Shape the future for private fund CFOs and COOs
The Private Funds CFO Network’s West Coast Forum connected peers with private funds finance and operational leaders on the West Coast. They discussed key topics that impacted CFO and COO roles and built valuable relationships.
Buy your Private Funds CFO Network membership today and join us at the next West Coast Forum.
Bring your team of senior executives and save at the next West Coast Forum | CPE credits will be available
2023’s West Coast Forum’s keynote speakers
Kesha Cash
General Partner
Impact America Fund
Keynote speaker Kesha Cash, discussed Impact America Fund’s investment strategy, historic fundraise, and vision for growth. She also discussed market trends, economic and political factors, and operating environment for private markets in the next 12 months.
Fred Ebrahemi
Chief Operating Officer, Partner, and General Counsel
Clearlake Capital Group
Day 2 keynote speaker, Fred Ebrahemi discussed his experiences as Clearlake grew from $1B vs. $70B AUM. He shared tips for managing through growth, where they struggled as they grew, what he wished he’d know while they were scaling, and what successes he was most proud of.
Why West Coast Forum?
Expand your network with West Coast peers
Connect with the elite crowd of private fund CFOs and COOs in designated networking sessions and small group meetings to discuss common challenges and best solutions that help improve finance and operations efficiency.
Understand what matters most to your role
Gain actionable insight at sessions targeted to your firm size and role. Join senior finance and operations professionals to explore the best solutions that talk directly to your unique circumstances.
Year-round intelligence and networking
Secure your Private Funds CFO Network membership to attend the West Coast Forum and stay connected year-round with peers you meet at the conference. Learn more.
2023 agenda highlights
The 2023 agenda was built through consultation with influential leaders within the private equity CFO & COO community. The topics covered provide relevant information to impact processes and practices within firms, such as:
- Maintaining LP relationships: how to fundraise when you’re not fundraising
- Assembling a robust technology infrastructure
- The dynamic challenges of fund finance amidst bank turmoil and a high interest rate environment
- Building top tier finance teams: aligning skillsets and compensation in today’s labor market
- Managing through growth & scaling firm operations
2023 Featured speakers
2023 attendees included:
What our attendees say about the West Coast Forum
Kristine O'Connor
Franklin Park
The Forum is consistently the best conference for finance professionals in the private equity industry! Meaningful content, knowledgeable speakers and ample net…
Joseph Riley
Psilos Group
This is the premier event for CFOs and COOs in private equity. I love the ability to see/hear peers and industry leaders in one event
Jesse M Burwell
RLJ Equity Partners LLC
The event is great for networking and discussing and discovering best practices for PE CFOs.
2024 agenda
Download the 2023 agenda to get a glimpse of what the Forum will look like. If you are interested in a speaking role for 2024, please contact Nikki Gale at Nikki.g@pei.group.
Pre-Event Resources
2023 Speakers
Contact Nikki Gale at Nikki.g@pei.group for speaking opportunities in 2024.
Shiraz Allidina
Managing Director, Citco Capital Solutions, Citco Fund Services
Shiraz Allidina is a Managing Director at Citco Capital Solutions, where he advises and lends to alternative investment funds. He has over 25 years of finance and investing experience as both a principal and advisor. Most recently, he was an Advisor… Read full bio
Chris Aronis
Chief Revenue Officer, Drawbridge
As Chief Revenue Officer, Chris Aronis is tasked with leading the Drawbridge sales, account management and business development teams to accelerate the company’s global growth, enhance client service and evolve its go-to-market strategy. He brings ne… Read full bio
Ken Aseme
CFO, MaC Venture Capital
Ken Aseme is a highly experienced executive specializing in financial accounting and operations. With a career spanning over 20 years, he has accumulated extensive expertise in investment accounting, particularly in the domains of Private Equity and… Read full bio
Brandon Baudin
Chief Financial Officer, The Sterling Group
Brandon joined Sterling in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for all financial management aspects of the firm, as well as advising the firm’s portfolio company CFOs on certain financial issues and transactions. Previously, Brandon wa… Read full bio
Graham Bippart
Editor, Private Funds CFO & Private Equity International
Graham Bippart is a financial journalist with more than a decade of experience across a broad swath of the international financial markets. Beginning his journalistic career covering commercial real estate securitization markets for Euromoney Institu… Read full bio
Tim Buchner
COO of Alpha for Private Markets, State Street
Tim Buchner is co-founder of Mercatus and COO of State Street Alpha for Private Markets. During his 20+ year career, Tim has helped both start-up and public companies to disrupt and create new markets and drive profitable growth, with leadership role… Read full bio
Steve Bullock
VP of Financial Services, Kyriba
Steve is currently VP, Financial Services at Kyriba. He has in excess of 35 years in treasury and finance, and has experience of working in both European and North American geographies. Steve's background in finance, focused on liquidity management a… Read full bio
Carolyn Campbell
Managing Partner and COO, Emerging Capital Partners
Carolyn Campbell is an experienced executive and board director with over 25 years of investing in tech-enabled energy, financial services, and consumer/logistics businesses. Ms. Campbell is a managing partner of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), a pr… Read full bio
Kesha Cash
General Partner, Impact America Fund
Kesha is a General Partner at Impact America Fund, a venture firm with $177M of AUM dedicated to investing in founders disrupting injustices at the heart of billion dollar industries. Impact America’s mission is to increase economic power for margina… Read full bio
Adam Childers
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Compliance Officer, Quad-C Management, Inc.
