2024 WSB Private Capital Conference
Friday, November 15 | 9:00am – 3:00pm
Over the past two decades, private capital has experienced significant growth and transformation, driven by increasing global demand for alternative investments. Private equity, venture capital, and private credit have expanded as investors seek higher returns and diversification outside of traditional public markets. Institutional investors, such as pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, have poured capital into private markets, fueling the rise of mega-funds and expanding investment into sectors like technology, healthcare, and infrastructure. Regulatory changes, increased access to technology, and a shift toward more flexible capital structures have also played a key role, enabling private capital firms to take a more active role in company growth and operational improvements. As a result, private capital has become a more prominent and influential part of the global financial ecosystem.
The First Annual WSB Private Capital Conference
WSB is honored to host the 2024 Private Capital Conference on November 15. This gathering of top industry experts will explore the sectors of private equity, private credit, and venture capital. Please join us as we discuss the latest sector insights and trends with industry leaders.
Keynote and Featured Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Gordon Pan, President, Baird Capital
Gordon is the President of Baird Capital. In this capacity, Gordon oversees the strategic, operational and organizational activities for Baird’s direct private investment business. In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the Investment Committee for Baird Capital’s venture and global private equity funds.
Prior to joining Baird, he served as a principal with One Equity Partners. Gordon was also the founder and CEO of The Pangaea Group, an international consulting firm, that specialized in assisting the portfolio companies of private equity firms to establish strategic alliances in China.
Gordon currently serves on Baird’s Executive Committee as well as the advisory boards for Team IMPACT and the Private Equity Alumni Council (PEAC) at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Gordon earned a B.A. in Economics and Asian studies from Colgate University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with a concentration in finance and management strategy.
Andy Cantwell, CEO and Managing Partner, Carlson Private Capital Partners
Andy launched the Carlson Private Capital platform for the Carlson family in late 2018. He has spent over twenty-seven years as an investor in the private investment industry; primarily focused on private equity and family capital investing. Prior to leading Carlson Private Capital, Andy was Partner at Norwest Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm headquartered in Minneapolis that has raised over $7.0 billion in capital. Andy has worked closely with founders, management teams and served on numerous boards of private companies across a variety of industries including industrial, distribution, consumer, building products, and business and tech-enabled services. Andy worked earlier in his career at Northwestern Mutual Capital and ABN AMRO. Andy graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Leon Chen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Composition Capital
Leon Chen is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Composition Capital. Prior to co-founding Composition Capital, Leon was Managing Partner at Kayne Anderson. Over the course of approximately 12 years, Leon helped grow the Growth Capital Strategy at Kayne Anderson to $1.3 billion of assets under management across six funds.
Prior to joining Kayne Anderson in 2012, Leon was the Director of Business Development at Relativity Media, a film financing and production company based in Los Angeles. Prior to that, Leon held positions at Clarity Partners, a Los Angeles-based middle market private equity firm and at Citigroup in the investment banking division in New York. While at Clarity Partners and Citigroup, Leon focused on transactions in the media, telecommunications, and business services industries. Leon earned a B.B.A in Finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Leon grew up in Appleton, WI and lived in New York prior to settling in Los Angeles with his family.
In his free time, Leon enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, tending to his home and office plants, and spending time thinking about how to better optimize airport logistics.
Joe Coyne, Managing Partner, Studio VC
Prior to joining Studio VC as Managing Partner, Joe Coyne helped build Samsung Next’s Venture Capital team in New York City. While at Samsung, Joe performed all aspects of deal sourcing, diligence and negotiation, with a focus on early and growth stage software and deep tech investments. During his tenure at Samsung, Joe’s initial investments realized two exits, Automated Insights sold to Vista Equity backed STATS Inc. and LoopPay was sold to Samsung Electronics to create the technical backbone for Samsung Pay.
In 2009, Joe joined Bain Capital Ventures Investments in Boston, Massachusetts. While at Bain Capital, Joe worked on both early-stage and growth-equity investments in a variety of industries, including business services, consumer technology, marketing services, eCommerce and digital media. He also worked closely with numerous portfolio companies on strategic planning, business development and company exits.
Earlier in his career, Joe worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Merrill Lynch in New York, where he advised clients across diverse industries on a variety of strategic and financial transactions.
Joe received his B.B.A. from University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where his studies concentrated on investments, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Steve Farsht, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Corazon Capital
Steve Farsht co-founded Corazon Capital in 2013 and is one of its Managing Directors. He co-ran Techstars Chicago from 2013 to 2014 and served as a Board Member from 2013 to 2017.
