17th Annual Emerging Manager & MWBE Conference

State Comptroller DiNapoli talking with a conference attendee

Message from State Comptroller DiNapoli

Message from State Comptroller DiNapoli

Dear Friends:

It’s been my honor to host the Emerging Manager & MWBE Conference for the past 17 years as Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund—which serves 1.2 million New York State and local government employees, retirees and beneficiaries.

The Common Retirement Fund's Emerging Manager Program is a leader in building relationships with new, diverse and growing investment firms, a rich source of fresh talent and new investment strategies. MWBE managers in 2023 oversaw an all-time high of $31.5 billion in commitments and investments, and more than $2 billion in capital commitments were deployed to emerging and MWBE managers across the Fund’s asset classes. This year's conference theme, “Advancing Forward with Progress and Promise,” speaks to the progress and accomplishments of our Emerging Managers program—and our continued efforts to create, source and secure new opportunities.

On behalf of the entire team at the New York State Common Retirement Fund and our external advisors, let me commend this year’s participants for leveraging this excellent opportunity to meet with Fund staff and program partners to gain a better understanding of the Fund’s investment process.  

Sincerely,

Thomas P. DiNapoli
New York State Comptroller


View Conference Booklet
About the Common Retirement Fund
About the Emerging Manager Program


Speakers

Sylvester McClaren

Welcome & Opening Remarks 
Sylvester McClearn
Director of Emerging Managers Program

Thomas P. DiNapoli

Keynote Speaker
Thomas P. DiNapoli
New York State Comptroller

Anastasia Titarchuk

CIO Remarks 
Anastasia Titarchuk
Chief Investment Officer & Deputy Comptroller

Orlando Bravo

Guest Speaker
Orlando Bravo
Founder & Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo

 

 Agenda

EM Detailed Schedule

8:00⁠⁠–⁠⁠9:30

Registration

Lobby

Continental Breakfast  

Second Floor
9:30⁠–⁠10:30

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Sylvester McClearn
Director of Emerging Managers Programs

Second Floor

Keynote Address

Thomas P. DiNapoli
New York State Comptroller

CIO Remarks

Anastasia Titarchuk
Chief Investment Officer & Deputy Comptroller

Guest Speaker

Orlando Bravo
Founder & Managing Partner 
Thoma Bravo

10:30⁠–⁠10:45

Break

 
10:45⁠–⁠11:00

Sustainable Investments & Climate Solutions (SICS) Presentation

Andrew Siwo – SICS Director

Second Floor
11:00⁠–⁠12:15

Founder's Discussion

Founder’s Perspective: The Challenges and Opportunities in Launching a First-Time Fund

Moderator: Anastasia Titarchuk CIO & Deputy Comptroller

Lisa Melchoir – Vertu Capital Partners

Kerstin Dittmar – L2 Point Management

Jennifer Keith – Ethos Real Estate Partners

David Perez – Avance Investment Management

Second Floor
12:15⁠–⁠1:30

Lunch & Open Networking 

Second Floor
1:30⁠–⁠2:45Asset Class Breakouts & NetworkingFirst Floor

Public Equity

Introductory Remarks 
Jennifer Cardiff, Director, Global Equities 
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Presenters

  • Xponance
  • Leading Edge Investment Advisors
Room 1A

Fixed Income & Credit/Opportunistic

Introductory Remarks 
Michael Lombardi, Director, Credit
Jon Lieber, Director, Fixed Income
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Presenters

  • Aksia
Room 1B

Private Equity

Introductory Remarks 
Joe T. Dawson, Director, Private Equity 
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Presenters

  • Muller & Monroe Asset Management
  • HarbourVest Partners
  • Farol Asset Management
Room 2A

Real Estate & Real Assets

Introductory Remarks 
Manuel Casanga, Director, Real Estate & Real Assets 
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Presenters

  • GCM Grosvenor
  • Artemis Real Estate Partners
  • Albourne Partners
Room 2B

Legal Panel
Approved for Investment, What's Next?

