Our Speakers
First Time Funds Panel
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Brice Messavussu (VC) Founding Partner, BM Prime Capital
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Jeremy Sohn Managing General Partner, P74 Ventures
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Miguel Armaza (VC) Founding Partner, Gilgamesh Ventures
Brice Messavussu (VC)
Founding Partner, BM Prime Capital
Jeremy Sohn
Managing General Partner, P74 Ventures
Jeremy is a recognized venture capitalist, thought-leader, and change-agent for digital transformation in healthcare and life sciences. He is responsible for both developing and executing Novartis’ data and digital strategy AND for designing and implementing the company’s transformation and operating model. His leadership roles and groundbreaking initiatives have impacted every facet of the life sciences business, including research & development, clinical development (trials), commercial sales & omni-channel marketing, medical education & RWE, manufacturing, and supply chain management.
Over the last few years alone, Jeremy has led multiple signature and first-in-pharma initiatives. A few examples include: in-licensing the first prescription digital therapeutic (Pear Therapeutic’s reSET and reSET-O), investment in the first virtual or decentralized clinical trial company (Science 37), designing and investing in Novartis’ global commercial transformation (Aktana & Medidata), implementing Novartis’ next-generation data, AI / ML, and advance analytics strategy (Microsoft, Amazon, Benevolent.ai), and driving patient centricity and clinical trial optimization within clinical development (Tencent, Apple, CentrosHealth / Clinical Ink).
Jeremy is also a serial entrepreneur and seasoned venture capitalist with deep experience investing in, starting, and growing technology, healthcare, and life-science related companies from inception to acquisition. He has demonstrated repeated success identifying fast-growing market opportunities, leading transformational change, building high-performance teams, developing trusted customer relationships, delivering rapid growth and profitability, and achieving strong returns.
Miguel Armaza (VC)
Founding Partner, Gilgamesh Ventures
Growth Equity Panel
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Aaron Goldman Managing Director, General Atlantic
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Chen Lihan Senior VP, GIC
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Kelly Ford General Partner & COO, Edison Partners
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Steven Sarracino Founder & Partner, Activant Capital
Aaron Goldman
Managing Director, General Atlantic
Aaron Goldman is a Managing Director and Head of General Atlantic’s Enterprise Technology sector, where he leads the firm’s efforts around enterprise and vertical software and innovative technologies. Prior to his current role, Aaron Co-Headed Financial Services where he focused on Fintech and Payments. Prior to joining General Atlantic in 2007, Aaron was part of the growth equity arm of the Fremont Group in San Francisco where he made several investments in the Internet, communications and healthcare sectors. While at the Fremont Group, he served as President and Chief Financial Officer of LPL Technologies, a growth stage company focused on the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Prior to that, Aaron was an Analyst in Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette’s Leveraged Finance group. Aaron is currently a director at Fresha, Gen II, Guideline, Modulr, Qontigo and Citymeals- on-Wheels and was previously a board member or shareholder representative at Adyen, FNZ and Network International. Aaron has also been involved in GA’s investments in Clip, d:local, Fireblocks, Mollie, Outsystems, NYDIG, PingPong, Riskified, Spendesk, Strike and Visma.
Chen Lihan
Senior VP, GIC
Lihan Chen is a Senior Vice President in GIC’s Technology Investment Group. In this role, she leads the team’s enterprise software investing efforts and serves on the team’s global investment committee. Lihan is a board observer for Grafana and ezCater, and led investments in Attentive, Databricks, Datadog, dbt Labs, Monte Carlo, Miro, Snowflake, and more.
Prior to joining GIC, Lihan was a member of the Corporate Development group at Workday and led Finance teams at Clara Lending (acquired by SoFi) and Citrus Lane (acquired by Care.com). Earlier in her career, she was an investor at GGV Capital and Francisco Partners. She began her career in the technology investment banking group at Morgan Stanley.
