Fundraising Masterclass | Washington, DC
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Speakers include
Albert Alsina, Founder, CEO & Managing Partner, Mediterrania Capital Partners
Albert Alsina has more than 25 years of international experience in multi-national settings where he held several executive positions in General Management at global and European levels in the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, Zimbabwe and Spain. He joined the Private Equity industry through Permira, and in 2013 founded Mediterrania Capital Partners. Today Albert is a member of the Investment Committee of “Fons Mediterrania Capital” and “Mediterrania Capital II”, and is a Board member of several portfolio companies of both funds.
Albert holds Business degrees from the University of Barcelona (Spain), and the John Moore University in Liverpool (England). He also gained a Postgraduate in Business Management and Finance from the University of Poitiers (France) and the University of Fulda (Germany), and attended a continuing program in Finance, Venture Capital and Private Equity at Harvard Business School, the Global Leadership Program (AMP) at Wharton Business School (USA), the Corporate Finance Program at London Business School (UK), and the AMP (PADE) at IESE Business School (Spain).
Albert is fluent in English, French, German and Portuguese, as well as in Catalan and Spanish.
Christina Alfonso, Partner/Chief Executive Officer, Madeira Global
Christina M. Alfonso is the CEO and co-founder of Madeira Global, a leading advisory and analytics firm serving asset managers in the area of ESG (environmental, social and governance) research and reporting. Since the firm’s inception, Christina has developed its organizational vision, overarching strategy and implementation, and has led both Madeira Global’s product development and its expansion efforts. With a conviction towards paving a new way forward in the 21st century of impact investing, one that goes beyond traditional philanthropy, Christina aims for the triple bottom line in all that she does to ultimately drive positive, lasting change for clients and the planet.
Ms. Alfonso’s leadership role in the field of data analytics in impact investing has been highlighted in distinguished financial publications including Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, Worth and LEADERS Magazine. She has been a featured speaker at the Concordia Summit, the Worth Wealth Summit and academic conferences hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School, among many others. She is an active member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle and a member of the Women’s Forum, serving as co-chair of the WF New York Chapter.
Prior to Madeira, Christina served as a director of World Wide Investments Group, a Brazilian private equity firm, and as senior private client associate and hedge fund liaison at Alliance Bernstein, LP, in New York, where she focused on private client advisory services.
Molly Brister, Manager of Research, EMPEA
Molly Brister is a Manager of Research at EMPEA, where she leads the organization’s coverage of Africa and the Middle East and manages the production of EMPEA’s research portfolio. Molly is a regular author of EMPEA research content, including the EMPEA Brief: First-time Funds in Emerging Markets and the EM PE Annual Fundraising and Investment Review 2014. Molly also manages EMPEA’s HelpDesk offering, interacting regularly with EMPEA Members, the media and other industry players. Prior to joining EMPEA, Molly worked at the Center for International Private Enterprise, where she supported a range of projects that focused on property rights, corporate governance and entrepreneurship. Molly graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. in International Studies.
Hurley Doddy, Managing Director, Founding Partner, and Co-CEO, Emerging Capital Partners (ECP)
Hurley Doddy is a Managing Director, Founding Partner, and Co-CEO of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). With over $2 billion under management, ECP is a leading private equity manager focused exclusively on Africa. ECP has seven offices across Africa and over 15 years of investing experience, having made over 60 investments and 30 exits with operations in over 40 countries on the continent. Mr. Doddy is responsible for providing overall leadership and strategy for the firm, including management of the investment staff. With 30 years of private equity and finance experience, Mr. Doddy provides a breadth of finance and transaction experience and is active in all phases of the investment process. He serves on ECP’s Executive Committee and on the Funds’ investment committees.
Prior to joining ECP in 2000, Mr. Doddy was an Executive Director at Sumitomo Finance International in London, where he managed the operations of a $200 million equity risk arbitrage book, creating arbitrage and convergence strategies. Mr. Doddy’s career in finance began at Salomon Brothers in 1984, lasting over 14 years with assignments in New York, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo. While at Salomon, Mr. Doddy gained a wealth of experience in bond trading, hedge management, fixed income and equity derivatives, and emerging markets investing. In 1997, Mr. Doddy was appointed Managing Director of Salomon Brothers, responsible for managing all fixed income and equity risk positions for Banco Patrimônio, Salomon’s joint venture in Brazil. In this position, Mr. Doddy also oversaw the asset management, equity underwriting, and customer fixed income businesses.
