2024 AIF Annual Investors' Meeting
January 9–10 | The Metropolitan Club | New York City
On behalf of AIF Global, we hope you will join us for the 2024 Annual Investors’ Meeting, featuring the AIF Institute Financial Innovation Symposium, to be held on January 9–10 at The Metropolitan Club in New York City.
The two-day program will center around the 2024 theme of “Navigating Future Investment Strategies” and will include unique academic case study workshops, a comprehensive series of investment sessions, and an unveiling of AIF’s 2024 initiatives.
Agenda at a Glance
Tuesday, January 9
8:00–8:30 a.m.
Registration for Women Investors' Breakfast Session
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Women Investors' Opening Breakfast: Candid Insights from Leading Women Investors
(Open to women only)
Panelists:
- Julia Mord, Deputy CIO, Tulane University Investment Management Office
- Gabrielle Rubenstein, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) and Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Manna Tree Partners
- Catherine Ulozas, CIO, Drexel University
- Emilia Wiener, CIO, General Account, TIAA
9:30–10:15 a.m.
General Registration for all Attendees
10:15–10:30 a.m.
AIF Institute Center for Financial Innovation: Symposium Sessions
Welcoming Remarks
10:30–11:30 a.m.
Understanding the Impact of Blockchain Technology and Tokenization on the Institutional Investment Landscape
Moderator:
- Steven D’Mello, Partner, Albourne
Panelists:
- Anthony Basilli, Head of Asset Allocators, Coinbase Institutional
- William Bell, CIO Alternatives, Arch Capital
- Harmeet Goindi, Product Strategist, Cboe Digital
- Greg Scanlon, Vice President, Quantitative Blockchain, Franklin Templeton
11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
From the Shocking to the Mundane: How Technological Advances have Accelerated the Pace at Which They are Integrated in our Daily Lives
Speakers:
- John D’Agostino, Senior Advisor, Coinbase, Lecturer, MIT and Columbia
University and Fellow, AIF Institute - Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management
12:45–2:00 p.m.
Luncheon Panel Discussion
A Peek Behind the Curtain: Transitioning Investment Programs From One Administration to Another
Moderator:
- Ford Scudder, Former State Treasurer, State of New Jersey, Fellow, AIF Institute
Guest Speakers:
- Erick Russell, Treasurer, State of Connecticut, and Principal Fiduciary, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
- Ted Wright, CIO, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
- Eric Baggesen, CIO, Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island
- James Diossa, General Treasurer, State of Rhode Island
2:00–3:00 p.m.
Academic Investment Vignette and Breakout Group Discussions
NAV Lending: Accelerating Liquidity or Adding Risks?
Looking over the latest reports, Acme Pension’s CIO is impressed with the performance of one of its largest private equity funds. The fund made cash distributions back to its LPs much sooner than anticipated – a promising sign, especially as the CIO was considering re-upping with the manager in its latest fund. However, when digging deeper, the CIO realized there was a catch: the fund had taken on a NAV loan, using the proceeds to pay out distributions to its investors.
On the one hand, the early liquidity was appealing. However, the CIO began to wonder what other implications the NAV loan might have. Would the loan create perverse incentives for the manager? Should the CIO be worried about cross-collateralization? What about interest rates on the loan? And finally, was this all just a form of “window dressing” to make early returns look attractive?
- Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, Harvard Business School and Advisory Board Chair, AIF Global
- Randy Cohen, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School
3:15–4:15 p.m.
Academic Research Presentations
Private Capital Alpha: A New Method and Findings
Presented by:
- Gregory Brown, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar of Finance and Research Director, Institute for Private Capital, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Estimating the alpha generated by private investments is challenging because a time series of market prices is not observed. This presentation proposes a new method for calculating alpha in a portfolio context that accounts for illiquidity, finite private fund portfolio size, and diversification relative to publicly-traded assets. We estimate the model using more than 30 years of data on US private funds and find that alpha has varied considerably across investment types with buyout funds performing best among buyouts, venture capital, and real estate.
