2025 AIF Southwest Investors' Forum
April 23–24 | Hotel ZaZa | Austin, Texas
On behalf of AIF Global and the AIF Institute, we hope you will join us for the 2025 AIF Southwest Investors’ Forum on April 23–24 at Hotel ZaZa in Austin, Texas.
The Forum is geared toward institutional investment professionals, board trustees and investment advisors and will include a two-day agenda of AIF Institute deep dives, asset-class sessions, and panel discussions.
Agenda at a Glance
Wednesday, April 23
11:45 a.m.
Registration for Women's Luncheon
12:15–1:30 p.m.
Women Investors’ Luncheon Session: The Path to Resilience: Clarity, Connection and Culture
(Open to Women Only)
Primer:
- Carol Shen, Founder, Start Culture Shift
Moderator:
- Sharmila Kassam, Senior Fellow, AIF Institute and Former Deputy CIO, Employees Retirement System of Texas
- Larissa Belova, CIO, US Direct Real Estate, UBS Realty Investors LLC
- Carolyn Hansard, Managing Director of Energy Natural Resources and Infrastructure, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
1:30 p.m.
General Registration
1:50–2:00 p.m.
Welcome Remarks and Introductions
2:00–2:50 p.m.
AIF Institute Center for Private Capital Investing Panel: Building a Resilient, All-Weather Portfolio
Moderator:
- Ryan Lobdell, Managing Principal, Head of Marketable Alternatives, Meketa
Panelists:
- Vineer Bhansali, Investment Committee Member, Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and Founder and CIO, LongTail Alpha
- Robert Butler, Investment Risk & Compliance Officer, Arizona State Retirement System
- John Hall, Investment Manager, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
3:10–4:10 p.m.
Optimism and Opportunities for Private Equity Investing
Moderator:
- Mike Krems, Partner, Aksia
Panelists:
- Francesca Adamski, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
- Joshua Blaine, Senior Managing Director, Strategic Partners, Blackstone
- David Marcus, Managing Director, Flexstone Partners
- Matt Nord, Co-Head of Private Equity, Apollo Global Management
- Scott Ramsower, Head of Private Equity, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
4:20–5:00 p.m.
AIF Institute Center for Financial Innovation: The Current State of Digital Assets
- Cathy Wu, Director, Digital Asset Capital Formation, Franklin Templeton
5:00–8:00 p.m.
Reception and Casual Dinner (Located at Hotel ZaZa Perfect Strangers)
Thursday, April 24
8:15 a.m.
Registration and Breakfast
8:45 a.m.
Day Two Remarks
8:50–10:15 a.m.
Real Estate Investing Roundtable
Session Leaders:
- Rob Kochis, Partner, The Townsend Group
- Brendan Cooper, Director, Real Estate, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
PART I: Real Estate Equity
- Larissa Belova, CIO, US Real Estate, UBS Asset Management
- Jay Glaubach, Partner, Co-Head of U.S. Investments, Ares Management
- David Schwartz, CEO & Chairman, Waterton
- Tyson Skillings, Managing Partner, Rockwood Capital
- Liz Troni, Portfolio Manager, U.S. Core Partners, CBRE Investment Management
PART II: Real Estate Debt
- Kyle Jeffers, CIO, ACORE Capital
- Seray Incoglu, Head of Global Commercial Real Estate Debt Asset Management, PIMCO
- Daniel Lockwood, Partner, Co-Head of Private Acquisitions, Torchlight Investors
10:30–11:15 a.m.
