OUR GUEST SPEAKERS

Nic Humphries

Executive Chairman of Hg and Head of the Hg Saturn largecap software funds

Nic is the Senior Partner and Executive Chairman of Hg and Head of the Saturn fund. He Chairs’ the Hg Board and relevant committee’s and is a member of the Investment Committee. He has ultimate responsibility for Hg’s strategy, management and governance. He focuses on larger software investments that provide daily-use mission critical applications for accountants, lawyers, tax/compliance professionals and designers/engineers/scientists.

Nic is currently a Director on the boards of Argus Media, Benevity, IFS, insight software, IRIS and Visma. He has led or co-led more than 30 investments over the last 32 years including IRIS (since 2004), Visma (since 2006), Addison (sold to Wolters Kluwer, WKL), The Foundry (sold to Roper Technologies, ROP), Geneva Technology (sold to Amdocs, DOX), Rolfe&Nolan (acquired by ION), Sovos (since 2015), Teamsystem (since 2010) and Xyratex (IPO on NASDAQ, XRTX then acquired by Seagate, STX).

Nishi Somaiya

Global Co-Head Goldman Sachs Growth Equity

Nishi is global co-head of Growth Equity in the Asset Management Division. She is a member of the Partnership Committee, Global Diversity Committee, EMEA Inclusion and Diversity Committee, Merchant Banking Division Growth Investment Committee, Specialty Lending Group Investment Committee and Sustainable Investing Group Investment Committee. Nishi also serves on the Board of Advisors for Launch With GS, Goldman Sachs’ $500 million commitment to invest in companies and investment managers with diverse leadership.

Nishi joined Goldman Sachs in 2001 as an analyst on the Leveraged Finance team in London. She moved to the Distressed Debt Trading desk in 2002 and was subsequently a founding member of the European Special Situations Group (ESSG) in 2003. Nishi ran the Private Capital business within ESSG focusing on middle market lending and growth equity from 2014 to 2019. She was named managing director in 2011 and partner in 2016. Nishi is a board governor for the Royal Ballet School, and also serves on the board of SEO London, a nonprofit that provides access, training and mentoring for talented young people from underrepresented and underserved communities. Nishi earned a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford, Queen’s College, in 2001. She is a CFA charterholder.

Parminder Singh

Managing Director, Carlyle

Parminder Singh is a Managing Director at Carlyle focused on international energy investments. Mr. Singh was previously a member of the Carlyle US Buyout team where he focused on investments in the industrials sector. He is based in London.

Since initially joining Carlyle in 2008, Mr. Singh has been involved in the firm’s investments in SierraCol Energy, CEPSA, Neptune Energy, Discover Exploration, Regalwood Global Energy and PQ Corporation. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Singh was an investment analyst at Chesapeake Partners and an analyst at UBS Investment Bank.

Mr. Singh received his BA with distinction from Yale College and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is also a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a member of the Leadership Council for the Yale School of the Environment.

Naveen Wadhera

Managing Director, Co-Head European Technology Group at TA Associates

Naveen is co-head of TA's Europe Technology Group, as well as actively involved in growth investments across India and other emerging markets.

Naveen joined TA in 2001 and has more than 22 years of experience in private equity and financial services. He has been heavily involved in the firm’s international expansion having co-founded TA’s European and Asian efforts and sponsored and led investments in several geographies across technology, financial services, healthcare and consumer businesses. Naveen is actively engaged in driving portfolio company growth initiatives, both organic and through acquisitions.

Senior Partner, Chief Investment Strategist & Head of Research atTristan Capital Partners

Simon brings a 25+ year track record of international real estate investment management to Tristan. He has worked with Founder and Executive Chairman/Chief Investment Officer Ric Lewis for over to 20 years and helped found Curzon Global Partners in London in 1999. Simon set up the firm’s strategy function and led the research team as it grew globally (as part of AEW). He continues to focus on developing Tristan’s research-led investment approach. He works closely with the firm’s investment and asset management teams, and actively participates in the portfolio management process. He has served on the Investment Committee and has worked on every deal the firm has executed since inception. Simon also works closely on a day-to-day basis with the client development team to ensure that clients are kept fully apprised of developments in the market and the implications for strategy.