Lihan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Kelly Ford
General Partner & COO, Edison Partners
Tech industry executive turned growth equity investor, Kelly manages investments in enterprise SaaS and fintech sectors, serves on Edison’s investment committee, and leads firm operations. Over the last nine years with the firm, Kelly has worked with more than 55 portfolio companies, been involved in 15 financings, served as director of 12 companies, and pioneered of the Edison Edge value creation platform. Current active investments include GAN Integrity, Northpass and Solutions by Text. Prior to joining Edison in 2014, Kelly spent 20 years operating in high-growth emerging and established B2B and B2B2C companies, including IBM, Groove Networks (now MSFT), LivePerson (LPSN), Operative (Francisco Partners) and Sundaysky (Clearhaven Partners). Active with her alma mater, Michigan State, she serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence for Broad’s Burgess Institute and on the advisory board for the university’s Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance. She is regularly featured in business, investor and technology media, and is an in-demand speaker at local and national events.
Steven Sarracino
Founder & Partner, Activant Capital
Mr. Sarracino is the Founder of Activant Capital Group, a growth equity firm focused on investing in market leading technology companies. Previously, Steve was a founding member of Serent Capital and he helped open the technology investing office at American Capital, Ltd. in Palo Alto, CA. Steve also worked at McKinsey & Co. in their Hong Kong office. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions at Robertson Stephens in San Francisco, CA.
Steve has an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He attended Southern Methodist University for his undergraduate degree, where he received a BBA in Finance with a minor in History.
Healthcare Panel
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David Schuppan Partner & Co-head, Vistria
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Geeta Vemuri Partner, Agent Capital
David Schuppan
Partner & Co-head, Vistria
Geeta Vemuri
Partner, Agent Capital
Infrastructure Panel
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Chris Dell’Amore Principal, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone
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Helen Newell MD, Head, Americas Infrastructure Asset Management, GIC
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Matthew Hutton Managing Director, Infrastructure Investments, Brookfield
Chris Dell’Amore
Principal, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone
Mr. Dell’Amore is a Principal in the Infrastructure Group for Blackstone Inc. Since joining Blackstone, Mr. Dell’Amore has been involved in the execution of Blackstone’s investment in Atlantia, while also serving on the Board of Directors of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. and as a Board Observer of Tallgrass Energy. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Dell’Amore worked at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) and Fortress Investment Group, focusing on investments in the energy, power, and transportation sectors. Prior to that, Mr. Dell’Amore was an Analyst at Société Générale in the Energy group. Mr. Dell’Amore received a B.A. in Economics and Spanish Language & Literature from Colgate University, where he graduated magna cum laude and with honors, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in International Studies (Latin America) from The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dell’Amore serves as an Associate Board member of America Needs You.
Helen Newell
MD, Head, Americas Infrastructure Asset Management, GIC
Helen Newell leads the America’s Asset Management function for GIC’s Infrastructure department. In this role, Helen oversees GIC’s Infrastructure portfolio across North and Latin America, approximately 30 portfolio companies. Helen joined GIC in October 2018 in London and relocated to New York in Oct 2019. Prior to joining GIC, Helen had 25 years’ experience in the transportation and mining industries, in operations and corporate roles, working on 6 continents. Helen holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales (Sydney) with Honors in Econometrics and an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Matthew Hutton
Managing Director, Infrastructure Investments, Brookfield
Matthew Hutton is a Managing Director in Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group. In this role, he is responsible for leading investment activities in North America, as well as the evaluation of global investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Brookfield in 2016, Mr. Hutton was a manager of corporate development with Koch Industries and previously worked in the investment banking group at Macquarie in New York, where he focused on the infrastructure sector.
Mr. Hutton holds a Bachelor of Science degree, with concentrations in Finance and Mathematics, from Ithaca College.
