Join 150 of the nation’s leading women in private equity, venture capital, and M&A including institutional investors, lenders, and finance, legal, and consulting advisors for two days of networking, identifying new investment opportunities, gathering insights, and strengthening your business relationships.
funds day
Tuesday, June 8 | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time
10:00 AM ET | FIRESIDE CHAT: ALISA WOOD, KKR
Alisa Wood, KKR
Amanda Persaud, Ropes & Gray (moderator)
Alisa Wood is Partner in the Client and Partner Group at KKR. Alisa leads the Private Market Strategies Group globally and join us to share her outlook on product development in private equity.
10:30 AM ET | PE STRATEGIES: DIFFERENTIATION AND ALIGNING TO MARKET DEMAND
Kristin Gunther, Revolution
Susanne Clark, Centerbridge
Lynn Alexander, Kelso & Company
Lindsey Goldstein, Ropes & Gray (moderator)
Private equity covers a range of products and strategies across the risk/return spectrum. We’ll hear from product experts on how they’re differentiation their strategy to meet market demand.
11:00 AM ET | SPEED NETWORKING
11:30 AM ET | INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR PERSPECTIVES
Beth Holzberger, State of Wisconsin Investment Board
Kaitlin Miles, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Adriana Ballard, Texas Employee Retirement System
Christine Kelleher, National Gallery of Art (moderator)
As institutional investors revisit their long-term allocation plans, how are investors evaluating opportunity in the private equity market today?
11:30 AM ET | LP CONSULTANT PERSPECTIVES
Anne Duggan, Partners Capital
Heidi Poon, Aksia
Melissa Mendenhall, NEPC
Franny Jones, The Sterling Group (moderator)
How are LP Consultants advising their clients today on which private equity strategies to pursue, and why?
12:00 PM ET | WINNING THE RACE: GLOBAL PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDRAISING OUTLOOK
Caitlin Brodie, The Carlyle Group
Neha Verma, TPG
Kristin DePlatchett, Trilantic North America
Erica Berthou, Kirkland & Ellis (moderator)
Between marketing funds in a remote environment and increasing LP demand for “hot” sectors and established managers, how are private equity firms navigating the fundraising market?
12:30 PM ET | SECONDARIES: SET TO REBOUND?
Boriana Karastoyanova, Neuberger Berman
Gerald Cooper, Campbell Lutyens
Katie Stitch, W Capital Partners
Lauren King, Goodwin (moderator)
2020 amassed a record amount of dry powder in the secondary market. As funds continue to mature and attract sophisticated investors, what’s driving transaction activity? How is the market characterized in a distressed period? How is the role of the GP expanding?
talent and esg
Tuesday, June 8 | 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Eastern Time
1:00 PM ET | PEER TO PEER NETWORKING
1:30 PM ET | SO WHAT IS INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP
Kristen Baily, MiddleGround Capital
Kim Saunders, Legacy Two Advisors
Gabriela Weiss, Advent International
Kerensa Buttler, RSM (moderator)
Of the three categories of DEI, inclusion remains the most elusive. Leaders with the best intentions may look in the mirror and wonder, “Am I being inclusive?” We’ll talk with private equity leaders who have “made it” on what inclusive leadership looks like. Did they encounter inclusive leaders along their career, and what specific actions did those individuals take that made them so?
2:00 PM ET | TRENDS IN HUMAN CAPITAL
Sasha Jensen, Jensen Partners
Anna Edwin, TPG
Melissa Mounce, GTCR
Caroline Young, HKW (moderator)
Talent acquisition and human capital management play an essential role as a value creation strategy for private equity investors. How has the pandemic changed the recruiting process for private equity? How do firms attract and recruit diverse talent to Associate, MBA and senior level positions? How has human capital evolved and how are talent leaders thinking about risk management?
2:30 PM ET | CREATING ALIGNMENT: PE INVESTORS, OPERATING PARTNERS AND CEOS
Latasha Akoma, GenNx360 Capital Partners
Prachi Kanabar, Sunstone Partners
Kate Eberle Walker, Presence Learning
Erica Kasperkowiak, CAC Specialty
Kelley Powell, MacLaurin Group (moderator)
We all know that private equity investors are not the “corporate raiders” that Hollywood movies often portray. Private equity works collaboratively and in alignment with company leaders to build enduring, growing companies. This panel explores the relationship between the Private Equity investor, the Portfolio Company CEOs and Operating Executives. What are the best ways to ensure alignment and harmony before and during the investment? What are the pitfalls?
3:10 PM ET | SPEED NETWORKING
3:30 PM ET | ESG
Anthony DeCandido, RSM
Erick Bronner, Palladium Equity Partners
Alisa Mall, Foresite Capital
Helee Lev, Goby (moderator)
Risk mitigation, strong governance, and robust social capital are at the forefront of investor objectives. How are managers evaluating opportunities, reviewing their portfolios and employing data-driven transparency in their ESG-focused efforts to attract investment capital? We’ll dive into what’s working and what’s not as we reflect on how ESG demands are here to stay.
m&a and capital markets
Wednesday, June 9 | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time
10:00 AM ET | FIRESIDE CHAT: SARAH KIM, CLAYTON, DUBILIER & RICE
Sarah Kim, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Carolyn Vardi, Ropes & Gray (moderator)
Sarah Kim is Partner in the Healthcare group at Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Sarah join us to share her outlook on trends are shaping private equity deal-making today.
