2023 AIF Southwest Investors' Forum
October 24–25 | Hyatt Regency | Austin
On behalf of AIF Global, we hope you will make plans to join us for the 2023 AIF Southwest Investors’ Forum to be held on October 24–25 at the Hyatt Regency Austin in downtown Austin, Texas.
The Forum is geared toward institutional investment professionals, board trustees, and investment consultants and will include a two-day agenda featuring academic research, asset-class sessions, and panel discussions.
The 2023 AIF Southwest Investors’ Forum will begin on Tuesday, October 24 with deep-dive sessions from AIF’s Centers of Excellence. The Day One sessions will be followed by a kickoff reception and casual dinner.
On Wednesday, October 25, the forum will feature a full day of comprehensive programming, including:
- Senior Investors’ Portfolio Construction Session
- Luncheon Keynote Speaker
- Investment Roundtable Sessions, Focused on Private Equity, Private Credit, Opportunistic Strategies, Real Estate, and Infrastructure Investing
Agenda at a Glance
Day One – Tuesday, October 24
1:00–1:30 p.m.
Registration for all attendees
1:30–1:45 p.m.
Welcome Remarks
1:45–3:00 p.m.
AIF Institute Center for Private Capital Investing: The Evolution and Future of Private Credit: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead
Moderator:
- Kevin Vandolder, Head US East, CEM Benchmarking
Panelists:
- Rajiv Chudgar, Partner, Ares Management
- Brian Marcus, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group
- Austin Head-Jones, Director, Stepstone Group
- Leighton Shantz, Managing Director, Employees’ Retirement System of Texas
3:15–4:15 p.m.
AIF Institute Center for Private Capital Investing: From Theory to Practice: Real-World Strategies for Investing in Real Assets
Moderator:
- Mark White, Partner, Albourne
Panelists:
- Peter Braffman, Managing Director, GCM Grosvenor
- Dominic Garcia, Chief Pension Investment Strategist, CBRE Investment Management
- Hillary Higgins, Managing Director, Stonepeak Advisors
- Andrew Sawyer, AIF Institute Fellow and Maine Health Investment Committee Member
4:30–5:30 p.m.
AIF Institute Center for Financial Innovation: An Investor’s Tool Kit for Unlocking Tokenization Opportunities
Moderator:
- Anthony Bassili, Head of Asset Allocators, Coinbase Institutional Americas
Panelists:
Pradyumna Agrawal, Managing Director, Temasek (*Virtual Participant)
- Dennis Cristallo, Wealth Management Lead, Onyx by J.P. Morgan
- Marianne Dwight, AIF Institute Fellow, Director of Institutional Investor Services, Strategic Insight Group
- Timothy Spangler, Partner, Dechert LLP
5:30–8:00 p.m.
Reception and Casual Dinner at Southwest Bistro
Day Two – Wednesday, October 25
8:00–8:30 a.m.
Registration for all attendees
8:30–8:45 a.m.
Welcome and Day One Recap
8:45–9:45 a.m.
View from the Top: Senior Investment Officers Examine Portfolio Construction in Today’s Environment
Session Leader:
- Alexander Browning, Senior Vice President, Callan LLC
Session Participants:
- Dave Hunter, Chief Investment Officer, Texas Municipal Retirement System
- David Kushner, Chief Investment Officer, City of Austin Employees’ Retirement
10:00–11:00 a.m.
Private Equity Roundtable
Session Leader:
Michael Elio, Partner, StepStone Group
Session Participants:
- Nikita Bear, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
- John Dickie, Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity, HighVista Strategies
- Michael Lazorik, Director of Principal Investments, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
- David Phillips, Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of North America, Providence Equity Partners
- Sumit Rajpal, Founder and CEO, GrowthCurve Capital
- Rob Ruberton, Partner & Co-Head of Hybrid Value, Apollo Global Management
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Private Credit: Direct Lending Strategies Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Daniel Xu, Partner – Head of North America Direct Lending, Albourne
Session Participants:
- Kashyap Arora, Co-CIO, Vibrant Capital Partners
- Ben Hunsaker, Portfolio Manager, Beach Point Capital Management
- Jean Joseph, Portfolio Manager & Head of First Lien Investing, Blue Owl Capital Direct Lending
- Osvaldo Pereira, Partner, Park Square Capital
- Charlie Riceman, Partner & Head of Originations, Man Varagon
- Leighton Shantz, Managing Director, Employees’ Retirement System of Texas
- Reed Van Gorden, Managing Director, Head of Originations, Deerpath Capital Management
12:15–1:30 p.m.