Large Cap Buyouts Panel
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Jason Young Head of PE Direct Investments Group, North America, GIC
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Olivia Howard Partner, Bain
Jason Young
Head of PE Direct Investments Group, North America, GIC
Olivia Howard
Partner, Bain
Technology Panel
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Judah Siegal Senior VP, Brookfield
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Michelle Moon Principal, Sorenson
Judah Siegal
Senior VP, Brookfield
Michelle Moon
Principal, Sorenson
Consumer Panel
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Elizabeth Burgess Partner, Maxim Partners
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Winston Song Partner, PAI
Elizabeth Burgess
Partner, Maxim Partners
Winston Song
Partner, PAI
Climate Investing and Energy Transition Panel
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Andrew Siwo Director, Sustainable investments, New York State Common Retirement Fund
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Mary Beth Houlihan Partner, Kirkland & Ellis ESG
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Vikram Raju Head of Climate Investing, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners
Andrew Siwo
Director, Sustainable investments, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Mary Beth Houlihan
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis ESG
Vikram Raju
Head of Climate Investing, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners
Limited Partners and Family Offices Panel
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Clare McLaughlin Managing Director, TLI Bedrock
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Julia Paliare Managing Director, RSL Investments
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Thomas P. Scriven Managing Director, University of Pennsylvania
Clare McLaughlin
Managing Director, TLI Bedrock
Clare McLaughlin is the director of private investments at TLI Bedrock. Clare is a multi-strategy investor with a focus on venture capital and early-stage venture capital funds. She holds deep expertise in material science, Web3, gaming, food, and agriculture. She currently serves on several boards including Stopwatch, OrthoFX, Dot Dot Dot Media and The Gaming Society. Her portfolio includes EPIC Games, Divergent Capital, Insitro, MUUS Capital, MycoTechnology and ReThink Food.
Julia Paliare
Managing Director, RSL Investments
Julia Paliare is the Founding & Managing Partner of Sage. Sage is an evergreen investment platform, built in partnership with the Lauder Zinterhofer family, that invests in high-integrity founders and fund managers across sectors, stages, and geographies. Sage invests through a human- and data-centric lens with a diversified venture strategy, backing the next generation of founders and emerging managers.
Julia is a Board Observer at Esusu and Gro Intelligence, two growth stage startups addressing fundamental global issues – equitable financial opportunity, and food security & climate risk, respectively. She is also a Board Member of The Equity Alliance, a fund that invests in emerging venture capital fund managers that are underrepresented. Julia co-founded BLDRS, which brings together investors and entrepreneurs to collaborate on building and scaling better businesses. Before RSL, Julia was at Providence Equity Partners, a $50bn asset management firm and prior to that, at Scotiabank working in credit, currency and interest rate derivatives. Since 2002, Julia has been an advisor for Peacebuilders International, an organization that focuses on diverting Toronto’s inner-city youth from the justice system using restorative justice measures, she also volunteers at The River Fund in Queens, NY. Julia grew up in Toronto, has a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University in Canada, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Thomas P. Scriven
Managing Director, University of Pennsylvania
Thomas Scriven joined Penn’s Office of Investments in 2015 and manages the private equity investment program for the University’s endowment and pension plans.
Prior to joining Penn, Mr. Scriven was a Principal Director and Partner at H.I.G. European Capital Partners, a leading global mid-market private equity firm he helped found. Mr. Scriven led and managed a large number of control equity and credit investments from 2007 to 2014. Previously, he served as a private equity investor at Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. Prior to attending business school, Mr. Scriven was a private equity associate at Parthenon Capital, LLC and an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley & Co. Throughout his career he has sat on numerous boards of companies in the industrials, media, environmental services, and building products industries.
Mr. Scriven holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Middle Market Buyouts Panel
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Adam Blumenthal Managing Partner, Founder & Chairman, Blue Wolf Capital
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Dennis Moore Managing Principal, Odyssey Investment Partners
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Harris Kealey Managing Director, New Mountain Capital
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Jon Canarick Managing Partner, North Castle Partners
Adam Blumenthal
Managing Partner, Founder & Chairman, Blue Wolf Capital
Mr. Blumenthal is Founder, Managing Partner and Chairman at Blue Wolf Capital Partners. He has
served on the Board of Directors of numerous middle market companies over the course of three
decades. From 2011 through 2017, Mr. Blumenthal also served as Independent Trustee, and Chair of the
Investment Committee, of the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60 billion fund that pays retiree
health benefits for over 700,000 UAW employees of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.