Buy-and-Hold Performance Measurement in Private Markets
Presented by:
- David Robinson, James and Gail Vander Weide Professor of Finance, Duke University Fuqua School of Business
Measuring the performance of private investments relative to public investments is typically done by comparing a fund’s return to that which could have been earned by investing in a liquid public index. Although useful for understanding relative performance, this approach largely measures whether managers earned an illiquidity premium; it does not allow us to determine whether specific fund managers add value through a combination of investment selection and firm-level value creation. I propose a new way of comparing public and private investments that strips out the liquidity differences between public and private markets, allowing us to more easily measure managerial value creation. I find substantial evidence of managerial value creation, even in market settings where liquidity conditions made public markets very attractive relative to private investments.
4:30–5:30 p.m.
Private Equity Roundtable Session
Session Leader:
- Michael Elio, Partner, StepStone Group
Session Participants:
- Robin Clifford, Senior Investment Officer, State of New Jersey Treasury
- Paul Desmarais III, Chairman & CEO, Sagard
- Nitin Gupta, Managing Partner, Flexstone Partners
- Jonathan Lesser, Senior Investment Officer, NYC Comptroller Bureau of Asset Management
- Davis Noell, Senior Managing Director, Providence Equity Partners
- Sumit Rajpal, CEO, GrowthCurve Capital
- Tyler Sipprelle, Partner, Siris Capital
5:30–6:45 p.m.
Cocktail Reception
6:45–8:30 p.m.
Featured Keynote Speaker and Dinner
Dinner Speaker:
- Admiral James Stavridis
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Rockefeller Foundation;
Retired 4-Star Admiral, U.S. Navy;
16th Supreme Allied Commander, NATO;
Vice Chair, Global Affairs, The Carlyle Group
Wednesday, January 10
7:45 a.m.
Registration begins
8:30–8:45 a.m.
Day Two Welcome
8:45–9:45 a.m.
Portfolio Construction Session
(Open to investors and consultants only)
- André Perold, Board Member, The Vanguard Group
Session Leaders:
- Pete Keliuotis, Executive Vice President and Head of Alternatives Consulting Group, Callan
- Raelan M. Lambert, Senior Partner and Global Alternatives Leader, Mercer
10:00–11:00 a.m.
Private Credit: Direct Lending and Specialized Strategies Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Margaret Belmondo, Partner and Head of Public Fund Practice Group, NEPC
Session Participants:
- Michael Contreras, Managing Director, Origination, Deerpath Capital Management
- Jason Friedman, Partner, Global Head of Strategy, Marathon Asset Management
- Graham Manley, Senior Managing Director, New York Originations Leader, Antares Capital
- Jonathan Marotta, Managing Director, Crescent Capital
- Mike Mueller, Alternatives Investment Officer, Oregon State Treasury
- Walter Owens, CEO, Man Varagon
- Keith Read, President, Middle-Market Direct Lending, Cerberus Capital Management
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Private Credit: Structured and Opportunistic Credit Strategies Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Brett Graffy, Managing Director, Aksia
Session Participants:
- Pierpaolo Casamento, Head of Private Debt Secondaries, Tikehau Capital
- Alex Cha, Partner and Head of Portfolio Management and Trading, 400 Capital Management
- Greg Hardiman, Managing Director, 17Capital Management
- Bret Leas, Partner, Co-Head of Asset-Backed Finance, Apollo Global Management
- John Pavelski, Co-Head of North American Credit Opportunities, The Carlyle Group
- Nelson Pereira, Investment Director U.S. Insurance, Mercer
- Ivan Zinn, Founder and CIO, Atalaya Capital Management
12:15–1:30 p.m.
AIF Institute for Private Capital Luncheon Panel
Optimizing Allocations to the Most and Least Liquid Alternative Investment Strategies
Co-Moderators:
- Sean Crawford, Partner, Portfolio Advisory, Albourne
- Thomas Lynch, Senior Managing Director, Cliffwater
Panelists:
- Dominic Garcia, Chief Pension Investment Strategist, CBRE Investment Management
- David Richter, Managing Director, Absolute Return Strategies, GCM Grosvenor
- Art Vinokur, Managing Director, Head of Credit, Event, and Relative Value Strategies, K2 Advisors – Franklin Templeton
1:45–2:45 p.m.
