internally managed hedge fund portfolio. Before Lockheed he was the senior fixed income portfolio manager at the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System. Mr. Shantz has additionally served on the investment committee for Sandia National Laboratories, The Long Center Investment Committee, is a former president of the Nashville Society of Financial Analyst, is a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1996, performed his Ph.D. studies in Finance at the University of Tennessee, and graduated with honors in Economics and Business Administration from Rhodes College.

John K. Kelley helps investment managers navigate all aspects of their business and operations, with a particular emphasis on forming private investment funds and structuring and executing secondary transactions.

John draws on strategic know-how and keen business acumen to represent sponsors in private fund formation across a wide range of sectors and geographies. He also regularly advises on:

• Complex strategic minority and preferred equity investments
• Structuring firm ownership and operations
• Succession planning
• Spin-outs and executive transitions
• Incentive arrangements

John has extensive experience representing buyers, sellers and market intermediaries in the full spectrum of secondary transactions, including portfolio sales, direct secondaries, preferred equity financings, multi- and single-asset restructurings, tender offers, and synthetic transactions.

He also advises institutional investors on reviewing and negotiating portfolio investments and financings, including investments in private equity, credit, energy, natural resources, real estate, venture capital, and hedge funds as well as co-investments, funds of one, and separately managed accounts.

Laura Stake is a partner in the Investment Funds Practice Group in the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Laura represents sponsors in connection with the formation of private investment funds within a broad range of strategies and industries, including energy, infrastructure, real estate, technology, ESG & impact, growth, and traditional buyout. Laura has handled fund formation matters ranging from first-time funds to funds raising over $15 billion. Laura’s practice also focuses on advising fund sponsors on a wide variety of related matters, including seed/minority investments, spin-outs, internal restructuring and governance, personnel matters, extraordinary events and regulatory compliance.

Mr. Campbell is a Senior Managing Director of Peak Rock. He is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including sourcing, structuring, financing, and supporting the execution of growth and operational initiatives. Mr. Campbell serves on the Board of Directors of numerous portfolio companies and has led investments across a wide range of industries including infrastructure services, chemicals, distribution, packaging, consumer packaged food, and industrials.

Previously, Mr. Campbell was with McKinsey & Company, a leading consulting firm, where he worked across a variety of industries on operational and organizational improvement initiatives. Prior to joining McKinsey, he was at Houlihan Lokey, where he was a member of the Financial Restructuring Group.

Mr. Campbell received a master’s degree in business administration, with distinction, from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.

Nate Bishop joined HarbourVest in 2008 and is a Managing Director on the Institutional Investor Relations team. In this role, Nate partners with leading institutional clients and consultants across the Americas, helping to strengthen relationships with public and corporate pension plans, endowments, foundations, and insurance companies. He has been instrumental in advancing fundraising and strategic initiatives across HarbourVest’s global primary, secondary, co-investment, and credit platforms.

Prior to HarbourVest, Nate was an Associate Principal at Meketa Investment Group, focusing on marketing and due diligence for private equity fund-of-funds and secondary strategies. Earlier in his career, he held sales and marketing roles at The Baker Companies and Loomis, Sayles & Company. Nate received a BA from the University of Rochester.

Kristin Custar is a Partner and the Head of the Global Investor Capital Group of TJC. She is also a member of the Executive Committee. Kristin joined TJC in 2007. Kristin oversees all fundraising efforts, investor relations and general marketing activities. Prior to TJC, Kristin was the Director of Investor Relations at First Reserve Corporation. Prior to First Reserve, she spent two years working at GE Equity as a limited partner and four years at Arthur Andersen in the Transaction Advisory Group. Kristin currently serves on the board of directors of Spectrio. Kristin also serves on the Advisory Board for Girls Who Invest. Kristin received a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Eric Schwartzman serves as head of Baker’s Private Equity Group in California. Based in San Francisco, he leverages decades of transactional experience and business judgment to help clients across industries buy, build and sell companies. His practice spans a range of industries, including technology and its many subsectors, as well as telecom, media and entertainment, financial services, healthcare, consumer, retail, energy, manufacturing, and industrials.

