Michele Giddens OBE Co-Founder and Partner Bridges Fund Management

Michele co-founded Bridges in 2002 alongside Philip Newborough and Sir Ronald Cohen. As a partner, she focuses on strategy, investor relations, public affairs and social impact assessment.

Michele has played a key role in the growth of the impact investing movement in the UK. She was an adviser to the UK Treasury’s Social Investment Task Force and chaired the Community Development Finance Association from 2003-2005. More recently, she chaired the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing, part of the Global Social Impact Investment Steering Group, from 2016-18. She sits on the BVCA Council, and is a Non-Executive Director on the board of CDC, the UK Government’s Development Finance Institution.

Michele has over 25 years of international development and social finance experience. She began her career with International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, where she ran small business lending programmes in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and advised on microfinance in Bangladesh, the Middle East and Mongolia. She subsequently spent eight years with Shorebank Corporation, one of the leading community development banks in the USA.

Michele has a BA Honours in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She was recently awarded an OBE for services to international development and social finance in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Nicky Morgan, MP Chair of Treasury Select Committee

Nicky Morgan, born in 1972, stood as the Conservative Candidate for Loughborough at the 2005 General Election and again in 2010, when she was first elected to Parliament to be Loughborough’s voice in Westminster.

She has been married to Jonathan, an architect and Councillor for the Loughborough Outwoods Ward, since July 2000 and they have a son who was born in 2008.

Nicky studied law at Oxford University. She worked as a solicitor specialising in Corporate Law advising a range of private and public companies from 1994 till her election in 2010.

Nicky previously served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities (2014 - 16); Financial Secretary to the Treasury (2014); Minister for Women (2014); Economic Secretary to the Treasury (2013 - 14); an Assistant Government Whip (2012 - 13); and the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Rt Hon. David Willetts MP, Cabinet Minister for Universities and Science (2010 - 12).

Nicky was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Loughborough in the 2015 and 2017 General Elections and, in July 2017, she was elected by MPs on all sides of the House of Commons as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.

She is the author of ‘Taught not Caught: Educating for Character in the 21st Century.’

Frode Odegard Chairman & CEO Post-Lean Institute

Frode is a thought leader in next-generation,post-industrial management science. His major focus is on how corporates, investors and policymakers can best navigate humanity’s transition to a post-industrial civilization and economy. A serial entrepreneur since his high school years, Frode’s multi-disciplinary background stretches from theoretical computer science to the boardroom. He has a deep background in organizational design and a passion for history, linguistics, disruptive technologies, and philosophy. When not at work on post-industrial management tools, he can be found in the dojo practicing traditional Iwama style Aikido.

Nicolas Schellenberg Head of EMEA PE & VC Research Cambridge Associates

Nicolas is a senior investment director at Cambridge Associates and is based in the firm’s London office. He heads the ex-US private equity and venture capital research team in Europe and is responsible for performing due diligence on private equity and venture capital opportunities in Europe as well as across some emerging markets, including Latin-America and Africa.

Before Nicolas joined Cambridge Associates, he worked at Macquarie Investment Management, in the Private Equity Fund of Funds team in London, where his responsibilities included the due diligence and quantitative analysis of primary, secondary and co-investments, as well as portfolio management. Prior to this, Nicolas was with the Merger & Acquisition Advisory Teams of Lazard & Co. and ABN AMRO in London. He also worked at the life insurance company Deutsche Herold Lebensversicherung AG in Bonn, Germany.

Education

MBA, University of Cologne

Check Warner Co-Founder and CEO Diversity VC

Francesca (known as Check) is the co-founder and CEO of Diversity VC, a non-profit made up of interested individuals working in venture capital, who seek to increase diversity of thought in the venture and tech industry. As well as producing content, running training for VCs, events for founders and an internship programme, Diversity VC publishes original data on the state of diversity in the technology and VC industry, including the first-ever study on the number of Women in VC in 2017. Diversity VC has been featured in the Financial Times, The Sunday Times and was highlighted by the Chancellor in the UK Government Budget 2017. Francesca is also a seed investor focused on investing in overlooked entrepreneurs. She’s worked at Seraphim Capital, Downing Ventures and TechStars. She graduated from Cambridge and worked in advertising before joining the VC industry. Francesca was named 35 Under 35 in Management Today 2018 and Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in 2019.

David Wilton CEO Zheng Partners, LLC

David is an experienced investor with an exceptional track record in investing with a double-bottom-line and successfully pioneering investment programs in Investing with Impact and Emerging Market Private Equity.