Franziska Kayser

Managing Director at KKR

Franziska Kayser (London) joined KKR in 2011 and is a member of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry team within KKR's Private Equity platform in EMEA. She has been involved in KKR’s investments in Axel Springer, GfK, Trainline, Scout24 Switzerland, SMCP and Wild Flavors. Ms. Kayser currently serves on the board of directors of Axel Springer and GfK. Prior to joining KKR, she worked in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse in London. Ms. Kayser holds a First-Class Honours B.A. from McGill University, Canada.

Simon Martin

Miguel Toney

Partner at CVC Credit Partners LLC

Miguel Toney, Partner at CVC is a member of the Private Credit team based in London. Prior to joining CVC, Miguel was a Partner at Park Square Capital. Miguel also spent 11 years at MezzVest (now MV Credit), and two years at Credit Suisse. Miguel holds an MBA from Said Business School (University of Oxford), and a BA in Economics and International Politics from Vassar College, New York.

Lisha Patel

Managing Director, Investments at Wellcome Trust

Lisha joined Wellcome in 2006 and is a Managing Director in the Investment team. She works across Wellcome’s multi-asset class investment endowment, leading the Investment team. Lisha currently Chairs the Investment Committee of Pembroke College, Oxford and is a member of the Endowment Board of Imperial College London and the Investment Committee of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Lisha was previously at Lazard in their Corporate Finance practice in London and read Economics & Management at the University of Oxford. Lisha has been an SEO mentor for over a decade.

Dana Haimoff

Managing Director at JP Morgan

Dana Haimoff, Managing Director, joined the Private Equity Group in 2002. Ms. Haimoff is a senior Portfolio Manager in the London office. She is responsible for sourcing, due diligence and monitoring private equity primary venture capital, growth and buyout funds, secondary and co-investment opportunities on behalf of the PEG’s comingled and client separate account funds. Currently, she serves on numerous private equity LP advisory committees. Dana is the co-Founder of Level20, a not-for-profit organization set up to encourage women to succeed in the private equity industry. She is a member of the British Venture Capital Association’s Limited Partner Committee. Dana is a director on the board of JPMorgan Asset Management International Ltd and JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) Ltd and is responsible for the firm’s SMCR’s EMEA Alternatives.

Aly Hirji

Managing Director, Head of European Leveraged Loans and CLOs at BlackRock

Aly Hirji, Managing Director, is Head of European Leveraged Loans and CLOs and a senior portfolio manager in the European Credit team within BlackRock's Alternatives division, focusing primarily on the leveraged loan asset class and related products, including managed CLOs and CLO tranches.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2014, Mr. Hirji was a partner and portfolio manager at New Amsterdam Capital, a European credit manager focused on leveraged credit. He was responsible for managing CLOs, leveraged loan and high yield funds, managed accounts and trading. He joined the firm as its first investment- related employee in 2004 as a credit analyst and contributed to growing out the firm and its assets under management. He began his career at JP Morgan in 1999 working in leveraged finance origination, debt capital markets and financial sponsor coverage.

Mr. Hirji earned a BSc degree, with honors in economics from the University of Bristol in 1999.

Chief Investment Officer at University of Cambridge

Tilly Franklin is CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Cambridge Investment Management Limited, the manager of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund. She joined the University in January 2020 from her previous role as Director of Investments and Head of Private Equity at Alta Advisers, one of Europe’s leading single family investment offices. An alumna of Jesus College, Cambridge, Franklin was also a Principal at private equity firm Apax Partners Ltd, where she led a number of successful leveraged buyout transactions during her eight-year tenure. Earlier in her career, she also held positions at BBC Worldwide Ltd, Virgin Management Ltd and McKinsey & Company. Franklin is a Founder of GAIN (Girls Are Investors), a charity which aims to inform and inspire the next generation of female investment managers in the UK. She is also a Trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust. Franklin is a Fellow of the 2017 class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship at the Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She holds a first class degree from Cambridge University in English Literature and an MBA from London Business School, and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Takudzwa Mutasa

Partner at Development Partners International (DPI)

Takudzwa Mutasa re-joined DPI in January 2018.

Takudzwa has over 16 years of investment and investment advisory experience of which 13 of those have been in African Private Equity. He started his career at Citigroup in the Investment Banking Division working in both the London and New York offices. Takudzwa’s private equity experience, outside of DPI, has been gained at funds including KKR and Helios Investment Partners where he was involved in sourcing, analysing and executing private equity investments across the African continent. Takudzwa has been involved in numerous private equity transactions across the continent.
He holds an M.A. and MEng. In Engineering, specializing in Electrical and Information Sciences, from the University of Cambridge.