Adam Childers joined Quad-C Management in 2022 as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer and is responsible for managing Quad-C's financial operations including fund administration, accounting and financial reporting, tax, financial… Read full bio
Ben Collins
Senior Director, Financial Services Industries Marketing, Sage
Ben serves as the Senior Director of Industry Marketing at Sage, where he focuses on driving growth in the Financial Services segment. Prior to Sage, Ben was the Senior Director of Product Marketing at SS&C Intralinks, a SaaS provider of collabor… Read full bio
Larry Cook
Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Finance, Flourish Ventures
As Head of Global Finance & Operations, Larry directs Flourish Ventures’ investment process, finance, portfolio management, technology, and facilities. Since the launch of the firm’s evergreen fund in 2019, he has built Flourish’s finance and ope… Read full bio
Amanda Coussens
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, P10
Amanda serves as the Firm's Chief Financial Officer. She is responsible for managing the Firm's financial operations, reporting and cash management. Amanda has been in asset management for over 15 years serving in Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compl… Read full bio
Louis Crasto
Sr. Director, RSM
Louis Crasto is a national co-leader for RSM US LLP's fund administration practice (RSM Fund Services+). He brings over 20 years of senior executive experience in the alternative asset industry, including 10 years as a chief financial officer for var… Read full bio
Jackie Dao
CFO, Reach Capital
Jackie Dao, CPA joined Reach Capital as CFO in March 2021. Jackie manages all non-investment functions of the firm and its funds, spanning fundraising, treasury, portfolio valuations, investor relations, and annual tax/audit processes. She also overs… Read full bio
Jamison Davis, CFA
Chief Financial Officer, Bow River Capital
Jamison "Jamie" Davis is Chief Financial Officer at Bow River Capital. He has more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience. Prior to joining Bow River Capital, Jamie was Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis at SFC Energy Partn… Read full bio
Mike Derrick
Chief Financial Officer, ACME Capital
Mike Derrick is the Chief Financial Officer for ACME. Prior to ACME, Mike served as CFO at Sherpa Capital. He previously held a similar role Trident Capital which, together with spin-out funds Sunstone Partners and ForgePoint Capital, managed active… Read full bio
Simba Dutt-Mazumdar
Managing Director - Accounting & Reporting Advisory, Stout
Simba Dutt-Mazumdar is a Managing Director in the Finance Integration practice of the Transaction Advisory group. He has over 18 years of experience assisting companies across many industries and of different sizes, navigating complex liquidity event… Read full bio
Fred Ebrahemi
Chief Operating Officer, Partner, and General Counsel, Clearlake Capital Group
Fred Ebrahemi is a Partner, Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel at Clearlake Capital. Clearlake is an investment firm operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit, and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approac… Read full bio
Cesar Estrada
Private Markets Segment Head, Arcesium
Cesar Estrada is the Private Markets Segment Head at Arcesium, a financial technology providing data-centric cloud-based solutions to alternative investment managers. Previously Mr. Estrada was Senior Managing Director and Alternatives Segment Head f… Read full bio
Paul Fielding
Chief Operating Officer, General Catalyst
Paul Fielding is the Chief Operating Officer at General Catalyst. Prior to joining GC, Paul served as Vice President of Products, Pricing, and Risk at SoFi. Paul was responsible for financial product design, loan features, and daily pricing for the c… Read full bio
Gadi Gefen
Chief Financial Officer, Next47
Gadi Gefen is the chief financial officer at global venture firm Next47. His primary responsibilities are financial reporting, portfolio management and finance and tax operation and oversee the firm’s financial strategy, policies and procedures. Sinc… Read full bio
Michaele Gobel
CFO, Equilibrium Capital
As Equilibrium’s Chief Financial Officer, Michaele Gobel is responsible for all the company’s financial operations functions, including planning and analysis, accounting, audit, tax, treasury, and corporate finance. She is also responsible for the fi… Read full bio
Elise Gray
Head of CFO & Accounting Service Delivery, IQEQ
Elise Gray is the Head of CFO & Accounting Service Delivery at IQEQ. In her 5-year tenure, she has served as an Outsourced CFO for 25+ Asset Managers ranging in AUM from 30M to 11B across Hedge Funds, Fund of Funds, Private Equity and Venture Cap… Read full bio
Adam Handlos
Chief Financial Officer, Galvanize Climate Solutions
Adam is the Chief Financial Officer at Galvanize Climate Solutions. He has a proven record of rapidly growing and scaling newly launched investment firms and has extensive experience in alternative investment management. Adam was the Chief Financial… Read full bio
John Herr
Chief Financial Officer, Francisco Partners
John Herr is the Chief Financial Officer of Francisco Partners, responsible for all finance, accounting and tax matters for the firm and its private equity funds. Prior to joining Francisco Partners in 2009, John was the Controller and Chief Complian… Read full bio
Ted Hill
General Partner and Chief Financial Officer, B Capital Group
Ted Hill is a General Partner and the Chief Financial Officer at B Capital. He is responsible for leading the Finance and Portfolio Analytics teams and collaborates with the Partnership in other areas as needed. Ted is based in B Capital’s Los Angele… Read full bio
