As allocations to alternative investments continue to snowball, institutional investors plan to pour more money into the asset classes that provide lucrative returns: private equity and venture capital. What we are finding is that the alternatives industry will continue to grow steadily. Here we highlight private equity and venture capital experts across various institutions types in hopes of sharing their unique experiences focusing on the asset classes. Presenting Trusted Insight's 2019 Top 30 PE, VC Investors:
2019
Top 30 Private Equity, Venture Capital Investors
Keith Nelson is the chief investment officer at Texas Children's Hospital. Previously, Keith was a portfolio manager at North Carolina of State Treasurer and the director of investments at Hatteras Funds. He also held multiple analyst positions early in his career. Keith holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in economics from Davidson College.
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James Donahue is the deputy chief investment officer at the Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System. Previously, he was the director of private equity at American Red Cross, where he sourced new primary buyouts and venture capital funds, including several very hard to access, top decile managers. Prior to that, he was a principal at Keyhaven Capital Partners and the director of investments at AXA Investment Managers Private Equity. Donahue holds an MBA from the University of Utah and a B.A. in history at Claremont McKenna College.
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Josh Ross is the director of private markets at the University of Wisconsin Foundation. He joined the organization in January 2019. Prior to joining Wisconsin, he was the co-head of private equity and senior investment officer at the Teacher Retirement System of the State of Illinois. He also served as vice president of HBE Biorefinery Co, impact investor with a family office and part of the Ulupuno initiative, as well as part of the private equity team at Liberty Mutual for 11 years. Ross holds an MBA in Finance from Boston University and a bachelors degree in psychology and political science from the University of California.
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John Shue is the managing director of private equity at Harvard Management Company, where he is primarily focused on buyout and venture capital on a global basis. Prior to Harvard, he was the founder and president at Mongoose Media and the vice president at Audax Group. Shue holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in history from Harvard University.
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Yup Kim
Senior Portfolio Manager, Private Equity and Special Opportunities
Yup Kim is a senior portfolio manager of private equity and special opportunities at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, a $65 billion sovereign wealth fund with over $14 billion committed to private equity and special opportunities. The portfolio covers a wide spectrum including direct deals in venture capital and private equity transactions, GP co-investments and strategic stakes and partnerships with investment management firms. Previously, Yup was a vice president and investment committee member at Deutsche Bank Private Equity and previously worked at Silver Point Capital and Citigroup. Yup holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University.
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Kate Butler is the investment manager focused on private equity and venture capital at Rice Management Company. Previously, she worked in private equity, investing out of a $1.5 billion pool of capital at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; in real estate, repositioning a $6.6 billion portfolio at Equity Group Investments/Equity Commonwealth; and in investment management, refining the strategy at Invesco. Butler holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from Yale University.
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Darren Foreman
Portfolio Manager, Private Markets
Darren Foreman is the senior portfolio manager of private markets and co-investments at the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System. He manages a successful in-house private equity co-investment program of 46 portfolio companies at top quartile performance. Foreman is also currently serving on as a board member at mTAB LLC. Foreman holds an MBA from the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
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Simon Marc is the managing director and head of private equity at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. He serves as principal at Permira. He has 12 years of experience in the private equity market having previously been a director at Candover in their London and Paris offices, with a particular focus on the French market. He also spent his early career at Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs. Simon's sector expertise includes the consumer sector as well as the business and financial services sector. During his time with Candover and Apax, Simon originated, led and executed a number of investments including Alma Consulting Group, Séchilienne-Sidec, Seché Environnement and Frans Bonhomme.
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Eric Glass is a senior portfolio manager at the Arizona State Retirement System, where he oversees the private market portfolio. Prior to the Arizona State Retirement System, Eric was an analyst and associate Gradient Analytics, Guggenheim Partners, and Arthur Andersen. Eric holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in finance from Iowa State University.
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Shane Feeney
Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Private Equity
Shane Feeney is a senior managing director and global head of private equity at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. He leads CPPIB’s private equity program, including teams dedicated to investments in direct private equity, private equity Asia, private equity funds and secondaries. He joined CPPIB from Bridgepoint Capital Limited in London. Prior to Bridgepoint, he was a partner and founding member of Hermes Private Equity’s direct investing business until its transition to Bridgepoint in 2009. Previously, he was an associate director at Morgan Grenfell Private Equity in London and has served as a director of Neiman Marcus Group, Livingston International, 99 Cents Only Stores, The Gates Corporation and Air Distribution Technologies. Feeney holds a B.A. in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from INSEAD.