Prior to founding Blue Wolf in 2005, Mr. Blumenthal served as First Deputy Comptroller and Chief
Financial Officer for NYC’s elected Comptroller from 2002 – 2005, with oversight of the city’s pension
system. During his tenure, the City’s pension assets increased from $65 billion to $85 billion, primarily as
a result of strong investment gains. Prior to that from 1989 to 2002, Mr. Blumenthal built and managed
American Capital Ltd., a publicly traded buyout and mezzanine fund (NASDAQ: ACAS). During that time,
Mr. Blumenthal played a central role in building the company from an unfunded start-up into a publicly
traded company with over $1 billion invested in 63 middle market companies at the time of his
departure.
Mr. Blumenthal is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Yale’s International Center for Finance
and a Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management (SOM). From 2004 to
2007, he served on the Yale SOM’s Board of Advisors and in 2009, he was named a Donaldson Fellow at
the Yale SOM. He has also served as a trustee and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Nathan
Cummings Foundation and the Community Service Society of New York.
Mr. Blumenthal serves on the Board of Directors of Finch Paper Company, Twin Rivers Paper Company,
Elara Caring, Fox Rehabilitation, ClearSky Health, RHA Health Services, and Colson Group. He received a
B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College and a M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management.
Dennis Moore
Managing Principal, Odyssey Investment Partners
Mr. Moore joined Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC in 2003 as an Associate and was promoted to Vice President in 2007 and to Principal in 2009 and to Managing Principal in 2016.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Moore was an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney where he spent time in both the Financial Sponsors Group focusing on financings and advisory services and the Consumer/Retail Group concentrating primarily on mergers and acquisitions.
A native of Michigan, Mr. Moore received his BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior Odyssey Portfolio Company Involvement: Pro Mach and York Risk Services
Former Boards: Ranpak, Peninsula Packaging, Pexco, and Duravant
Current Boards: Aramsco and Service Champions
Harris Kealey
Managing Director, New Mountain Capital
Jon Canarick
Managing Partner, North Castle Partners
Jonathan (“Jon”) Canarick is a Managing Partner with 19 years of consumer private equity investment experience. Since joining North Castle in 2001, Jon has actively managed North Castle’s investments across a variety of Healthy, Active, and Sustainable Living sectors and across all job functions at North Castle. Having started his career at NCP as an Associate out of investment banking, Jon has played a crucial role in the development of North Castle and many of its portfolio companies. Jon currently sits on the Board of Directors of Therabody, Five Iron Golf, Echelon Fit, CR Fitness, Encore Vet Group, The Escape Game, Barry’s, Brooklyn Boulders, and SLT. Previously, Jon served on the Board of Directors of Kettlebell Kitchen, Curves, Jenny Craig, Palladio, Mineral Fusion, gloProfessional, Flatout, International Fitness, Enzymatic Therapy, Performance Bicycle, Avalon and DDF and was actively involved in the Firm’s investment in Grand Expeditions. Prior to joining North Castle, Jon worked in the Financial Sponsors Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups of Bear, Stearns & Co., where he executed leveraged buyout transactions and provided advisory services for financial sponsors. Jon earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Secondaries/Fund of Funds Panel
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Heidi Miskin Head of Funds and Co-Investments (FCG) Americas, GIC
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Simon Ok Principal, Lexington Partners
Heidi Miskin
Head of Funds and Co-Investments (FCG) Americas, GIC
Heidi Miskin is Head of Funds and Co-Investments (FCG) Americas in GIC’s Private Equity (PE) department. In this role, Heidi oversees GIC’s North America private equity funds program, as well as co-investments alongside GPs. In addition, Heidi is co-chair of GIC America’s Global Women in GIC (WING) taskforce, which helps to further advance the representation and inclusion of women at GIC. Heidi joined GIC in April 2004. Prior to joining GIC, Heidi was a Senior Associate at Doughty Hanson and an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Heidi holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University where she graduated with Joint Honors in Economics and Finance.