Mr. Doddy received a bachelor’s degree in economics with honors from Princeton University and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute. He is Chairman of the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA), and has served on the boards of Oragroup (West and Central Africa), Celtel International (Pan-African), Charaf Corporation (Morocco), Agromed S.A. (Tunisia), Continental Reinsurance (Nigeria), All Africa Airways (Mauritius), Air Ivoire (Cote d’Ivoire), Société Internationale de Plantations d’Hévéas (SIPH) (West Africa), and Maarifa Education (East Africa).
Gustavo Eiben, Managing Director and Head of Business Development The Rohatyn Group
Gustavo Eiben is a Managing Director and Head of Business Development for TRG’s private markets division. Mr. Eiben brings vast experience in the private equity asset class, including direct experience in raising and investing capital in third-party private equity funds. Prior to joining TRG, Mr. Eiben was the head of North America investor relations for Aureos Capital (now Abraaj Capital). Prior to his experience with Aureos, Mr. Eiben was a senior member of the Alternative Investments Group at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, and earlier one of the pioneering members of the UBS private equity placement group. Mr. Eiben began his career with the Mergers and Acquisitions group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He received an MBA degree from Thunderbird, the International Management School.
Peter Furci, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Peter Furci is a tax partner in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Private Equity, Latin America and Family Enterprise Groups. He concentrates on the tax aspects of a wide range of corporate transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings and debt and equity securities offerings by U.S. and non-U.S. issuers. He also practices extensively in the area of private investment funds, including emerging markets, hedge, mezzanine, distressed debt, infrastructure and real estate funds.
Mr. Furci is listed as a leading tax lawyer by Chambers USA (2012-2015), where he is regarded as “an expert and pragmatic lawyer” and clients note that he “understands the overall commercial picture.” Law360 named Mr. Furci a “Law360 MVP” in 2015, honoring him for his exceptional work in tax.
Mr. Furci joined Debevoise in 1995 and became a partner in 2003. He is proficient in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.
Christof Gross, Senior Investment Manager, DEG
Christof Gross is a Senior Investment Manager at DEG’s equity and mezzanine Latin America team. Christof works on originating, structuring and managing a portfolio of PE-funds, co-investments and standalone direct investments in the region. Prior to this he held a position in the infrastructure team working on global infrastructure project finance transactions. Before joining DEG in 2010, he worked several years on municipal infrastructure financing in Eastern Europe.
He holds a Master’s Degree in International Economics from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Mounir Guen, Chief Executive Officer, MVision
Mounir Guen is the Chief Executive Officer of MVision which he founded in 2001. He is a veteran fundraising specialist, advisor and manager, with 30 years of experience in the industry during which he has worked on over 300 General Partnership funds. He has led MVision to the point where it is now one of the leading private equity capital raising firms in the world.
In 2011, he was selected by Private Equity International as one of the industry’s 100 most influential personalities of the decade. Mounir is on the EMPEA Investor Relations and Marketing Member Community Steering Committee and has served on the EVCA Investor Relations Committee and also the EVCA European Valuation Committee to establish policy currently in use. He also chaired the ‘EVCA Placement Task Force’ that drafted the Code of Conduct for Placement Agents which has been important in establishing best practices in the industry.
Mounir is frequently called upon by Private Equity media to give his expert opinion and insights, as well as being invited to speak at industry conferences throughout the world. He is a member of the New York University President's Global Council and the Liberal Studies Dean’s Council. Mounir is on the faculty of London Business School, regularly lecturing at the school’s Private Equity Masterclass and on its MBA course, being honoured with the title of Executive Fellow of the Accounting Department in 2014. He also is a regular guest speaker at other universities.
Previously Mounir spent 13 years at Merrill Lynch where he was a Managing Director and was responsible for building up the international non-US placement business, both on the General Partner and Investor level, and creating a particularly strong franchise. He established an innovative proactive origination program for Europe and extended the concept to a global model. Prior to that, he trained at JP Morgan whilst working at the Saudi International Bank.