Luncheon Keynote Presentation: Organizational Repairs: Best Practices in Talent Selection Across Industries
In some industries choosing talent is the most important activity organizations undertake. And yet often the way organizations choose talent is as much an accident of history as a strategically chosen process. This is problematic given the decision-making biases people typically fall prey to. Organizations offer the potential to correct individual biases, but only if consciously designed to do so. We turn to industry case studies to gain insight into organizational processes that improve talent selection, finding surprising parallels between the NFL draft, MBA admissions and manager selection.
- Cade Massey, Practice Professor, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
1:30–2:30 p.m.
Private Credit Specialized and Opportunistic Strategies Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Alex Dauria, Senior Portfolio Advisor, Aksia
Session Participants:
- Brandon Baer, Founder and CIO, Contingency Capital
- Bob Davenport, Senior Managing Director – Head of Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt, Cerberus Capital Management
- Ben Ensminger-Law Portfolio Manager, Executive Vice President, PIMCO
- Greg Hardiman, Managing Director, 17Capital Management
- Chris Schiavone, Portfolio Manager, Private Credit, 400 Capital Management
- Alan Weinfeld, Senior Client Portfolio Manager, Invesco Private Capital
2:45–3:45 p.m.
Infrastructure Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Mark White, Partner, Albourne
Session Participants:
- Michael Harrington, Partner, Head of Strategy, Head of Americas, Energy Infrastructure, Actis LLP
- Dave Labrie, Senior Director, Diversified Alternative Equity, Barings
- Daniel Sailors, Managing Director, Americas Investing, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP)
- Noi Spyratos, Managing Director, CBRE Investment Management
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Real Estate Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Rob Kochis, Partner, The Townsend Group
Session Participants:
- Greg Dineen, Chief Credit Officer and Partner, Torchlight Investors, LLC
- Joseph Griffin, Principal & Managing Director, Marathon Asset Management
- Cameron Kirby, Head of Investments and Structuring Solutions, Axonic Capital
- Tyson Skillings, Managing Partner, Rockwood Capital
- Chris Tokarski, Managing Director, ACORE Capital
- Grant Walker, Managing Director, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
5:00–6:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks and Reception
2023 AIF Southwest Investors' Forum Participant List
The investors and consultants below have confirmed their desire to participate (subject to any required internal approvals and final schedules)
Albourne
Mark White, Partner
Daniel Xu, Partner, Head of NA Direct Lending
Aksia
Alex Dauria, Senior Portfolio Advisor
Arizona State Retirement System
Robert Butler, Investment Risk & Compliance Officer
bfinance
Alex Julian, Senior Associate
Callan LLC
Alexander Browning, Senior Vice President
City of Austin Employees Retirement
David Kushner, CIO
Employees’ Retirement System of Texas
Panayiotis Lambropoulos, Portfolio Manager
Leighton Shantz, Managing Director
Maine Medical Center
Andrew Sawyer, Investment Committee Member
Petro Lucrum, Inc.
Timothy Smith, CIO
StepStone Group
Michael Elio, Partner
Austin Head-Jones, Director
Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Michael Lazorik, Director of Principal Investments
Grant Walker, Managing Director
Jennifer Wenzel, Director
Temasek
Pradyumna Agrawal, Managing Director (*Virtual)
Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Co.
Adam Levine, Senior Portfolio Manager
Matthew Williams, Senior Investment Analyst
Texas Municipal Retirement System
Monica Huffer, Portfolio Director, Private Markets
Dave Hunter, CIO
Texas Permanent School Fund Corp.
Kathryn Gernert, Head of Emerging Manager Program (PE/RE)
The Townsend Group
Rob Kochis, Partner
University Health System
Christa Maxwell, Vice Chair