Simon Ok
Principal, Lexington Partners
Venture Capital Panel
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Allyson White Managing Director, Insight Partners
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Gina Kline Managing Director, SmartJob and Enable Ventures
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Rikhil Bajaj Head of Fintech & Software, Private Investing, Tarsadia Investments
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Will Szczerbiak Partner, Greycroft
Allyson White
Managing Director, Insight Partners
Gina Kline
Managing Director, SmartJob and Enable Ventures
Regina “Gina” Kline is the Founder and Managing Partner of Enable Ventures, the first impact venture fund dedicated to closing the disability wealth gap by investing in early-stage companies working at the nexus of technology and disability. Enable is a leader and pathfinder in a highly innovative sector whose potential has been largely untapped by venture investors.
Investor, entrepreneur, civil rights lawyer, and thought leader, Gina has dedicated 15 years of her career to building the future of work by advancing the rights and interests of people with disabilities as innovators, entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers. Prior to founding Enable in 2022, Gina spent several years developing a pipeline of investible opportunities at the nexus of tech and disability. Gina previously served in the Obama Administration and litigated landmark ADA cases and is nationally recognized for her legal and policy work in advancing the rights of people with disabilities. Gina is also the founder of SmartJob, an impact consultant and early-stage scout for the disability tech sector.
Rikhil Bajaj
Head of Fintech & Software, Private Investing, Tarsadia Investments
Rikhil leads the firm’s venture & growth equity investments in financial services & technology and blockchain & web3; while also extensively focusing on software, healthcare, and consumer investing. Informed by his experience working with growth stage to scale businesses, Rikhil supports entrepreneurs on topics including growth, talent, and financing/M&A. He works closely with Petal, YieldStreet and BoltTech.
Prior to Tarsadia, Rikhil was a founding member of the growth equity team at SignalFire, a $1.5B+ talent and technology-driven venture capital firm, where he invested in Stampli and Argyle and launched an executive-in-residence program. Rikhil was also part of the senior team at GTCR, a $20B+ private equity firm, partnering with companies such as Paya (NYSE: Paya), RevSpring and CAPTRUST. Rikhil also worked as a technology & healthcare investor at Warburg Pincus and Primus Capital, on investments such as Hyperwallet (acquired by PayPal) and PayScale (acquired by Francisco Partners) as well as companies such as Yodlee (acquired by Envestnet), CardinalCommerce (acquired by Visa) and G2 Web Services (Acquired by Verisk Analytics). Previously, Rikhil was a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.
Rikhil holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA (Honors) from the Schulich School of Business, York University where he graduated at the top of his class.
Will Szczerbiak
Partner, Greycroft
Will joined Greycroft in 2015 and is based in New York City. He co-leads the fintech team and targets investments in enterprise fintech, DeFi, Web3, vertical SaaS, and B2B marketplaces.
Will’s active investments include Addi, Amperity, AmplifAI, Emerge, Enboarder, Flutterwave, FrankieOne, Immuta, MyCarrier, Palmetto, Pryon, Red Balloon Security, SmartHop, Wagr, and Yieldstreet. His notable exits include Archer Aviation (IPO), MapAnything (acquired by Salesforce), and Vettery (acquired by Adecco).
Prior to Greycroft, Will worked at Volition Capital, a Boston-based growth equity firm that invests in high potential, founder-owned companies across different technology sectors. At Volition, he was responsible for sourcing and executing new investments, as well as working with existing portfolio companies. Will’s investments at Volition included Velocify (acquired by Ellie Mae) and Globaltranz (acquired by Providence Equity). Before Volition, Will worked in the Technology Services group of Raymond James advising middle-market companies on M&A transactions and private capital raises.