Mounir completed Postgraduate ABD studies in Economics and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History from Georgetown University, and a Master of Science degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Matthew W. Howard, Corporate Counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Matthew W. Howard is a counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Private Equity Funds and Investment Management Groups. His practice focuses on advising sponsors of open- and closed-ended private investment funds, co-investment funds and joint ventures that pursue a variety of investment strategies.
In addition to his work with U.S.-focused funds, Mr. Howard has advised sponsors of funds targeting Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Mr. Howard’s recent experience includes acting for clients such as Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, The Carlyle Group, D.E. Shaw, Gávea Investimentos, Intellectual Ventures, the International Finance Corporation and IFC AMC, Odyssey Investment Partners, P2 Capital, Tenaska and Vinci Partners.
Mark Kenderdine-Davies, General Counsel, CDC Group plc
Mark, a British national, is General Counsel of CDC Group plc (CDC) with oversight of the company’s legal and regulatory affairs. Mark manages the company’s legal team and corporate secretariat and sits on its private funds investment committee.
CDC, established by HM Government in 1948, is the world’s oldest development finance institution (DFI). Its mission is to support the building of businesses, to create jobs and make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places. CDC invests from its own balance sheet of US$5.7bn. Receipts and profits from its investments are recycled into future investments.
CDC provides capital in all forms, including equity, debt, mezzanine and guarantees, to fund growth. It invests both directly and indirectly through private equity fund managers whose aims are aligned with its own. As a responsible investor, it seeks to add value by helping companies achieve good standards of governance, along with strong environmental, social and integrity policies.
CDC has committed approximately US$6.0bn to private equity funds and co-investments in Africa, Asia, Central America and Latin America since 2004. It currently targets fund, direct equity and debt investment opportunities in Africa and South Asia.
Mark joined CDC in 2006 from Gartmore Investment Management plc where he was Legal Counsel focusing on private equity and other alternative investments. Prior to that, he was Legal Counsel at Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. From 1994 to 2002, Mark lived in Vietnam working in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar as General Counsel/Senior Investment Executive at Indochina Asset Management Limited, the manager of two private equity funds, and as Executive Director of an investment company. Before the move to Vietnam, Mark was a partner at a London law firm.
Mark has an LLB (Hons) from the University of Liverpool and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School Of Business.
Mark is admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and is a Non-Executive Director of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association whose Legal and Regulatory Council he also chairs. Mark is also a Member of the Legal and Regulatory Committee of the African Venture Capital Association.
Geoffrey Kittredge, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Geoffrey Kittredge is a partner in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Mr. Kittredge's practice focuses on private equity and investment fund formation. He represents a broad range of international private equity and other private investment funds and their sponsors, including buyout, infrastructure, energy, mezzanine, real estate, secondaries, and venture funds, as well as funds of funds.
Labelled a “private equity ace” by Legal Week, he is recommended as a “Leading Lawyer” for Private Equity Funds by IFLR 1000 (2016). He is ranked as a top-tier lawyer for Investment Funds by Chambers UK (2016), where he is described as “‘big personality’ and ‘fantastic lawyer’ with a wealth of industry knowledge.”
Mr. Kittredge has been in Europe since 1999 and in London since 2002, where he is Chair of Debevoise’s European Private Equity Funds Group. Mr. Kittredge is a member of the EMPEA Legal & Regulatory Council, and is also a member of the Legal and Technical Committee of the BVCA.
John Kristensen, Senior Investment Manager, Head of Fund Investments, Swedfund International
John joined Swedfund in 2013 where he’s covering the firm’s direct investments in Financial Institutions and Funds across all markets within its mandate. Prior to joining Swedfund, John was with Aviva plc in London focusing on strategic investments in the financial services sector. Prior to Aviva, he was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns in London.
Dennis Kwan, Managing Director, MVision
At MVision Dennis is involved in deal co-ordination and deal execution as well as developing and maintaining relationships with investors.
Previously, Dennis spent seven years with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (Hong Kong), where he focused on private equity and infrastructure funds investments. Prior to that, he worked at KPMG on the Advisory – Business Performance Services team.