Previously, Steve served as a General Partner with Norwest Equity Partners. From 1998 to 2007, he invested $280 million of equity in thirteen management buyouts, recapitalizations, and growth capital investments across a breadth of industries. Steve also supported his platform companies in completing nine add-on acquisitions. In addition, he served on seven boards and led the sale of several companies to strategic and financial buyers.
Steve transitioned out of his private equity career in 2007 by taking on the CEO role of NEP portfolio company DCM Services. In that role, he led the creation of the company’s vision, strategy, and core values. Steve also retooled the management team and restructured operations while growing market share by almost 80 percent over his four-year tenure. Earlier in his career, Steve spent four years at Arthur Andersen from 1992 to 1996 as a senior auditor and M&A due diligence consultant; he currently maintains his CPA Inactive designation.
Steve has earned recognition as a member of Crain’s Chicago “Tech 50.” He holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he served as a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and a BA in Accountancy from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Darryl Lewis, Operating Partner, Banneker Partners
Darryl Lewis is an Operating Partner at Banneker Partners, focusing on driving operational excellence and value creation. Mr. Lewis was previously the Chief Technology Officer at STATS, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company. Prior to STATS, he was the Managing Director of Product & Technology for Vista Equity Partners, where he led technology due diligence and portfolio-wide value creation, collaborating closely with management teams to implement best practices across Vista’s entire portfolio of companies, including Websense, Tibco, Mitratech, Lanyon, DealerSocket, ACTIVE Network, Omnitracs, Newscycle (now Naviga), Aptean, Greenway, Social Solutions, and STATS.
Mr. Lewis started his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a software engineer, and spent the bulk of his career at Microsoft where he was a development lead on Excel, a program management leader on Encarta and MSN, the lead for a Microsoft cable television joint venture, and a member of the founding team for the Xbox. Mr. Lewis holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin and is currently a board member for the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is also a board director of N-able, Inc. (NABL) and chairman of the N-able cybersecurity committee. Mr. Lewis resides in Seattle with his wife and three sons.
Emmett McCann, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Portfolio Manager, Duration Capital Partners
Mr. McCann is the Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Portfolio Manager of Duration Capital Partners. Prior to founding Duration in 2024, he worked at Oaktree Capital and Highstar Capital. During his career, Emmett has helped lead several major public-private partnerships, including the 40-year lease of the Luis Munoz Marin Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the 50-year lease and concession agreement at the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining Highstar in 2009, Mr. McCann helped build Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure effort in Europe and North America. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was part of the team that established the infrastructure investment banking practice at Goldman Sachs. He currently serves on the board of directors of Ports America. Emmett holds a B.A. degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA. with honors from the University of Chicago. He is also a member of the board of Youth, Inc., a leading non-profit focused on building organizations that help children in New York City thrive.
Craig S. Munro, Managing Director and Head of Sponsor Fund Lending, Bank of Montreal (“BMO”)
After a banking career spanning 41-years and three money center banks, Craig Munro retired from Bank of Montreal on May 10, 2024. For the last 19 years, Craig led BMO’s Sponsor Fund Lending (SFL) business, growing it from modest beginnings to a market leader and significant contributor to BMO’s Commercial Bank. Growth of the business was achieved despite some turbulent times including the Great Recession of 2008 and the more recent collapse of some regional bank competitors in 2023.
Craig joined BMO’s Financial Sponsors Group in 2002 as head of portfolio management. At that time, BMO provided both fund lending for PE funds and leveraged lending for their portfolio companies out of the same group. In 2005, he was asked to lead a newly formed Sponsor Fund Lending team to focus on fund lending as a stand-alone business.
Prior to joining BMO, Craig was a Managing Director at Bank of America (1994-2002), Head of Portfolio Management for Bank of America’s Lease Finance Group. He previously held various positions at Continental Bank (1982-1994), acquired by BofA in 1994, including Team Leader, Asset Based Lending and Surface Transportation Group.
Prior to Craig’s retirement he served on the Investment Committee for BMO’s Community Capital Solutions team, approving equity investments in SBIC licensed PE funds, as a Director of BMO PE U.S., and, briefly served as Chairman of BMO Harris Financing Inc. His expertise in private equity has made him a subject matter expert. He has periodically been a guest lecturer on the topic of Private Equity at DePaul University.
Scott Parrish, Head of Private Equity, State of Wisconsin Investment Board
Scott joined the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (“SWIB”) in 2005 and has over 29 years of experience working in Private Equity. SWIB is one of the largest U.S. Pension Funds with over $150 billion in assets. Scott leads the Private Equity portfolio, with a market value of over $22 billion. Prior to joining SWIB, Scott was a Private Equity Investment Officer for the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, where he spent ten years. Scott received a B.S. in Finance, cum laude, from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA from the University of Illinois.