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Delaney Brown is a managing director and head of private equity funds at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Prior to joining CPPIB, he spent eight years at Hermes GPE LLP (formerly Hermes Private Equity) as Head of the Americas, focused on both private equity fund investment and co-investment. Previously, he was an associate director with Almeida Capital in London and a research scientist for GlaxoSmithKline in the U.K. Delaney holds a BSc in biochemistry from the University of Leeds.
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Jose Guzman is an investment officer at the NYC Retirement System, where he oversees the private equity portfolio. Prior to the NYC Retirement System, Jose was an investment associate at Cerberus Capital Management, an equity research associate at Credit Suisse, and valuations associate at Morgan Stanley. Jose holds an MBA from The Wharton School.
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Anthony Thai is the investment officer at Cornell University. Prior to joining the organization in October 2018, he served as a senior investment officer at the Wallace Foundation for six plus years. He has also served organizations such as New York University, Sabra Dipping Company, and Compass Lexecon. Thai holds an MBA in accounting and finance from New York University-Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago.
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Danielle Villarreal is the director of investments at Memorial Hermann Health System, where she works closely with the chief investment officer and staff to oversee the investment portfolios. She has also held investment manager and senior investment analyst roles at the system. Prior to this, she was a lead financial analyst for CHRISTUS Health and personal banker for Chase Bank. Villarreal has an MBA in finance from the University of St. Thomas and a B.S. in finance and marketing from Florida State University.
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Richard Lam joined Ontario Teachers' in 2012 and is part of the senior team responsible for fund investing and portfolio management, focusing on Venture Capital and Growth Equity. Richard started his career at Merrill Lynch & Co. in investment banking. He subsequently joined TorQuest Partners as an investment professional, and also recently worked at the Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant. Richard holds an HBA and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.
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David Gilmore joined The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation in 2014 as the first managing director of investments to help build the Foundation's first investment office. He is an investment executive with over 18 years of experience managing complex investment portfolios for University endowments, pension funds, foundations and family offices. Prior to joining the foundation, Gilmore was the director of investments at Ohio State University as well as the interim chief investment officer where he was responsible for the University’s long-term investment pool and a team of seven professionals. He holds an MBA in finance from the University of Memphis as well as a bachelor's degree in financial services and real estate from Baylor University.
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Lisa Vazquez is the portfolio manager focused on private equity and venture capital at Partners Healthcare. Prior to joining Partners Healthcare in June 2017, she served as an investment officer focused on private equity at CalPERS. Vazquez has also served organizations such as Citigroup and Allen & Company. Lisa Vazquez holds a bachelor of arts in political economy from Williams College.
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Theo Kim is the managing director at Princeton University Investment Company since 2006. Previously, he was an application engineer at Oracle. Kim holds a master's degree in finance from Princeton University and a B.S. in computer science, operational research and industrial engineering from Cornell University.
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Steve Price
Senior Investment Officer, Global Private Equity
Steve Price is a senior investment officer of global private equity at the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, where he is responsible for the real estate and private equity sectors. He is responsible for building and maintaining an international, high caliber private equity portfolio, selecting and monitoring the fund’s investment managers and assisting in the hiring, training, and development of junior staff. Previously, he served as the interim director of investments during the fund’s transition in leadership following the retirement of SERS’ longtime Director of Investments. Price holds an MBA from Dayton University and a B.S. in finance from Franklin University.
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Daniel Leith has been vice president of funds for Europe since October 2018. He is responsible for managing CDPQ’s private equity fund strategy in Europe. Prior to joining CDPQ, he was a managing director and private investments specialist in UBS’s Global Wealth Management unit. In addition, he served in UBS’s Private Investments Distribution team as co-head of Europe, head of North America and emerging markets and acting head of Asia. Before joining UBS, he spent 12 years at Cambridge Associates, a global investment consulting firm, as a managing director and private markets specialist. Leith holds a law degree from the University of Exeter and originally qualified as a lawyer, having been called to the Bar in 1995. He also earned the CISI Investment Advice Diploma.