Chris Heasley represents clients in the development, acquisition, and divestiture of energy, infrastructure, and technology-related projects and assets. Chris brings extensive experience guiding energy providers, corporates, and private equity sponsors through a full spectrum of high-stakes strategic transactions, particularly in the upstream, midstream, downstream, and renewables sectors. He regularly advises clients on complex commercial matters involving: Mergers and acquisitions Joint ventures Tax equity financing DrillCo arrangements Farmout and participation agreements Transportation, supply, offtake, and gathering agreements A recognized thought leader, Chris writes and speaks regularly on developments in US and international energy markets, including for SuperReturn, the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, the Energy Bar Association, the Houston Bar Association, and the Texas CLE. Before joining Latham, he co-led the real asset transactions practice of another global law firm.

Christopher (“Chris”) Manning is CEO and Managing Partner of Greenbelt Capital Partners. Chris founded Greenbelt Capital Partners in 2021, prior to which he was a Managing Partner at Trilantic North America. Chris joined Trilantic North America at its inception in 2009, where he was also Chairman of Trilantic Energy Partners North America. Chris remains a Senior Advisor to Trilantic North America and Chris currently serves as a member of the Investment Committees of Trilantic Capital Partners VI North America and Trilantic Energy Partners II North America, and was an investment committee member of all other predecessor Trilantic North America funds. Prior to the founding of Trilantic, Chris had various roles at Lehman Brothers including Partner in the merchant banking business, the Head of Lehman Brothers’ Investment Management Division in Asia-Pacific, including both the Asset Management and Private Equity businesses; and was also a member of the Global Investment Management Division Executive Committee and the Private Equity Division Operating Committee. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers in 1997, Chris was the Chief Financial Officer of The Wing Group, a developer of international power projects and before that was in the investment banking department of Kidder, Peabody & Co. Chris is or has been a director or Chairman of a number of portfolio companies.

Chris holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Chris is the past Chairman of the University of Texas New York for McCombs Executive Committee and is a Board Member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Squash Committee. Chris also serves on the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, the Business School’s Foundation, as well as the University’s Development Board.

Dan is a Managing Director on H.I.G.’s GP Solutions team. He is based in the firm’s New York office and leads all aspects of the investment process, including sourcing, transaction structuring, deal execution, and portfolio monitoring.

Prior to joining H.I.G., Dan was a Managing Director, Partner, and Investment Committee member of Morgan Stanley’s Ashbridge secondaries team, where he focused on single-asset GP-led transactions. Dan has over 18 years of experience as an investor and leader in the private equity secondaries market.

Dan earned a B.S. in Finance from Penn State University.

A partner in the Paul, Weiss San Francisco office, Austin is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Groups. Austin focuses his practice on representing private equity firms in all aspects of their businesses, including domestic and cross-border leveraged and management buyouts, venture and growth capital investments, divestitures, other mergers and acquisitions, equity financings, restructurings and work outs, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. He has expertise in structuring, negotiating and managing the corporate, securities and tax aspects of complex transactions.

Jason Cawley joined BCI in 2016 and co-leads BCI Private Equity’s global Industrials team. 

Prior to joining BCI, Jason was a Senior Director in the Private Equity Group at PSP Investments where he focused on investments in the industrials sector and distressed opportunities. Prior to joining PSP, Jason was a Director at Coady Diemar Partners, a New York merchant bank founded by former Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse executives.  Jason previously worked at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and began his career in the investment banking division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Jason holds a BA magna cum laude from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Jason currently serves as a board director for Vantor and Valence Surface Technologies. He has previously served as a board director for PS Logistics, Pilot Freight Services, Spring Windows Fashion, Sky Leasing, Noranco and Ferrara Candy Company and board observer for Cengage Learning.