Zheng Partners consults on Private Equity in Emerging Markets, Impact Investing and ESG to a range of International Organizations and Funds and is developing an open source methodology which will enable investors to increase the Impact profile of their portfolios while maintaining return and risk targets. 

Prior to forming Zheng Partners David was Managing Director and Head of Impact Investing at Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners where he created the Integro Impact Fund which as of September 2018 had a gross IRR of 17.3% over the three years since its first close and job growth of 12% CAGR.   Before joining Morgan Stanley David was Chief Investment Officer and Manager, Global Private Equity for the International Finance Corporation. David was the initial Manager of the Funds Group at its inception in 2000. At the time he left IFC in 2014 the funds’ portfolio was generating a net IRR of 19.3% since 2000 and job growth in the portfolio was running at over 15% CAGR. While at IFC David was also Acting CEO of the IFC Asset Management Company during its establishment phase and a member of the Pension Finance Committee of the World Bank Group, with oversight of the management of the World Bank Pension Fund.

David is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Emerging Market Private Equity Association. David was a member of the G8 Working Group on Impact Investing.

Anamica Broetz Head of Business Development & Strategy | Private Equity DWS

Anamica Broetz leads the Business Development & Strategy function for DWS Private Equity to develop the team’s business plans, deal origination and marketing strategy. She liaises with DWS’s distribution teams to manage the processes for fund offerings (including co-investments) and structuring. She leads all aspects of limited partner due diligence to drive successful conversions during fundraising. Anamica brings over 20 years of experience in equity research, investment banking and PE at Deutsche Bank M&A, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Flemings and Peregrine Capital prior to joining DWS Private Equity in 2010. She speaks German and holds a Masters in Finance from Delhi University and a BA (Honors) degree in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce of Delhi University.

Natasha Buckley Head of Private Equity Programme Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

Natasha joined the PRI in 2011. She is responsible for the PRI’s work in private equity, through which the PRI acts as a global platform to understand and share good practice, develop reporting practices and establish LP-GP alignment on expectations around responsible investment. During her time at PRI, Natasha has produced the General Partner’s guide, the Limited Partners’ Responsible Investment Due Diligence Questionnaire, guidance on fund terms and on ESG monitoring, reporting and dialogue.

Before joining the responsible investment industry, Natasha held roles at UBS, the NHS and Simmons & Simmons (Paris). Natasha has an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, a BA in History from University College London and has completed the University of Oxford Private Equity Programme at the Saïd Business School, under Professor Tim Jenkinson.

Annemarie Dalka Head of Private Equity Fund Investments Polish Development Fund (PFR)

Annemarie is an Investment Director with the Polish Development Fund group, where she is responsible for investments in the Private Equity funds and international relations.

Prior to her current role, Annemarie spent six years working at the BNP Paribas group in London - in its Asset Management arm and at the Investment Bank. Annemarie holds a Masters degree in Strategic Management from Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland.

Tim Flower Managing Director HarbourVest

Tim Flower joined HarbourVest in 2008 to focus on European secondary investments. In 2010, he transferred to the Hong Kong office to establish and manage the secondary platform in the Asia Pacific region. Tim has led the Firm’s secondary investment efforts in Asia and has helped HarbourVest establish an exceptional reputation for completing complex transactions in Asia and the emerging markets. Tim also supports HarbourVest’s investor relations in Asia. He serves on the advisory boards of funds managed by Asia Growth Capital Advisors, Absa Capital Private Equity Partners, NewQuest Capital Advisors, and RMB Capital Partners.

Tim joined HarbourVest from Bridgepoint in London, and his prior experience includes positions with MCF Corporate Finance, Nordea Securities, and Ernst & Young, where he received his ACA certification.

Tim graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham in 1997 and speaks conversational Danish.

Neil Harper Senior Advisor and Investor

Mr. Harper was previously Chief Investment Officer of the AIP Private Markets team and based in London. He has 28 years of relevant industry experience. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley Investment Management, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company operating in Europe, North America and Asia providing consulting services to corporate and private equity clients on strategy, performance improvement, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Previously, he worked for Arthur Andersen providing audit, corporate finance and financial advisory services. Mr. Harper received an M.A. with first class honors in economics and accounting from the University of Edinburgh and an M.B.A. with honors in finance and strategy from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.

Patrick Knechtli Head of Secondaries Aberdeen Standard Investments

Based in Edinburgh, Patrick heads up the secondaries team of Aberdeen Standard Investments, is a voting member of ASI’s private equity investment committee, and is involved across the private markets activities of the firm. He joined predecessor firm SL Capital Partners in 2009, which then merged with Aberdeen Asset Management’s private markets business in 2017.  Prior to joining SL Capital, Patrick spent eight years at Coller Capital in London, where he worked on numerous secondary portfolio transactions. His early career consisted of seven years in investment banking, first at Baring Brothers and then at ABN Amro Corporate Finance. Patrick has a MA (Hons) in Modern Languages from the University of Exeter and is fluent in French and Spanish.