Dennis earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of Alberta. He is also a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Prasad Modak, Dean, IAAD & Chief Sustainability Officer, IL&FS
Prasad Modak holds B Tech (Civil Engg), M Tech (Environmental Science and Engg) from IIT Bombay and Doctor of Engg (Environmental Engg) from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
Prasad's career has spread across a wide spectrum of agencies on a global basis with diverse portfolios in the arena of environmental management. This kaleidoscope includes teaching and research, running a strategic consulting as an entrepreneur, working with corporates like IL&FS and with development financing institutions like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the United Nations. In addition to above, Prasad runs a not for profit NGO Ekonnect Knowledge Foundation dedicated to awareness raising and actioning on environmental management & sustainability. Prasad’ advice is sought as advisor by various Governments across the world, including Government of India and the State Governments.
Currently, Prasad is Dean at IL&FS Academy for Applied Development (IAAD) and Chief Sustainability Officer at IL&FS Ltd. In addition, he is the Executive President of Environmental Management Centre LLP that is a strategic consulting company. Prasad was a Professor at Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering at IIT Bombay and currently Professor Adjunct at Centre for Technology Alternatives in Rural Areas (CTARA).
Prasad has received a number of awards and recognitions and his name has been listed in distinguished personalities on environmental management. He has been recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award of AITAA in 2010 for Significant Contribution to International Affairs. In 2011, Dr Modak was elected by American Association of Environmental Engineers as Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member for his work in Research, Teaching and Professional Practice.
Lynn Nguyen, Managing Director, Overseas Private Investment Coporation
Ms. Nguyen is a Managing Director in the Investment Funds Department (IFD) at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). OPIC is one of the largest private equity fund sponsors in developing nations, providing support for the creation of privately-owned and managed investment funds. Since 1987, IFD has committed $4.1 billion to 62 private equity funds in emerging markets since 1987. These funds in turn have invested $5.6 billion in more than 570 privately-owned and managed companies across 65 countries.
Jesper Persson, Head of Unit, Private Equity, European Investment Bank (EIB)
Jesper Persson is responsible for the European Investment Bank’s private equity investments in sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean, Pacific, and MENA. He previously held the position of Structured Finance Manager at the European Investment Fund. Prior to joining the EIB Group in August 2003, Jesper worked during a number of years in investment banking and structured finance for CIBC World Markets and Fitch Ratings in London. Jesper holds a degree in economics and finance from Lund University, Sweden and the University of Exeter, UK. He is a CFA charterholder.
Jaap Reinking, Director of Private Equity, The Netherlands Development Finance Company
As of June 1st, 2015, Jaap Reinking started as Director of the Private Equity department within FMO.
Before taking this responsibility Jaap Reinking has been Director of the Financial Institutions department between January 1st, 2014 and May 2015. Prior to the Financial Institution department he headed the Agribusiness & Diverse Sectors department of FMO from January 2009 to December 2013. In his role as Director he has shown that he is able to form good functioning teams and manage change processes. He sets clear objectives and communicates well. As a Leader of teams he proved to be a good people manager and a person able to give direction to diverse teams comprising of up to 58 employees. Both departments showed growing performance during his leadership.
Before Jaap was appointed as Director of Agribusiness & Diverse Sectors, he worked at FMO in a variety of positions including, Senior Credit Analyst, (Senior) Investment Officer, Manager Business Development for Latin America and the Caribbean, Chairman of the FinPre commission and Manager for new clients in Asia. Within FMO he was member of the Asset and Liability Committee, the Investment Review Committee and Investment Committee as a voting member. He has gained broad experience in investing in emerging markets by executing deals himself, analyzing companies, financial institutions and projects in diverse sectors and maintaining relationships.
Prior to FMO, Jaap worked at Banque de Suez Nederland N.V. (credit risk management, account manager and treasury department), at Koninklijke Borsumij Wehry N.V., responsible for the implementation of the internal treasury department and as a Credit Risk Analyst at Deutsche Bank de Bary N.V, where he gained experience in analyzing companies and complex financial transactions.
Jaap has attended various financial, management development, ESG, and Corporate Governance courses/trainings. Jaap Reinking is married and has three children.