Private Credit: Opportunistic Credit Strategies Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Frank Fama, Global Co-Head of Credit Investment Group, Cambridge Associates
Session Participants:
- Brad Demong, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
- Michael Haynes, Portfolio Manager, Beach Point Capital Management
- Doug Logigian, Co-Managing Partner and President, Kennedy Lewis Investment Management
- Thomas Majewski, Founder & Managing Partner, Eagle Point Credit
- Osvaldo Pereira, Partner, Park Square Capital
- Paul Triggiani, Head of Distressed and Special Situations, Invesco
- Leslie Vargas, Senior Portfolio Manager, Resolution Life US
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Infrastructure Investing Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Karen Rode, Senior Partner – Private Investments, Aon Investments USA, Inc.
Session Participants:
- Raj Agrawal, Partner, KKR
- Torbjorn Caesar, CEO and Chairman, Actis
- Markus Hottenrott, CIO, Infrastructure Partners, Morgan Stanley
- Petya Nikolova, Deputy CIO & Head of Infrastructure, New York City Retirement System
- Andrew Thomas, Senior Managing Director and Head of Communications, Global ex-Europe, Stonepeak
4:15–5:15 p.m.
Real Estate Investing Roundtable
Session Leader:
- Rob Kochis, Partner, The Townsend Group
Session Participants:
- Larissa Belova, Portfolio Manager, CBRE Investment Management
- Michael Butz, Managing Director, Head of Private Acquisitions, Torchlight Investors
- Kory Klebanoff, Managing Director, Real Estate Originations, ACORE Capital
- John Lee, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager, PIMCO
- Nicki Livanos, Director, Real Estate Investments, Equitable
- William Maher, Director, Strategy & Research, RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA)
- Philip Moore, Partner, Head of European Real Estate Debt, Ares Management
- Mark Wojcichowsky, Senior Portfolio Manager, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
5:15–6:30 p.m.
Closing Reception
2024 AIF Annual Investors' Meeting Faculty and Participants
Investor, Consultant and Finance Academic Participants
Aflac Global Investments
Ksenija Jovanovic, Director, Alternative Investments
Aksia
Michelle Davidson, Partner, Co-Head Advisory Americas
Brett Graffy, Managing Director
David Sheng, Managing Director, Portfolio Advisory
Alaska Permanent Retirement Fund Corporation
Gabrielle Rubenstein, Vice Chair, Board of Directors
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
Mark Wojcichowsky, Senior Portfolio Manager
Albourne
Sean Crawford, Partner, Portfolio Advisory
Steven D’Mello, Partner
David Harmston, Head of Client Group
American Equity Investment Life
Ashok Vishnubhakta, Head of Middle Market
Aon Investments USA, Inc.