Serge Koniski Director Northleaf Capital

Serge participates in all aspects of Northleaf’s private markets investment activities, with a focus on the origination, evaluation and monitoring of private equity secondary investments.

Prior to joining Northleaf in 2012, Serge was an Associate with the Energy and Power investment banking team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London. Previously, Serge worked in the Emerging Markets investment banking division at Citigroup in London, where he focused on transactions across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

Serge received a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) from McGill University and an M.Sc. in Business Administration from HEC School of Management in Paris.

Jean-Marc Patouillaud Co-Managing Partner Partech

Jean-Marc is Co-Managing Partner at Partech, also responsible for the early stage fund. He joined in 1996.

Prior to joining Partech, Jean-Marc was a partner at Finovelec, a Paris based venture capital firm and managed Genèse Investissements, the first French seed capital fund. He started his career as an engineer with Cegelec and worked in the Nuclear Power Plant division.

Jean-Marc currently serves on the board of Alltricks, DayUse, Happytal, Novasparks, Sensee, Sigfox and Privitar.

He has a long track record of successful exits including IPOs with Lannet (GIAN), RadVision (RVSN), ALLOT (ALLT), Buongiorno (BGN.MI), and Alvarion (ALVR) and trade sales with Fluxus (acq. by British Telecom), Digitick (acq. by Vivendi), ISDNet (acq. by Cable and Wireless), Jungo (acq. by NTS), Jobpartners (acq. by ORCL), Apogee (acq. by Colt), LaFourchette (acq by TRIP) and Teads (acquired by Altice).

He earned an MBA from HEC and an MS in Engineering from SUPELEC both in Paris. Married, with three children, Jean-Marc lives in Versailles. He has sailed on most of the oceans, is a Commander of the French navy and has climbed numerous peaks in the Andes, the Cascade Mountains, the Tetons, and the Alps. He is also an avid cave explorer and flies every week over the Vallee de Chevreuse.

Cai Rees Director SEI

Cai Rees serves as a Client Investment Strategist for the Advisory Team within our Institutional Group. He works very closely with our Portfolio Managers and Research Analysts and is responsible for representing and communicating our market insights, investment ideas, and investment philosophy to investors.

Cai brings a wealth of experience to his role, most recently as head of Investment Strategy at Deloitte, where he was responsible for providing investment strategy advice to trustees and companies. Prior to joining Deloitte, Cai spent two years working at the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), where he was an Asset Liability Specialist and deputy head of Investment Risk. During his career, Cai has also held investment research and consulting positions at BlackRock and Mercer Investment Consulting.

Master of Science in Physics, with First Class Honours, University of Bristol CFA Charterholder, CFA Institute.

Narcisa Sehovic Managing Director, The Private Equity Funds Investment Team Hayfin

Ms. Sehovic is a Managing Director within the Private Equity Funds Investment Team at Hayfin.

Prior to joining Hayfin, Ms. Sehovic was a senior investment portfolio manager and an investment committee member of the European private equity business at Standard Life Aberdeen where she was responsible for private equity primary, secondary and co-investments, portfolio monitoring and client management. Before Standard Life Aberdeen, Ms. Sehovic was part of the investment banking team at Goldman Sachs in London and SG Cowen in New York.

Ms. Sehovic holds a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a BS in Finance and Marketing from the University of Denver.

Laura Shen Lefranc Co-founder and Partner Headway Capital Partners

Laura Shen Lefranc is a partner and co-founder of Headway Capital Partners, a London based private equity secondaries firm with advised funds of over €700 million. Prior to co-founding Headway in early 2004, Laura and her two partners were part of the investment team at secondaries firm Coller Capital. Laura has an MBA from Harvard Business School and her prior experience also includes positions in private equity and investment banking with Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs.

William van Eersteren Managing Director Wilshire Private Markets

William E. van Eesteren is a managing director and member of the management committee for Wilshire Private Markets and is a member of Wilshire’s Board of Directors.  He is co-responsible for Wilshire Private Markets’ activities in Europe.  He also serves as a director for Wilshire Associates Europe B.V.  Mr. van Eesteren received an MSc degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Prior to joining Wilshire, Mr. van Eesteren worked in investment banking, most recently as Vice President with ING Barings. He also previously held positions with NationsBank and Bank of America in London.