Andrew DiGeronimo is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 2025, and is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Partnership Solutions. Andrew co-led the firm’s investment in Big Brand Tire & Service. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, he was a Partner at LGT Capital Partners in New York, where he was responsible for the U.S. secondary solutions business focusing on single and multi-asset solutions and LP secondaries in private equity buyout and venture capital funds across the U.S. Prior to LGT Capital Partners, he worked as an Originations Associate at Eurohypo AG and as a REBAS Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He attended the University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Stephen works with investment team members and other Partners to identify, analyze, and assess potential investment opportunities.

Stephen is a seasoned technology executive with in-depth experience with Fortune 100 and growth-stage organizations. He brings over 30 years of experience across SaaS applications, AI and analytics, and IoT services in industries including healthcare, manufacturing, and consumer goods. Currently he is the CMO for SparkCognition, where he has been instrumental in helping the AI solutions provider achieve unicorn status.

Previously Stephen served as General Manager of Honeywell’s $2.5 billion IoT and software business, leading the digital transformation of this century-old $40 billion manufacturer. Prior to joining Honeywell, Stephen was Group CMO of IBM Watson, where he was one of the principal business architects that delivered next-generation AI technology, driving over $5 billion of revenue in six years and 10,000 engagements. Other positions include President of Aberdeen Group (HHS), President & CEO of Azerity, which was acquired by Model N, Inc. (MODN), and CMO of Digital Market, which was acquired by Oracle (ORCL). Additionally, Stephen has served on various private and public boards, most recently the supercomputing company Cray Inc., which was sold to Hewlett Packard (HPE).

Adam Levyn (Partner): Adam joined LGP in 2011 and is a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee and Investment Management Committee. Previously, Adam worked in private equity at KKR and in the Global Industrials group of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Adam presently serves on the Board of Directors of HUB International and OMNIA Partners, among others. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Kaci Boyer is a Managing Director at Neuberger and a senior member of the Private Investment Portfolios and Co-investments team. Kaci 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 Neuberger 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. Kaci joined the Dallas office in 2007 and spent nine months in Neuberger’s Hong Kong office focused on private equity investments throughout the Asia Pacific region. In 2017, the National Association of Investment Companies recognized Kaci as a Rising Star for outstanding contributions she has made to the private equity industry early in her career. In 2024, Private Equity International ("PEI") selected Kaci to the PEI 40 Under 40, Future Leaders of Private Equity, Class of 2024. The award recognizes professionals that are expected to play a leading role in shaping the future of the asset class. Kaci received a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Ms. Liu is Managing Director and Head of AI at StepStone Group, where she leads the firm’s artificial intelligence strategy and its application across the global private markets platform. Her work spans the full AI lifecycle, from research and development through firm-wide deployment, with a focus on building investment intelligence, underwriting, portfolio analytics, and enterprise AI capabilities. Combining deep expertise in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence with more than a decade of private markets experience, she bridges investment, data, and technology to translate emerging capabilities into practical outcomes for the firm and its clients.

Prior to leading StepStone’s AI initiatives, Ms. Liu was a member of the firm’s private equity and portfolio management teams, with experience spanning US small-market buyouts, energy, and co-investments. Before joining StepStone, she held private markets investment and research roles at TorreyCove Capital Partners, Macquarie Group, Ballentine Finn & Company, Inc., and Wellington Management Company.

Ms. Liu holds dual BS degrees in Mathematics and Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completed the MIT xPRO AI for Senior Executives program, and is a CFA charterholder.

Walker Brumskine is a Partner at Bluestone Equity Partners, where he helps lead the firm’s investment activities. He is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, structuring, and overseeing investments, and works closely with founders, executives, and boards to drive strategic growth, operational improvement, and long-term value creation. An investment professional with more than 15 years of experience, Mr. Brumskine has executed private equity, growth equity, structured capital, and credit investments across multiple industries and geographies.

Immediately prior to joining Bluestone, Mr. Brumskine was Co-Founder & Managing Director of 127 Wall Holdings, an independent private equity sponsor. While there, he co-led all aspects of investing and operations, including the acquisition, integration, and operation of a multi-state roll-up of consumer businesses with more than 30 locations across Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas.