Joyce Abernethy, General Counsel 
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Room 2C
2:45⁠–⁠4:00

Comptroller's Dessert Reception & Open Networking

First Floor

Guest Speaker: Orlando Bravo

EMC - Orlando Bravo Bio

Orlando Bravo

Orlando Bravo is a Founder and Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo. He led Thoma Bravo’s early entry into software buyouts and built the firm into one of the largest software investors in the world. Today, Orlando directs the firm’s strategy and investment decisions in accordance with its principles of partnership, innovation and performance.

Orlando has overseen over 455 software and technology acquisitions conducted by the firm, representing more than $255 billion in enterprise value. Forbes named him “Wall Street’s best dealmaker” in 2019, and he was dubbed “Private equity’s king of SaaS” by the Financial Times in 2021.

Orlando was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Brown University in 1992, and earned a JD from Stanford Law School and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1998.

He is the Founder and Chairman of the Bravo Family Foundation, which aims to provide young adults in Puerto Rico with access to opportunity. In 2019, Mr. Bravo committed $100 million to the Foundation’s Rising Entrepreneurs Program (REP) with the goal of fostering entrepreneurship on the island. In addition, he has been personally involved in responding to the hurricanes that have devastated communities across Puerto Rico, providing an additional $20 million in funding for humanitarian and relief efforts following Hurricanes Maria (2017) and Fiona (2022).

The Orlando Bravo Center for Economics Research at Brown University supports innovative research, training and collaborative projects for faculty and students in the Department of Economics. At Stanford Law School, Orlando created the Bravo Family Public Interest Post-Graduate Fellowship Fund to support students seeking full-time employment in public interest.

Orlando’s philanthropic interests also include causes in healthcare. He endowed faculty scholar and fellow positions at Stanford University’s Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research and supports a wide range of medical research. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Orlando is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Corporation of Brown University.


Founder’s Perspective: The Challenges and Opportunities in Launching a First-Time Fund

Founder's Panel

Moderated by Anastasia Titarchuk, CIO & Deputy Comptroller of the NYS Common Retirement Fund, this panel will feature a dynamic and candid conversation with founders across asset classes who have launched their first funds.

Lisa Melchoir, Vertu Capital Partners

Lisa Melchoir
Vertu Capital Partners

Kerstin Dittmar, L2 Point Management

Kerstin Dittmar
L2 Point Management

Jennifer (McElyea) Keith, Ethos Real Estate Partners

Jennifer Keith
Ethos Real Estate Partners

David Perez, Avance Investment Management

David Perez
Avance Investment Management

 

About the Panelists

Lisa Melchoir, Vertu Capital Partners

Lisa Melchior is the Founder and Managing Partner of Vertu Capital. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Vertu Capital is a private equity firm that invests in high potential global technology companies, with a focus on software and software enabled businesses. Vertu’s mission is to partner with management teams of market leading and scaling companies to accelerate and support the next stage in their growth journey. Vertu’s team brings decades of domain experience, best practices, actionable value creation strategies and a deep network to its portfolio investments. Vertu has offices in Toronto and Montreal.

Kerstin Dittmar, L2 Point Management

Kerstin Dittmar is the founder and Managing Partner of L2 Point Management, a Latina-owned manager focused on structured equity solutions for late-stage growth companies. L2 Point targets investments intended to provide “growth-equity-like” returns at a portfolio level, with significantly lower volatility of outcomes, while addressing a risk reward gap left in between credit and equity funds. L2 Point has approximately $400 million in AUM and has completed over $300 million of transactions since launching in 2019. Ms. Dittmar previously led the structured equity strategy for TPG Sixth Street Partners, a $70+ billion AUM special situations platform. Prior to TSSP, Ms. Dittmar worked in the Americas Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs.

Jennifer Keith, Ethos Real Estate Partners

Jennifer Keith is a Managing Partner with Ethos Real Estate and is responsible for investment strategy and execution. Jennifer’s career includes investment banking, private equity, distressed debt and public-private partnership experience. She also brings to Ethos a deep expertise in California public policy, land use, affordable housing and building political, community and financial stakeholder consensus.