Tilly Franklin

Evelina Olago

Managing Director, Just Climate LLP

Evelina is the Managing Director for Client & Strategy at Just Climate. Prior to this, Evelina spent three years as Investor Relations Senior Manager at Helios Investment Partners in London. Her role covered fundraising, client engagement as well as development of firm's impact and climate strategies. She had previously spent four years working as part of the firm’s value creation team working with management teams in Africa and the United Kingdom in sectors including Energy, Real Estate, Telecommunications and Financial Services to drive growth, develop robust ESG systems, and prepare the businesses for exit.

Evelina has also worked at McKinsey as a strategy consultant, and started her career at Ernst & Young in the London Energy & Resources group. Evelina received a BSc in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Warwick, UK. Evelina speaks English, Russian, French and Swahili.

Senior Investment Director, USS

Teia Merring is a Senior Investment Director in the Private Equity Funds and Co-Investment team at USS Investment Management (~£70bn AUM), the corporate pension plan for universities in the United Kingdom.

She is responsible for executing and managing private equity fund commitments and co-investments across all sectors and geographies and sits on various supervisory boards.
In addition to her role at USS, Teia is the Vice Chair of the ILPA Board and a chair of the ILPA Industry Affairs & Standards Committee.
Prior to joining USS in 2011, Teia was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in the Healthcare division.

She holds a MSc in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School, and her university studies included a MBA term at IIM Ahmedabad, India.

Doug Hallstrom

Director, Advent International

Douglas joined Advent in 2014, leaving in 2016 to support the executive team at Advent’s portfolio company Unit4 and to run a start-up. He re-joined in 2018 and is based in the London office. Douglas has worked on Advent’s investments in Medius, Nexi, Planet, Shift Technology, Unit4, Xplor Technologies (formerly Transaction Services Group), and Zenoti. Previously, Douglas worked at Bain & Company in London and Toronto. Douglas received a B.Sc. with First Class Honours from the University of St Andrews.

Teia Merring

Daniel Boehm

Managing Director, Davidson Kempner

Daniel Boehm is a Managing Director at Davidson Kempner in London. He has led a number of large European infrastructure and private equity transactions, including the privatisation of the market leading biogas company Nature Energy, an investment into various European cable and telecom companies, and energy platforms across solar, gas and wind energy.

Mr Boehm joined Davidson Kempner in April 2012. From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Boehm was an Associate at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in London, focusing on European private equity investments. From early 2009 to 2010, he worked as an Analyst for Blackstone’s London restructuring team and was later promoted to Associate. Prior to that, Mr. Boehm worked at Lehman Brothers’ in-house private equity fund LBREP. In 2008, Mr. Boehm received his Diplom Kaufmann (M.Sc.) business degree from the Universitaet Mannheim in Germany with a full scholarship by the German National Academic Merit Foundation. He also studied at UC Berkeley in 2016 as part of the German National Academic Merit Foundation’s fellowship program.

Ana Estrada

Managing Director in Real Estate, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Ana is a managing director in Real Estate within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. In this role, she is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing real estate investments across Europe. Ana joined Goldman Sachs in 2003 as an analyst and was named managing director in 2015.

Ana earned a BS in Economics at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and an MBA from Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa in Barcelona.

Clarisa de Franco

Managing Director, BII

Clarisa has been at BII since 2007 and currently heads our Private Equity Funds team, managing a portfolio of over US$2.5 billion of fund investments across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. She is a member of BII’s Funds Investment Committee, who has oversight over fund investment and co-investments in general private equity, venture capital and private credit. She is also actively involved in promoting BII’s diversity and inclusion efforts.  Prior to her current role, she spent eight years focusing on fund investments in Africa and was previously part of BII’s South Asia, China and South East Asia fund investments as well as co-investment opportunities and microfinance investments across BII’s core geographies. Earlier on in her career, Clarisa spent time at Grupo Financiero Uno (acquired by Citigroup) and BII’s offices in London and Costa Rica making direct investments in Latin America.

She is a member of the Global Private Capital Association’s DFI Council and co-chairs the Africa Venture Capital Association’s LP Council.

Clarisa graduated from Marquette University in Wisconsin with a BA (Hons) in Mathematics and Economics and has an MBA from INCAE Business School, Nicaragua.