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Jennifer Sassani is the vice president and investment officer at the Hershey Trust Company. Previously, she was the director of alternative investments at Lehigh University's Endowment Fund, where she was responsible for overseeing the private equity program and the private real assets initiative. Prior to that, she was the co-director of alternative investments for the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS). Sassani holds a B.S.B.A from Shippensburg University and a M.S.B.A. from Bucknell University.
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Kevin McDowell is the co-head of private equity at Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund (ATRF), where he is responsible for the oversight and management of ATRF's private equity program with specific oversight of the Funds investment portion of the portfolio. Prior to joining ATRF, he was a senior principal at Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). He worked at AIMCo for 14 years, most recently in the private equity team for over eight years and prior to that with the external public equity team for over five years. McDowell holds an MBA and bachelor's degree from the University of Alberta. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a board member for the Institutional Limited Partners Association.
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Kent Kirkpatrick is co-head of private equity at Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund Board (ATRF), where he has responsibility for the Principal investment portion of the portfolio. He participates in formulating investment strategy and determining the ATRF's asset allocation. He joined ATRF in 2011 as a senior principal, private investments. Kirkpatrick holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a B.A. in economics from the University of Waterloo. He also holds the CFA, CBV, and ICD.D designations, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Venture Capital Association.
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Liliya Kamalova is an associate investment manager in the private equity group at CalPERS and a director on the board of the CFA Society Sacramento. As a part of the PE team, she works on due diligence of partnership and co-investment opportunities, including legal negotiations, and monitors on a number of PE GP relationships. Previously, she was a private equity analyst at LP Capital Advisors (Pavilion Alternatives Group), an alternative assets advisory firm. She began her career at Citigroup in Moscow after completing the securities analysis training program. Liliya is a CFA charterholder and received her bachelor’s degree in financial management from the Russian Presidential Academy.
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Peter Murphy has been the senior investment officer of private equity for the Virginia Retirement System since 2010. Prior the joining VRS, he was a partner at StefanJames Advisors LLC and a director in the merger and acquisitions department at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Murphy holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.
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Ben Liou is the managing director for the public equities, private equities, and bond portfolios at the J. Paul Getty Trust. He joined the Trust in 2001 was appointed as assistant treasurer in June 2010. Previously, he was an investment banking executive at Nomura Securities in their Tokyo and New York offices. While at Nomura, he was responsible for implementing British privatizations and equities transactions in the telecommunications and pharmaceuticals sectors. He was also a country relationship manager for China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, providing financial advisory services to various government agencies. Additionally, he has been vice president of IT mergers & acquisitions in Chicago and a principal at GCM Capital Markets in Irvine. Liou holds a JD from the University of Southern California, where he was a member of Law Review, and an MBA from the Drucker School of Management at the Claremont Graduate School, where he was a Mayr Scholar. He also holds a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
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Tim Moore is the director of private equity at the Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado. He joined them in 1996, and has worked on the alternatives staff since 1999. Prior to joining Colorado PERA, he worked at Kidder Peabody & Co. and at the Janus Funds. Moore holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University.
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Julie Vollenweider is the managing director of private markets at Emory University, which has over $7 billion in assets under management. She is responsible for the investment strategy, portfolio construction, and manager selection of the global venture capital portfolio. Previously, she was the director of investment administration and director of fiscal planning and management for Emory University. Vollenweider holds a B.A. in economics from Emory University.
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Tim Patterson
Managing Director & Head of Toronto, OMERS Private Equity
Tim Patterson serves as managing director and head of Toronto at OMERS Private Equity. He has over 20 years of experience in the private equity, venture capital and commercial banking industries. Previously, he was managing director and head of the Toronto office of CAI Capital Partners, a North American mid-market private equity firm with approximately $500 million under management and with offices in Toronto, New York, Vancouver and Montreal. Prior to CAI, he was vice president for 8 years at one of Canada's largest VC funds. Tim is also an experienced director having served on over 15 private and public company boards.
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Jeffrey Torborg serves as a senior investment officer at Mayo Clinic Foundation. Prior to joining Treasury Services, he helped manage Mayo Clinic's internal startup projects and venture capital investments through technology-based ventures program. He has previously served as director on a number of corporate boards including Torax Medical, Naviscan Pet Systems, Nevro Corporation and FIOS Therapeutics. Before joining Mayo, he held positions at Guidant Corporation and Phelps Dodge Corporation. He holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a B.S. degree in BCIS at St. Cloud State University.
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