Infrastructure Investing Roundtable
Session Leaders:
- Mike Krems, Partner, Aksia
- Mina Nazemi, Head of Diversified Alternative Equity, Barings and Investment Committee Member, Cal State Los Angeles and City of Hope
Session Participants:
Isela Bahena, Managing Director, Private Equity Infrastructure, Nuveen
- Guilherme Dzik, Managing Director, Kingston Infrastructure Partners (KIP)
- Bernardo Graf, Director, Actis
- Jason Koenig, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, ITE Management
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Private Credit Roundtable: Current State of Private Credit
Session Leader:
- Francois Otieno, Director, Segal Marco Advisors
Session Participants:
- Harlan Cherniak, Head of Infrastructure and IG Credit, Macquarie Group
- Brad Demong, Managing Director, Global Alternatives, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
- Eric Eisen, SVP, Co-Investments & Portfolio Management, Antares Capital
- Justin Grimm, Managing Director, AB Private Credit Investors
- Richard Grimm, Managing Director, Head of Global Credit, Cambridge Associates
- Aryeh Landsberg, Managing Director, Investments, 17Capital
- Jonathan Marotta, Managing Director, Crescent Capital
12:30–2:00 p.m.
Luncheon: Portfolio Construction Panel
Moderator:
- Clint Huff, Senior Investment Officer, Texas Tech University System
Panelists:
- Timothy Sweeney, Managing Director – Head of Public Markets, Texas Municipal Retirement System
- Chris White, Senior Investment Officer, Texas Tech University System
- T.C. Wilson. CIO, The Doctors Company
2:00–3:20 p.m.
Private Credit Roundtable: Specialized and Opportunistic Strategies
Session Leader:
- Raj Palekar, Investment Director, Credit & Multi-Asset, NEPC
Session Participants:
- Chad Ellis, Managing Director, North American Investment Team, SVP Global
- Bob Franz, Co-Founder, Managing Partner and CIO, Arbour Lane Capital
- Chris Hentemann, Managing Partner and CIO, 400 Capital Management
- Mustafa Humayun, Partner & Portfolio Manager Sagard Credit, Sagard Holdings
- Ben Hunsaker, Partner, Head of Structured Credit, Beach Point Capital Management
- Darren Schlissel, Portfolio Director, Fixed Income, Texas Municipal Retirement System
- Andrew Springer, Partner, Co-Head of Asset Based Lending & Structured Credit, Marathon Asset Management
3:20–3:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
2025 AIF Southwest Investors' Forum Participant List
Investor, Consultant and Finance Academic Participants
Aksia
Mike Krems, Partner
Arizona State Retirement System
Robert Butler, Investment Risk & Compliance Officer
bfinance
Guy Hopgood, Director, Client Consulting
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Jacob Caldwell, Director of Investments
Cambridge Associates
Michael Dunleavy, Managing Director
Richard Grimm, Managing Director, Head of Global Credit
City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System
Amy Liu, Trustee
City of Hope
Mina Nazemi, Investment Committee Member
Dallas Police & Fire Pension System
Tom Tull, Trustee
The Doctors Company
T.C. Wilson, CIO
Colin McHale, Associate Investment Analyst
Employees Retirement System of Texas
Panayiotis Lambropoulos, Portfolio Manager – Hedge Funds
Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System
Clark Hoover, Investment Officer
Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies
Vineer Bhansali, Investment Committee Member
Meketa Investment Group
Ryan Lobdell, Head of Marketable Alternatives
NEPC
Raj Palekar, Investment Director, Credit & Multi-Asset
Nuveen
Isela Bahena, Managing Director, Private Equity Infrastructure
Presbyterian Foundation
Adriana Ballard, Director
Segal Marco Advisors
Francois Otieno, Director
Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Brendan Cooper, Director, Real Estate
John Hall, Investment Director
Carolyn Hansard, Managing Director
Scott Ramsower, Head of Private Equity Funds
Jennifer Wenzel, Director
George Zhang, Investment Associate
Texas Municipal Retirement System
Joel Palmer, Portfolio Manager
Darren Schlissel, Portfolio Director, Fixed Income
Timothy Sweeney, Managing Director – Head of Public Markets
Texas Permanent School Fund
Jewel Chen, Private Equity Portfolio Manager
Kathryn Gernert, Head of Emerging Manager Program
Texas Tech University System
Clint Huff, Senior Investment Officer
Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Corporation
Hunter Hall, Analyst
Jacob Price, Jr. Portfolio Manager
The Townsend Group
Rob Kochis, Partner
The University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO)
Fernanda Rice, Senior Analyst