Karen Rode, Senior Partner
Arch Capital Group
William Bell, CIO, Alternatives
AustralianSuper
Nick Stanley, Senior Investment Analyst
Aaron Witte, Senior Portfolio Manager
bfinance
Neil Holmes, Senior Director – Insurance
Guy Hopgood, Director, Client Consulting
BPIFrance
Antoine Pupin, Director
Brighthouse Financial
Maria Tarhanidis, Head of Alternative Investments
Callan
Pete Keliuotis, Executive Vice President and Head of Alternatives Consulting Group
Cambridge Associates
Frank Fama, Managing Director
Richard Grimm, Managing Director
CDPQ
Erich Cripton, Director, CDPQ Capital
Cern Pension Fund
Elena Manola-Bonthond, CIO
City of Stamford
Eric Newman, Treasury Manager
JoAnn Hanson, President
Cliffwater LLC
Thomas Lynch, Senior Managing Director
Connecticut
Erick Russell, State Treasurer and Principal Fiduciary, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
Ted Wright, CIO, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
Dallas Police & Fire Pension System
Tina Hernandez, Trustee
Tom Tull, Investment Advisory Committee Member
Drexel University
Catherine Ulozas, CIO
Equitable Insurance
Nicki Livanos, Director, Real Estate Investments
Fordham University
Geeta Kapadia, CIO
GE Capital
Anthony Grandolfo, CIO
John Gao, Director, Investment Management & Risk Analytics
GroveStreet
John Merrill, Managing Director
Indiana Public Retirement System
Steve Russo, Executive Director
Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry (JIBEI)
Robert Ball, CIO
Korea Investment Corporation
Kyoung Taek Lee, Head of KIC New York
Korea Post
Jihye Jo, Deputy Director
Sungmin Lim Director, New York office
Liberty Mutual Investments
John Reichard, Managing Director
Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies
Vineer Bhansali, Investment Committee Member
Mercer
Raelan Lambert, Senior Partner and Global Alternatives Leader
Rohit Nerurkar, Investment Research Specialist – Real Estate
Nelson Pereira, Investment Director U.S. Insurance
MetLife
Agata Rzamek Praczuk, Director
Mount Sinai Health System
Scott Pittman, Senior Vice President & CIO
Nassau Financial Group
Ravi Srinivassan, Managing Director
NEPC, LLC
Margaret Belmondo, Partner and Head of Public Fund Practice Group
New York Common Retirement Fund
Donna Bergman, Senior Investment Officer
Elizabeth Caldas, Senior Investment Officer
Susana Callender, Investment Operations
Leo Chenette, Senior Investment Officer
Joe Dawson, Director
Gianna McCarthy, Director of Corporate Governance
Deborah Medenica, Senior Investment Officer
Andrew Siwo, Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions
Tiana Todd, Investment Ops Officer
New York City Retirement System
Eneasz Kadziela, Deputy CIO & Head of Private Equity
Jonathan Lesser, Senior Investment Officer
Petya Nikolova, Deputy CIO & Head of Infrastructure
New York Life Investment Management
Jae Yoon, CIO
New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund
Larry Schloss, Vice Chairman Of The Board
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Office of Investments
William Marshall, Senior Investment Analyst
Oregon State Treasury
Mike Mueller, Alternatives Investment Officer
Power Corporation of Canada
Paul Desmarais III, Senior Vice President
Providence St. Joseph Medical Center
Renee Astphan, Director of Alternative Investments
RCLCO Fund Advisors
William Maher, Director Strategy & Research
Rhode Island
James A. Diossa, General Treasurer, State of Rhode Island
Eric Baggesen, CIO, Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI)
Resolution Life US
Leslie Vargas, Senior Portfolio Manager
Rockefeller Foundation
Admiral James Stavridis, Chair of Board of Trustees
State of New Jersey Treasury Department Division of Investment
Jessie Choi, Private Equity PM and Head of Hedge Funds/RMS
Robin Clifford, Senior Investment Officer
Kevin Higgins, Head of Real Estate
Peterson Lenard, Analyst
John Weeast, Investment Analyst
StepStone Group
Michael Elio, Partner
Todd Lapenna Partner, Infrastructure & Real Assets
Bhavika Vyas Vincent, Managing Director
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc. (SMTAMA)
David Baeckelandt, Senior Vice President
TIAA
Emilia Wiener, CIO, General Account
The Townsend Group
Rob Kochis, Partner
Tulane University Investment Management Office
Julia Mord, Deputy CIO
University of Pennsylvania
Perry Golkin, Trustee
The Vanguard Group
Andre Perold, Board Member
Wafra Investing on behalf of the Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait
Steve Moseley, Managing Director
Willett Advisors
Jeffrey Saret, Managing Director
William Penn Foundation
John Cross, Director
MaDoe Htun, CIO
YMCA Retirement Fund
Hunter Reisner, CIO
Zurich Insurance
Jan Furrer, Head of Investments
Karyn Williams, Regional Investment Manager, North America