Jennifer holds a Master of Real Estate Development from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German Literature from the University of Virginia. Jennifer is active in a number of leadership positions including Vice Chair of the ULI Public Private Partnership Council, Co-Chair of the LA Business Council Housing and Transportation Committee and member of the board of Coro Southern California and Mercy Housing California. Jennifer was also recently re-appointed by the California State Insurance Commissioner to serve as Vice Chair of the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) Advisory Board as an expert practitioner in the affordable housing space.

David Perez, Avance Investment Management

David Perez is a Co-founder and a Managing Partner of Avance Investment Management, LLC. Prior to founding Avance, Mr. Perez was the President and COO of Palladium Equity Partners. Prior to Palladium, Mr. Perez had several senior private equity roles, including Principal of General Atlantic Partners and Atlas Venture and Senior Associate of Chase Capital Partners. Mr. Perez started his career with James D. Wolfensohn and Co, focused on mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Perez earned his B.S. in Systems Engineering from Dresden University of Technology, a M. Eng. in Engineering Management from Cornell University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Perez is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Co-Chair of the Harvard University Cuba Studies Advisory Group, President of the Board of Trustees of Trinity School in New York City, and a longstanding board member and former President of the Board of Ballet Hispánico. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the NAIC. Mr. Perez lives in New York with his wife and three children.


Legal Panel: Approved for Investment, What's Next?

Legal Panel

Negotiating the legal documents to close your fund is an important beginning to your relationship with your investors. Seasoned private fund lawyers will engage in a GP/LP conversation focusing on some key terms for institutional investors, moderated by NYSCRF’s General Counsel. Panelists will also open it up to any questions attendees may have. Come to get a better understanding of issues from the LP perspective and submit any burning questions you may have in advance to [email protected], for an interactive dialogue.

Joyce Abernethy, General Counsel, New York State Common Retirement Fund

Joyce Abernethy, General Counsel
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Jon Jurva, ArentFox Schiff LLP

Jon K. Jurva, Partner
ArentFox Schiff LLP

Kimberly V. Mann, Shulman Rogers

Kimberly V. Mann, Shareholder
Shulman Rogers

 

About the Panelists

Moderator: Joyce Abernethy, New York State Common Retirement Fund

Joyce Abernethy oversees the day-to day work of investment, corporate governance and securities litigation attorneys and she manages outside investment counsel.  Joyce provides advice across the portfolio on investment negotiations, existing investments, new investment strategies and structures, as well as on the Fund’s ESG Strategy and related policies. In addition to serving as CRF’s fiduciary counsel, she regularly advises on compliance and regulatory matters.  

Jon K. Jurva, ArentFox Schiff LLP

Jon Jurva represents public pension plans, foundations, endowments, funds of funds, and other institutional investors in making venture capital, real estate, private equity, and hedge fund investments. In addition, Jon represents general partners in the formation and operation of a variety of private investment funds and funds of funds. During his work with general partners and limited partners, he has advised clients on numerous matters relating to the operation of private investment funds, including key person events, management transitions and other significant events.

Kimberly V. Mann, Shulman Rogers

Kimberly Mann is a Shareholder at Shulman Rogers, where she co-leads the investment funds practice. She represents institutional investors, corporations, family offices and high-net-worth individual investors in connection with investments in private investment funds, co-investments, direct investments and secondary transactions. She also represents fund sponsors, registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers, primarily in the middle market, on matters pertaining to fund formation and regulatory compliance.  


Letters of Support from Aligned Organizations


Emerging Manager Program Team

Sylvester McLearn

Sylvester McClearn
Director of Emerging Managers

Deborah A. Vélez Medenica

Deborah A. Vélez Medenica
Senior Investment Officer

Susana Callender

Susana Callender
Investment Operations Officer

 

Directions and Transportation


Hotels

Standard Hotel Rates


Contact

For conference inquiries, email [email protected].