Earlier, Mr. Brumskine worked in the private equity groups of Apollo Global Management in New York and Helios Investment Partners in London. At Apollo, he focused on media, consumer, and sports-related investments, including equity and credit transactions and complex structured financings in partnership with leading management teams. At Helios, he executed private equity transactions across Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a focus on operational improvement in companies operating in emerging and growth markets. He began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Brumskine earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and a B.S. from Harvard College.

Matt LaPorta brings a rare combination of elite athletic credibility, private equity deal experience, and deep relationships across the sports and family-office worlds to every engagement. A former MLB first baseman, 7th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist with Team USA, Matt has spent the years since his playing career building expertise at the intersection of sports, capital markets, and wealth. He holds an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a two-time SEC Player of the Year from the University of Florida.

At Dynasty Financial Partners, Matt serves as Executive in Residence, connecting an institutional wealth platform to a world of relationships- professional athletes, founders, and family offices- that traditional financial firms struggle to reach.

As a current board member and former partner of True Up Capital, Matt works alongside family-office principals and UHNW investors as both an advisor and co-investor across the sports landscape. His deal experience spans professional franchises - including MLB and WNBA transactions - down to youth sports platforms. He has led or contributed to transactions ranging from eight to ten figures, bringing the same performance mindset to the boardroom that defined his career on the field. His athlete network and insider credibility provide access to ownership pipelines, league relationships, and co-investment opportunities that remain invisible to traditional institutional capital.

Through Wayfinder Capital Partners, Matt targets founder-owned businesses in sports, sports services, recreation, and adjacent industries with EBITDA of $3M–$10M. His focus is on buy-side acquisitions where his background as a professional athlete accelerates trust, unlocks proprietary deal flow, and creates a differentiated path to value creation that traditional PE firms simply cannot replicate.

Matt’s greatest differentiator is relational. Having lived the professional and Olympic athlete experience, he speaks the language of the clients he serves -bringing peer-level trust and credibility alongside real financial and deal sophistication. For the professional athletes, founders, and families in his network, that combination opens doors and earns confidence that traditional financial firms cannot replicate.

Matt is married to Dara -a better athlete than he’ll ever be - and together they are raising four incredible kids in Tampa, Florida. When he’s not closing deals or coaching youth tackle football and baseball, you’ll find him on the golf course, where he brings the same competitive intensity that got him to the big leagues (with slightly less success).

Taylor Beaupain | Managing Partner 

Taylor Beaupain is a Managing Partner at K1 Investment Management and oversees the Firm’s Execution function and is a member of K1’s Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. 

Mr. Beaupain is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he received an MBA and was a Dean’s Scholar, and of Washington and Lee University, where he received a BS in Business Administration, summa cum laude. 

Mr. Beaupain has served as a director of numerous companies, serves on the board of the UCLA Anderson Fink Center for Finance & Investments and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Mr. Huff has over twenty years of experience in the private equity industry and has been a partner in several private equity funds raised by Austin Ventures and J. H. Whitney. Mr. Huff led investments in, and had board responsibilities for, profitable investments in industry-leading companies such as R360 Environmental Solutions, Brooks Sports, ICON International, Kana Communications, Metis and Tallan.

Prior to co-founding Blue Sage in 2002, Mr. Huff was a partner at Austin Ventures, a large private equity fund based in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining Austin Ventures, he was a managing member at J. H. Whitney, a private equity firm that grew from approximately Blue Sage’s size to over $5 billion of assets under management while Mr. Huff was with the firm. Before joining Whitney, Mr. Huff was a Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Singapore and worked with McKinsey and Company.

Mr. Huff is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and a Founding Board Member of ACG Central Texas. He was also elected to the national Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) Board of Governors in 2011.

Mr. Huff received his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he graduated first in his class, was President of the Student Center Governing Board and earned First-Team Academic All-American honors in track and field. He earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Greg Grissom - Executive Director, Sports Investing

Greg Grissom serves as Executive Director of Sports Investing at CAZ Investments, where he partners with the firm’s investment management leadership to evaluate sports investment opportunities, strengthen relationships across professional sports ownership groups, and help expand CAZ’s growing sports investing platform.