Marc Chowrimootoo

Managing Director and Portfolio Manager Private Credit, Hayfin

Mr. Chowrimootoo joined Hayfin in 2022 and is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for Private Credit, focussing on sourcing, analysing investment opportunities, and providing portfolio management across the private credit strategies. Prior to joining Hayfin, Mr. Chowrimootoo was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs based in Paris, leading its Credit Finance footprint expansion across Europe, having started his career as a banking and capital markets attorney at White & Case. Mr. Chowrimootoo graduated from St John’s College Oxford in 1998, where he read Law and Law Studies in Europe.

Lynn Akashi

Yalin Karadogan

Founding Partner and Chief Strategy Officer, Zetland Capital

Lynn is a Founding Partner of Zetland Capital, leading the firm’s growth and change initiatives to bring about our long-term goals and vision. She believes we must all live our values, with a leadership style that is grounded in inclusion, transparency and clarity of purpose.

Lynn has over 20-years of experience in both public and private markets. She joined the founding team of Salomon Smith Barney’s proprietary Special Situations and Distressed desk in New York, including the expansion of the business to Tokyo at the back-end of the 90s. Lynn was then asked to join Citigroup’s nascent London Leverage Finance team building both the primary markets across Europe and secondary loan sales and trading businesses. Lynn is a graduate of Wellesley College in Economics and Political Science.

Partner, Leapfrog Investments

Yalin joined LeapFrog as Partner and Global Head of Investor Solutions in 2022. He is a 25-year veteran of the private equity industry, most recently as Partner, Fundraising and Investor Relations, for global private equity firm Cinven in London, with responsibility for fundraising and investor coverage in Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Prior to this role, Yalin was in the deal team at Cinven, where he was a member of the Business Services sector team and led the regional team for Emerging Europe. He previously spent over eight years with J.P. Morgan Partners, in New York and London, completing a number of buyout, growth equity, venture capital, and debt investments in a variety of sectors across Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the USA. Yalin holds a BA in Mathematics & Economics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Lafayette College, USA. Yalin is a co-Founder of Turkey Mozaik Foundation, a UK-based organisation with a mission to promote and support local civil society organisations in Turkey. He is also on the Advisory Board of Yeşilist, leading Turkish green and sustainable living platform.

Sue-Lin Heng

Managing Director, Eastdil Secured

Ms. Heng is a Managing Director with the London offices of Eastdil Secured. She has c. 25 years' working experience in the multihousing and hospitality real estate sector in both investment sales and corporate advisory services. She has sold over $25bn worth of real estate across Europe and Asia, and her current responsibilities include leading the Mulithousing business for Eastdil in Europe and also managing client relationships and cross border capital flows with key Asian buyers. Ms Heng is also currently a Board Trustee with the Creative Land Trust (https://creativelandtrust.org/). Ms. Heng is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and various Chinese dialects. She holds MBAs with Columbia Business School in the US and London Business School in the UK.

Ms. Heng holds MBAs with Columbia Business School in the US and London Business School in the UK. She also holds a Bachelor of Business (Hons) from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, with a specialisation in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Nathan Freeman

Partner, Kedge Capital

Nathan Freeman has 16 years of private equity experience.

Prior to joining KCPE in 2009, Nathan was an Associate at Irving Place Capital, a middle market private equity firm based in New York. Responsibilities included analysing leveraged buyouts, recapitalisations, and distressed investments in the consumer products, retail, industrial and packaging sectors. He also worked closely with portfolio companies to evaluate acquisitions, strategic initiatives, debt and equity financing alternatives, and implement best practices. Prior to Irving Place Capital, Nathan worked at Bank of America Securities in media and telecom investment banking.

Mr Freeman has a BS, cum laude, from Northwestern University.

Ashley Edwards

Executive Director, Morgan Stanley

Ashley is an Executive Director within the Global Sustainability Office (GSO) at Morgan Stanley that partners with the business units on a wide range of sustainable solutions. As part of a new team based in London, Ashley collaborates across the divisions to integrate firm-wide sustainability commitments and strategy, and to implement new sustainability-related regulatory requirements in EMEA. Ashley has been at Morgan Stanley for seven years, previously working within Firm Management to deliver large-scale regulatory-driven and strategic change programmes, including Brexit.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Ashley worked at Deloitte advising clients across the banking and capital markets industry on new regulatory requirements and optimising their Risk Management function.

Ashley holds an MA from the University of Oxford in Economics and Management, has passed Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and is currently studying towards a MSt in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.