10:30 AM ET | FROM SLOW TO FLOW: EYEING LEVERAGED FINANCE OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD
Molly Hughes, Madison Dearborn
Emily Johnson, Hellman & Friedman
Tamarah Belczyk, Audax Group
Michelle Kilkenney, Kirkland & Ellis (moderator)
With a strong economic backdrop and roaring private equity activity, we’ll discuss noteworthy trends sponsors are seeing in the leveraged finance market. We’ll hear from sponsor capital market professionals on how they think about their investment portfolios, a white hot loan market and prospects to reprice, refinance or recap, and how they’re gearing up for the rest of 2021.
11:00 AM ET | SPEED NETWORKING
11:30 AM ET | FIRESIDE CHAT: LYNN BARANSKI, BLACKROCK EQUITY PARTNERS
Lynn Baranski, Private Equity Partners
Gerrie Sinatra, Dechert (moderator)
Lynn Baranski, Managing Director, is the Global Head of Investments for BlackRock Private Equity Partners. How does private equity stack against other asset classes? In this fireside chat, we’ll explore how private equity behaves in the current investment landscape and where the market is headed. Lynn will share lessons she’s learned in leadership and investing throughout her career.
12:00 PM ET | BUY AND BUILD
Heather Madland, Huron Capital
Sandra Mason, Audax Group
Cheryl Strom, The Riverside Company
Samantha Koplik, Dechert (moderator)
Roll-up strategies are one of PE’s ways of creating value— GPs can outsize their returns by buying a platform company, bolting numerous companies on to it and selling the enlarged entity. Why is this particular strategy so compelling today? How are private equity investors tackling add acquisitions from a strategic and financial perspective? What are the greatest challenges when making add-on acquisitions?
12:30 PM ET | THE SPAC SURGE AND INVESTOR OPTIMISM
Olympia McNerney, Goldman Sachs
Betsy Cohen
Emily Oldshue, Ropes and Gray (moderator)
subsectors and strategies
Wednesday, June 9 | 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Eastern Time
1:00 PM ET | NETWORKING BY STRATEGY
1:30 PM ET | VENTURE CAPITAL OUTLOOK
Elizabeth Orsinger, Pacific Western Bank
Joanne Chen, Foundation Capital
Beth Ferreira, FirstMark Capital
Yasmine Lacaillade, Drive Capital (moderator)
Pitchbook predicts the Bay Area will account for less than 20% of US VC deal count. Who’s making deals and where? How are established managers finding success? Will venture debt issuance continue to surge? This panel of venture capitalists will tell us what’s really going on –fundraising, partnerships, deal-flow, frustrations, opportunities and the outlook for the future.
2:00 PM ET | FIVE TRENDS IN GROWTH EQUITY
Susan Cates, Leeds Illuminate
Kathy Fields, JMI Equity
Breck Hancock, DST Global
Cameron Contizano, Goodwin (moderator)
Often deemed a “fair weather” strategy, and one that typically punches above its weight in a recession, growth equity celebrated record highs in the past decade. Where are we today, and where are we headed? This panel will explore how managers are valuing companies, what investors are demanding and how growth equity strategies stacks against other private equity strategies.
2:30 PM ET | MIDDLE MARKET: GOING DIGITAL
Mia Hegazy, Apax Digital
Suzanne Yoon, Kinzie Capital
Jaimee Michaud, Advent International
Juia Schroeder, RSM
If fund managers did not recognize the need to digitally transform their portfolio companies, they do now. Some GPs employed digitization as a cornerstone of their firm’s strategy. The rest are now playing catch-up. Come listen to some of the “pros” when it comes to digitization and find out about the tricks, tactics and pitfalls when it comes to digitization of your portfolio companies.
3:00 PM ET | Breakout Panel | SECTOR: HEALTHCARE
Allison Fiore, Tailwind Capital
Steph Scott, Questa Capital
Natasha Latif, Vistria
Lori Kalic, RSM (moderator)
Between telemedicine, home health, and pharma supply changes has healthcare fundamentally changed? Our panel of investors will explore how to navigate sourcing, pricing and financing amidst high valuations.
3:00 PM ET | Breakout Panel | SECTOR: TECHNOLOGY
Kelsey Chisholm, Stax
Julia Taxin, GroTech
KC Kannoff, Mailsail Partners
Tara Gadgil, Thoma Bravo
Tia Malhotra, Golub Capital (moderator)
With record M&A activity and skyrocketing valuations, tech’s high-growth prospects and resiliency in a downturn have made it an attractive sector for equity investors. How are investors managing their current portfolio companies? Where are they looking to put capital to work and how are they navigating a competitive landscape?
3:30 PM ET | NETWORKING BY INDUSTRY
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