Prior to joining CAZ, Greg spent nearly 25 years with the Houston Texans, most recently serving as President. Throughout his tenure, he held senior leadership roles across corporate development, revenue generation, operations, and business strategy, ultimately overseeing the full scope of the franchise’s business operations. He began his career in professional sports with the Houston Astros before transitioning into NFL leadership.

Drawing on his extensive network of team owners, league executives, and industry leaders, Greg brings a unique operator’s perspective to sports investing. His experience leading a world-class professional sports organization provides valuable insight as CAZ continues to invest across professional sports franchises and related opportunities.

Greg earned his degree from Baylor University and is actively involved in the Houston community through nonprofit service, including the United Way of Greater Houston. He resides in Houston with his family and enjoys golf, travel, and supporting Houston sports teams.

António Caçorino is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of APEX.  APEX is the leading European-led sports-focused investment firm backed by over 150 world-class athletes, investing through venture, growth, and private equity strategies on behalf of a curated group of global institutional and strategic investors. Since founding APEX in 2020, Caçorino has led the firm’s growth across the global sports, media, and entertainment ecosystem, investing in companies that reshape how sports are performed, experienced, and consumed.  Under his leadership, the firm has invested in the NFL-backed Flag Football League, the Northern Super League, the BWT Alpine F1 Team, Baller League, Tiger Woods’ and Rory Mcllroy's indoor golf league TMRW Sports, The Bay Golf Club, Venezia FC, and a growing portfolio of early-stage sports innovators. Through APEX, Caçorino has built an exclusive athlete-driven platform that combines capital with deep industry expertise to unlock off-market opportunities, create long-term value, and deliver strong returns across every investment. By combining athlete insights, investment expertise, and a unique ecosystem, APEX identifies, scales, and maximizes the most promising opportunities across sports, media, and entertainment.

 Prior to founding APEX, Caçorino held senior roles in investment banking and private equity, including Head of Capital Markets at WELZ and Head of Iberia at Leonteq in London, where he focused on cross-asset investment solutions, strategic growth initiatives, and institutional investor engagement. His career combines deep financial expertise with a clear vision for innovation in the sports industry.

Mark Hoeing is President and CEO of CF Private Equity, Head of the firm’s Buyout and Growth Equity investment practice, a member of the Investment Committee and Senior Executive Group of CF Private Equity and a member of the Operating Committee of Commonfund Group. As President and CEO, Mark’s responsibilities include the strategic direction of the firm and oversight of investment solutions in buyouts, growth equity, venture capital, and real assets and sustainability. As Head of Buyouts and Growth Equity investments, his responsibilities include managing due diligence, investment selection, portfolio construction, monitoring, and fundraising for the firm’s buyout and growth equity strategies that include primaries, secondaries and co-investments. Prior to joining CF Private Equity, his experience includes positions at Deutsche Bank, evaluating third-party managers in the private capital funds division, as well as direct private capital investing with DB Capital Partners, Deutsche Bank’s merchant banking subsidiary. Part of Mark’s work at Deutsche included the bank’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific basin. Mark began his career as a credit analyst and commercial lending officer with Citizens Financial Group. He is presently a member of the advisory boards of several private equity limited partnerships. Mark has a B.S. in Health Policy and Management and an M.B.A. from Providence College.

Kevin is a Partner and Head of Strategy for Sapphire Ventures, where he is responsible for advising the investment teams, portfolio companies, and limited partners on key market trends and dynamics shaping the ecosystem, particularly in the areas of enterprise, SaaS, and artificial intelligence. Kevin authors research pieces and monthly market memos recognized by media and key industry influencers that covers VC investment activity, AI and tech trends impacting the enterprise software market. He works across all Sapphire strategies to help the firm best execute against current opportunities, while also identifying and evaluating future focus areas.