Will holds a BS in Finance and Marketing from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Distressed & Special Situations Panel
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Angelo Rufino Managing Partner (Global Head for the Brookfield Special Investments), Brookfield
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Greg Braylovskiy Managing Director, Strategic Value Partners
Angelo Rufino
Managing Partner (Global Head for the Brookfield Special Investments), Brookfield
Angelo Rufino is a Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Group Head and Chief Investment Officer of Brookfield Special Investments. In that capacity, he is responsible for non-control debt and equity investment activities globally. Mr. Rufino previously served as Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Brookfield’s Credit Opportunities Business.
Prior to joining Brookfield in 2014, Mr. Rufino worked at Brigade Capital Management where he was a founding member of the distressed credit and special situations group in addition to a Sector Head covering autos, industrials and business services. Previously, Mr. Rufino worked in the investment banking division at JPMorgan Chase and began his career at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Rufino is a Director of Superior Plus Corporation and Primary Wave.
Mr. Rufino holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore College.
Greg Braylovskiy
Managing Director, Strategic Value Partners
Greg Braylovskiy, Managing Director. Mr. Braylovskiy is a senior trader and member of the sourcing team with responsibility for long positions in the U.S. and short positions globally. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Braylovskiy worked as an Analyst at FridsonVision, a prominent provider of independent research on high yield and distressed markets. Mr. Braylovskiy received a BBA in Finance from Pace University in 2000 and an MBA in Finance and Statistics from New York University in 2003.
Investing Internationally Panel
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Jason Goh Director, Investments, (Head, Americas) Khazanah Nasional Berhad
Jason Goh
Director, Investments, (Head, Americas) Khazanah Nasional Berhad
Jason joined Khazanah in 2021 and heads Khazanah’s U.S. office currently located in San Francisco. He has served in leadership roles in both the private and public sectors, most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff to New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio. He has over 15 years of experience in principal investing, investment banking and capital raising experience. Jason started his career in a Khazanah portfolio company in an operational finance role. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BSc (Hons) in Finance from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
PE Operations/ Value Creation Panel
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Aaron Miller Partner, Apollo Global Management
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Bill Clendenen Executive Partner, Shore Capital Partners
Aaron Miller
Partner, Apollo Global Management
Aaron Miller joined Apollo in 2019 in Private Equity as Head of Apollo Portfolio Performance Solutions. Immediately preceding Apollo, Aaron was Chief Operating Officer of Catalina Marketing, a Berkshire Partners portfolio company where he oversaw Operations, Product, Data & Analytics, Technology, and Solutions. He also held roles as an Operating Director at Berkshire Partners and a Partner at Bain & Company. At Bain he worked in both advisory and interim executive roles to enable companies to drive distressed turnarounds, growth, performance improvement, transformation, and conduct deal diligence across a broad range of sectors, business situations and geographies including private equity portfolio companies. Earlier in his career Aaron also held key product and operations roles with General Mills and the Nestle/General Mills joint venture, Cereal Partners Worldwide, in the US, Mexico, and Brazil.
Aaron serves on the board of Bellwether Education Partners. He received his MBA from Wharton and his BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Bill Clendenen
Executive Partner, Shore Capital Partners
Bill Clendenen currently serves as an Executive Partner of Shore Capital Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm with over $3B in committed capital that invests in the healthcare, food & beverage, and business services industries. Bill sits on the Board of Directors of Shore portfolio companies Community Care Partners, Together Women’s Health, and Innovative Packaging Company. Bill formerly served on the Board of Directors of Shore companies Elevate Women’s Health and Navia Benefit Solutions.
Most recently, Bill served as the CEO of Community Care Partners, a primary care/urgent care business based on Eugene, OR. Bill’s prior experience includes the former CEO of Health & Safety Institute, a training and certification portfolio company of Riverside Companies. In 2001, Bill had purchased MEDIC First Aid (MFA) from its founders for roughly $2 million. He grew sales organically from $3 million to $8 million over five years. In 2006, Riverside Companies acquired MFA. MFA was an add-on to HSI, which trains and certifies over 2 million students each year through 13,000 training centers and 45,000 educators. Bill quickly rose to the position of CEO and led the platform from 2006 through 2016. Between 2006-2016, HSI was sold to DW Healthcare Partners and then back to Riverside Companies; in total representing three private equity sale transactions in ten years. During his tenure, HSI realized strong organic growth and acquired six tuck-ins. He is the editor and author of several books and articles on oxygen first aid and scuba diving safety. He holds an MBA from the Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and a bachelor’s from Colby College in Maine.