Nate Raulin, Managing Director, Freeport Financial
Mr. Raulin is responsible for sourcing, structuring, and managing middle-market debt investments for the Freeport loan funds.
Prior to joining Freeport Financial LLC in 2017, Mr. Raulin spent five years with Excellere Partners where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring, and executing recapitalization transactions with entrepreneurs. Prior to his role at Excellere, Mr. Raulin spent seven years with GE Capital where he was responsible for underwriting and managing senior debt facilities in leveraged transactions.
Mr. Raulin holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Michael Skelly, Managing Director, Lexington Partners
Michael Skelly is a Managing Director of Lexington Partners primarily engaged in the evaluation of secondary purchases of private equity and alternative investments.
Prior to joining Lexington in 2010, Mr. Skelly worked at Brevan Howard and prior to that he was an analyst in investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Skelly graduated from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) with a B.B.A. in finance and political science.
Todd Speece, Managing Director, Head of VC Coverage, Citi Technology Investment Banking
Todd covers venture capital funds for Citi where his team creates, invests in, grows, finances and advises emerging technology companies across the globe. Mr. Speece brings Citi’s global ecosystem to venture capital funds and their portfolio companies which includes global banking, capital markets, M&A advice, lending, IT spend, and access to the Citi IT ecosystem (50,000 engineers, 40+ innovation labs & centers of excellence, three venture capital funds, and hundreds of portfolio companies).
Prior to Citi and over the last 27+ years in Silicon Valley, Todd has been fortunate to work in the leading technology investment banking groups (from Goldman Sachs to Thomas Weisel Partners) and also fortunate to work with the world’s preeminent emerging technology companies across their entire life cycle, including start-up capital, growth capital, pre-IPO financings, IPOs, direct listings, SPACs, follow-on offerings, block trades, convertible debt, leveraged finance, take-private financings, raid and activism defense, and mergers & acquisitions.
Matthew Teichner, Managing Director, Co-Head of Golub Capital Credit Opportunities
Mr. Teichner joined Golub Capital in 2015 and is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Golub Capital Credit Opportunities. He was previously a Managing Director on the Capital Markets team. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. Teichner was in the Financial Sponsors group at Deutsche Bank, where he covered large cap and middle market private equity clients across various products, including debt, equity and M&A. He was responsible for transaction origination and execution, with a significant focus on leveraged finance. Mr. Teichner earned his B.B.A. degree with honors in Finance, Investment and Banking from The University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Colin Vick, Managing Director, Blue Owl
Colin Vick is a Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Institutional Business Development Team. In his role, Colin focuses on North American institutions and consultants.
Before joining Blue Owl, Colin was a Director at GoldenTree Asset Management, a credit firm based in New York, where he worked with U.S. and Canadian institutions and family offices. Prior to that, he was an Associate at Blackstone in the Hedge Funds Solutions Group (BAAM).
Colin received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Craig Waslin, CFA, Partner, Co-Investments, Adams Street Partners
Craig has a specific focus on leveraged buyout co-investments. In this role he is involved in the sourcing, screening, execution, monitoring, and exiting of leveraged buyout co-investments.
Before joining Adams Street, he was a Partner at PPM America Capital Partners, LLC, Director of Private Equity at Frye-Louis Capital Advisors, LLC, and an Associate at Heller Financial. He began his financial services career at Arthur Andersen LLP as a Senior Auditor.
Mr. Waslin received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. He is also a member of Adams Street’s Co-Investment Committee and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. Craig also serves on the Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC Board.
Agenda and Venue
| Time | Session |
| Morning Session: | |
| 9:00 am – 9:15 am | Opening Remarks |
| 9:15 am – 9:45 am | Keynote |
| 10:00 am – 10:45 am | The State of Private Equity Markets |
| 11:00 am – 11:45 am | Growth of Private Credit |
| Afternoon Session: | |
| 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm | VC in an Era of Continuous Innovation |
| 2:15 pm – 3:00 pm | Interactions Across the Private Capital Ecosystem |
The event will be held in the Plenary Room (1st floor) at Grainger Hall – home of the Wisconsin School of Business.
Registration
Please use the button at the top of this page to register for the conference. Note that you may register to attend: (i) both the morning and afternoon sessions (recommended), (ii) the morning session (Keynote, Private Equity, and Private Credit), or (iii) the afternoon session (Venture Capital and Private Capital Ecosystem).
Sponsors
The 2024 WSB Private Capital Conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin School of Business Department of Finance, Investment, and Banking and the Wisconsin Private Equity Club.