Prior to joining Sapphire, Kevin spent 7.5 years in Corporate Strategy at Microsoft where he was a Senior Director and member of the strategy leadership team. In this role, Kevin worked directly with Microsoft’s Leadership Team on the company’s most critical strategic growth initiatives, with work that touched both existing and new product categories, go-to-market, M&A, and partnerships. Prior to Microsoft, Kevin worked at Booz & Company in the firm’s Technology, Media, and Telecom practice where he consulted for several Fortune 100 technology clients in the software and ecommerce categories, and also was selected as one of the 3 members of the inaugural class of the Katzenbach Center’s Leadership Program.

Kevin is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas-Austin, as well as of Emory University, where he majored in Economics.  He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his beautiful wife Cassie and their two children, Olivia and Owen.

Casey Clinkenbeard joined Strattam Capital in 2025 as Principal, Product & Technology, where he focuses on portfolio company product, technology and AI execution to drive value creation.

Previously, Casey was Head of Product and Engineering at Noonlight, an API-first emergency response platform and subsidiary of Alarm.com. Prior to Noonlight, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product at Soluta, a Riverside-backed insurtech company. Earlier in his career, Casey was a founding engineer at HotSchedules and spent nearly two decades with the business as it scaled through multiple private equity transitions, ultimately serving as SVP of Product Management at Fourth following the merger.

Casey earned a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Austin, Texas.

Karl Schade has been structuring, analyzing, and managing private equity investments for over three decades. Today, he serves as Managing Partner of Presidio Investors, the private equity firm he founded in 2007. In this role, Karl has focused on middle market buyouts in the entertainment and business services industries in North America and Europe. At Presidio Investors, Karl, and the team he has recruited, have invested in seventeen platform investments through over forty acquisitions.

Karl also has significant CEO experience. From 2013-2016, he was the CEO of The Presidio Group, a San Francisco-based financial services firm with ~$5 billion of assets under advisement. As CEO, Karl worked with the team and Board of Presidio to grow assets, open a Washington D.C. office, and restructure the firm, resulting in a successful exit. During 2011, Karl also served as CEO of Hattrick Sports Group, one of Presidio Investors’ most successful technology investments.

Prior to founding Presidio Investors, Karl worked for a decade at several large private equity firms, including The Blackstone Group in New York City, Silver Lake Partners in Menlo Park, and Blum Capital Partners in San Francisco. While at these Firms, Karl learned industry best practices and was a team-member on deals representing approximately $1 billion of invested equity capital.

Karl received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Claremont McKenna College. Karl has served on numerous Boards and Associations and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

David Phillips is a senior managing director based in our Boston office. He co-leads the firm's private equity investment activities in North America and is a member of the firm’s investment, portfolio review and executive committees. Mr. Phillips is currently a director of Accelerate Learning, Asurion, Modern Campus, Seesaw, TCP and Tenstreet. Previous board memberships include Anthology, Archipelago Learning, Ascend Learning, CSDVRS, PADI, Vector Solutions, Vistage and Worldwide Express. Prior to joining Providence in 2005, Mr. Phillips was a Luce Scholar and assistant director of business development at Hutchison Whampoa China. Previously, he worked at Goldman Sachs in the principal investment area. Mr. Phillips holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

Daniel Render, Partner and Co-Chair, Sports and Sports Facilities

As the Co-Chair of the Sports and Sports Facilities team, Daniel Render represents a wide range of clients in the professional sports teams and technology industries: including National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Football League, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, Women’s National Basketball Association, National Women’s Soccer League, United Soccer League and NBA G-League teams, arenas and stadiums, investors and sponsors.

Daniel counsels clients on a variety of transactional matters, including among them acquisitions and sales (including private equity investments in sports franchises), debt and equity financings, media rights agreements, sponsorship agreements (including naming rights agreements), venue ticketing agreements, retail merchandising agreements, concessions agreements, and coach and executive management employment agreements. Clients describe him as “thoughtful and thorough.” (Chambers USA 2026) As a result, Daniel was named in the prestigious "Forty Under 40" list by Sports Business Journal, the premier sports business industry publication in the United States, and as a Rising Star by Law360, a top legal industry publication. Additionally, in a widely-read recent Katten report detailing how dealmakers are balancing hope for a steadying private equity market against lingering economic and policy uncertainty, Daniel was featured as a leading voice.