Private Credit Panel
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Jay Ramakrishnan MD, Head of Originations
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Jim Bonetti Managing Director, GTCR
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Milwood Hobbs Managing Director and Head, North American Sourcing & Origination
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Shahab Rashid Managing Partner & Co-Head, Private Credit
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TBD Managing Director, GTCR
Jay Ramakrishnan
MD, Head of Originations
Jay Ramakrishnan joined AB in 2014 and is a founding member, Head of Originations, and a member of the investment committee of AB Private Credit Investors. In addition, she is responsible for business initiatives such as technology-focused growth capital solutions, oversees investments in the healthcare/HCIT sectors, and covers select East Coast financial sponsors with an emphasis on technology, healthcare and business services. Previously, Ramakrishnan was a managing director with Barclays Private Credit Partners, and as a founding member of the business was involved in various aspects of business launch, transaction sourcing and execution. Prior to joining Barclays, she was a vice president at Goldman Sachs, in the Specialty Lending Group in New York, and in London, where she oversaw a European leveraged-loan portfolio and managed restructurings. Before that, Ramakrishnan was in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns, and she started her career as an associate consultant for Bain & Company. She holds a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Cambridge, England, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Location: New York
Jim Bonetti
Managing Director, GTCR
Jim joined GTCR in 2017 and is currently a Managing Director of the firm. Prior to joining GTCR, Jim was a Managing Director and Co-Head of the North American Leveraged & Acquisition Finance Group at Morgan Stanley. Jim also functioned as the Head of the North American Syndicate Desk. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he was an analyst in the Equity Capital Markets and Asset Management Groups at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Jim holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Business Administration summa cum laude from Northeastern University.
Jim is head of GTCR’s Capital Markets Group. In this role, Jim leads the firm’s capital markets activities as part of the transaction teams and manages key financing and banking relationships.
Milwood Hobbs
Managing Director and Head, North American Sourcing & Origination
Mr. Hobbs leads Oaktree’s North American Sourcing and Origination group, which focuses on private credit sourcing and deal origination for the firm’s U.S. Private Debt, Global Private Debt, Special Situations and Global Opportunities strategies. He also serves on the investment committee for Oaktree’s Direct Lending platform. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Hobbs was an executive director at Natixis Securities focused on building the high yield sales and trading franchise. Prior thereto, he spent five years at Goldman Sachs as a vice president in leveraged finance origination and sales. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2007, Mr. Hobbs was a director in Leveraged Finance at Deutsche Bank Securities, which he joined in 2000. Additional experience includes regional account management focused on fleet financing at GE Capital Corporation and controller for Leveraged Finance at Bank of America. Mr. Hobbs received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. degree in accounting from Rutgers University.
Shahab Rashid
Managing Partner & Co-Head, Private Credit
Mr. Rashid is a Managing Partner at L Catterton and the Co-Head of Private Credit.
Prior to joining L Catterton, Mr. Rashid was a Partner & Co-Founder of the Private Credit Group at Adams Street Partners. In this role, he was responsible for leading the build-out of the business by developing the strategy, recruiting and managing the team, heading the fundraising efforts, and approving investment opportunities. The strategy focused on investing in all forms of debt of private equity backed, middle-market companies. Mr. Rashid was a member of the Private Credit Investment Committee and the firm’s Portfolio Construction Committee.
Before joining Adams Street, Mr. Rashid was a Managing Director in the U.S. Private Credit/Direct Lending Group at Oaktree Capital Management where he was responsible for leading his team in investing across the capital structure in private equity backed, middle-market companies. Mr. Rashid started his career as a member of the Leveraged Finance Team at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup providing capital solutions to financial sponsors and corporate clients.
Mr. Rashid has a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a concentration in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.