Jeff Schlapinski, Manager of Research, EMPEA
Jeff Schlapinski is the Manager of Research at EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. He leads a team of researchers producing industry data, analysis and in-depth reporting on private equity, private credit and infrastructure and real assets in emerging economies. In addition to providing quarterly market intelligence to EMPEA’s members, Jeff manages EMPEA’s annual Global Limited Partners Survey and is a regular author of EMPEA reports, including the 2015 Special Report: Private Investing in the Power Sector in Emerging Markets. Jeff interacts regularly with the media, fund managers, institutional investors and industry advisors in order to fulfill EMPEA’s broader mission of informing the investment community on the private capital opportunity set in emerging markets. Jeff graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown University in 2010 with a B.S. in International Economics.
Gabriel Schulze, Founder and Executive Chairman, Schulze Global Investments
Mr. Schulze is Founder and Executive Chairman of Schulze Global Investments, an American private equity firm headquartered in Singapore and focused on the world’s most dynamic frontier markets. Under Mr. Schulze’s leadership, Schulze Global has built a unique track record, successfully pioneering private investment in such countries as Ethiopia, Mongolia, Georgia, and North Korea, generating both strong financial returns and remarkable non-financial impact.
Mr. Schulze’s visionary leadership in business continues the legacy of Schulze family’s original entrepreneur, William Boyce Thompson, who founded Newmont Mining, one of the largest gold producers in the world.
Mr. Schulze also serves on a number of business, governmental, and NGO boards, including as a member of EMPEA’s Impact Investing Council. He has been featured prominently in publications such as Forbes, The Financial Times, and The Economist.
Mr. Schulze resides with his wife and children in Singapore.
Shannon Stroud, Vice President, Programs and Business Development, EMPEA
As EMPEA’s Vice President, Programs and Business Development, Shannon Stroud manages EMPEA’s portfolio of programs and revenue-generating activities including EMPEA’s conference, webcast and education initiatives. In addition to overall business, program and content development, Shannon manages all of the associated sponsorship relationships and underlying event partnerships, and provides budgetary management and financial oversight for these efforts.
Prior to EMPEA, Shannon worked as a Principal with private-equity investment firm Pine Creek Partners identifying, reviewing and executing management buyouts and recapitalizations across a variety of industries. She also provided guidance and support to portfolio companies and while there served on the board of Drew Foam Companies Inc. Prior to Pine Creek Partners, she worked with CapitalSource Finance LLC where she originated, analyzed, underwrote and structured senior secured and unsecured debt financings, mezzanine capital and equity co-invests within the specialty finance and security industries. Prior to joining CapitalSource in 2003, Shannon worked with Fannie Mae, Microstrategy and Arthur Andersen's Business Consulting Group.
Shannon earned an MBA from Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and graduated cum laude from the University of Richmond where she received a B.A. in Economics and International Studies with a concentration in International Economics and a minor in Journalism and French.
Robert W. van Zwieten, President & Chief Executive Officer, EMPEA
Robert provides overall strategic leadership of EMPEA and oversees the continuous expansion of value to existing and prospective members and the organization’s work to develop the asset class globally.
Prior to EMPEA, Robert was the Asian Development Bank’s Director of Private Sector Capital Markets, based in Manila, Philippines, responsible for origination and structuring of US$2.5 billion in transactions and investments across 40 Asian emerging and frontier markets. Robert oversaw ADB's US$1 billion in private equity investments deployed in 47 funds. He pioneered three new private equity funds and two new non-bank financial institutions, raising close to US$1 billion in third-party capital commitments.
Previously, Robert served as Managing Director and COO for an Asia-focused hedge fund venture, and prior to that as Senior Executive Vice President and CFO for the Singapore Exchange. His experience further includes roles as Senior Vice President, CAO and other leadership positions with Lehman Brothers in New York; Managing Director and Global Treasurer with GE Energy in Atlanta; and Managing Director and Treasurer for GE Capital Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong during the Asian Financial Crisis. Earlier in his career he worked with ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam, Chicago and Singapore, and with Royal VOPAK in Rotterdam.
Robert currently serves on the Board of Trustees of International House of New York, and is a Member of the Board’s Investment Committee. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Music For Life International, Inc. Mr. van Zwieten earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, holds JD and MA degrees from Leiden University in the Netherlands, and an LL.M. degree from Columbia University School of Law in New York. He is a citizen of both the Netherlands and the United States.