Leigh Sansone is the Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Paceline Equity Partners, a $2.4 billion private equity firm currently investing out of Paceline Equity Partners Opportunity Fund II with $780 million in commitments. Paceline is based in Dallas, TX and focused on special situations across three primary verticals: corporate credit, private equity, and real assets. The founding partners have worked together for over eighteen years, and including their experience together at a prior firm, have deployed over $20B across several economic cycles. 

Leigh also serves on the Advisory Board of all Paceline’s currently active private equity portfolio companies. Prior to forming Paceline, Leigh spent 20 years at Lone Star Funds beginning her career there in Fund I and leaving at Fund X in 2018 – along with five of her other founding partners to start Paceline. 

Leigh was involved in the formation and is still involved in the continued strategy of Gradus, an organization focused on investing in non-profit organizations in North Texas and New York City that provide children and their families with the tools needed to live lives of meaning. In 2023, Leigh was named to Pensions & Investments list of “Influential Women in Institutional Investing”, which celebrates women who are having an outsized impact on the investment market as well as driving positive change across the industry. Leigh graduated with honors from Texas A&M University with a BBA in Finance and is a CFA charterholder.

Thomas Chadwick is an Investment Partner on the Manufactured Products team for Pritzker Private Capital. Thomas joined PPC in 2017 as a Vice President. Prior to PPC, Thomas was an Associate at Madison Dearborn Capital Partners and an Investment Banking Analyst at Deutsche Bank. Thomas received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Rohanjit Chaudhry is an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley and is based in New York. Rohan joined Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 2022. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Rohan was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company where he led value creation programs for private equity backed companies, with an emphasis on commercial acceleration and go-to-market development. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Fairway, American Restoration and Prescott’s Inc.. Rohan holds a B.Com from Delhi University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Bruce Zimmerman is a world-class investor, seasoned business executive, and experienced board member with a distinguished career spanning investment management, corporate leadership, and strategic advisory roles. He brings deep expertise in overseeing complex investment portfolios, guiding institutional strategy, and contributing meaningfully to governance and fiduciary oversight.

Bruce most recently advised Tresalia, a prominent high-net-worth family office. Prior to that, he served as the first Chief Investment Officer for Ray Dalio’s Family Office, where he served for four and a half years. Earlier, Bruce was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), where he oversaw the growth of assets from $20 billion to $40 billion and led a team that generated $4.5 billion in value add. Under his leadership, UTIMCO received multiple industry accolades, including Endowment of the Year and Outstanding Achievement by the Hedge Fund Industry.

Before UTIMCO, Bruce was Chief Investment Officer of Citigroup’s $13 billion pension plan and previously served as Chief Financial Officer for Citigroup Alternative Investments. His earlier career includes leadership roles at Bain & Company and JPMorgan Chase, where he led initiatives across investment banking, consumer marketing, and digital innovation, including launching Chase’s first online banking product.

Board Experience

Bruce’s board experience includes serving as Lead Independent Director for Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation and a board member of Blackstone’s Hedge Fund for individual investors  He has also served on the boards of Vistra Energy, the Duke University Investment Management Committee (DUMAC), the CommonFund (as Vice Chair), and as an advisor to the Houston Endowment. His governance experience spans public companies, endowments, and mission-driven organizations.

Bruce holds a magna cum laude degree from Duke University and earned First- and Second-Year Honors at Harvard Business School.

Jacob Meyer leads coverage of the U.S. economy on the Barings Economic & Thematic Research team. He joined the firm in September 2024. Previously he was on the U.S. economics team at Nomura and covered the North American economy for the Swiss Re. He has worked in financial services since 2018 when he joined UBS as a Quantitative Economist. He holds a bachelors in economics & political science from Ohio University, and an M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in the economics and political science inter-field from Claremont Graduate University. Prior to joining the financial services industry, he published academic research through the Claremont Institute for Economic Policy Studies and taught courses on econometrics and international macroeconomics at California State University Long Beach and Claremont Graduate University.

Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.