Stella Ho
Partner, CFO & CCO, LightBay Capital
Stella Ho is a Partner at LightBay and serves as CFO and CCO, with responsibilities including accounting and finance, compliance, information technology, and human resources. Ms. Ho has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.… Read full bio
Frank Hodas
Senior Vice President – Finance, Paladin Capital Group
Frank Hodas has worked with Paladin Capital Group since 2005 scaling the operations team as the firm has grown and expanded. He is responsible for overseeing all accounting, reporting, and fund administration functions for the firm and its affiliates… Read full bio
Chris Iorillo
Chief Financial, Legal & Compliance Officer, Freeman Spogli
Chris Iorillo joined Freeman Spogli in 2021 and serves as the firm’s Chief Financial, Legal and Compliance Officer. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Iorillo served in a number of financial and legal capacities at Platinum Equity, Variant Equity and Cou… Read full bio
Priya Iyer
Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Concertiv
Priya is a proven, high-growth entrepreneurial CEO with demonstrated success in scaling industry leading SaaS software platforms and delivering exceptional stakeholder value. She was awarded New England Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014; ranked on the… Read full bio
Brent Kelley
CFO and CCO, North Hudson Resource Partners
Brent Kelley is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of North Hudson and has 13 years of private equity and energy experience. Prior to joining North Hudson, Mr. Kelley was the Controller at White Deer Energy, a private equity fir… Read full bio
James Kerr
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Bow River Capital
James Kerr is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Bow River Capital. Prior to joining Bow River Capital, James served as Senior Counsel at Janus Henderson Investors, Associate at the law firm K&L Gates LLP, and Assistant Vice Presiden… Read full bio
Sophia Lee
Senior Vice President, Riverwood Capital
Sophia Lee is the Operations Controller and a Senior Vice President at Riverwood Capital. Prior to Riverwood, Sophia served as Controller and VP of Finance at various software companies in the Bay Area. Sophia started her professional career at Arthu… Read full bio
David Ludwig
Regional Director, Americas, EWM Global
Dave is a Regional Director in the Americas for EWM Global, responsible for digitally transforming the carried interest, co-investment, carry waterfall calculation, deferred cash and equity compensation plan experience for private capital firms, bank… Read full bio
Johnny Minassian
Partner, Financial Services and Investment, Withum
With over 25 years of experience, Johnny provides assurance, accounting and consulting services to clients who serve as investment advisers to investment companies. He specializes in working with private funds that operate in the hedge, commodity, pr… Read full bio
Kevin Neubauer
Partner, Seward & Kissel
Kevin Neubauer is a partner in the Investment Management Group at Seward & Kissel LLP. Kevin works with sponsors and managers of various private investment funds and other pooled investment vehicles, including private equity funds, hedge funds, f… Read full bio
Catherine Ollwerther
Vice President, Compliance and Counsel, AB CarVal
Ms. Ollwerther is vice president of compliance and counsel for AB CarVal. She joined AB CarVal in 2019 and currently manages AB CarVal’s compliance matters across the globe, including marketing requirements, compliance audits, and monitoring regulato… Read full bio
Ryan Parker
Chief Financial Officer, Mercato
Ryan Parker is the Chief Financial Officer at Mercato Partners, a multi-strategy investment firm that pursues investments in rapidly expanding technology, branded consumer, and food and beverage companies. Ryan has been with Mercato Partners since 20… Read full bio
Andrew W. Petri
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Pfingsten Partners, L.L.C.
Andrew joined Pfingsten in 2008 and is responsible for all financial, tax, compliance and administrative activities of the firm. Prior to joining Pfingsten, Andrew worked with private equity, hedge fund, and broker-dealer audit clients in the Financi… Read full bio
Rama Ramachandran
Chief Technology Officer, Black Diamond Capital Management
Rama Ramachandran is the Chief Technology Officer at Black Diamond Capital Management, and has had a phenomenal career in leading, architecting and building large scale enterprise solutions for mission critical environments in the Hedge Fund industry… Read full bio
Michele Reing
CFO, COO & CCO, LongRange Capital
Michele Reing joined LongRange in 2020 as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer. Ms. Reing is a member of LongRange’ s Investment Committee, Valuation Committee, Management & Compliance Committee and the T… Read full bio
Paul Schoper
Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance Group, Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking
Paul Schoper is head of Wells Fargo's Fund Finance Group (FFG). FFG provides a broad range of fund financing solutions to our alternative asset management clients. Paul joined Wells Fargo in 2002. Paul was previously head of Portfolio Management and… Read full bio
Derek Shanahan
Strategic Partnerships Director, Juniper Square
Derek serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Juniper Square, where he manages an ecosystem across fund formation attorneys, CPA firms, banks, and other professional services organizations. He works closely with clients to understand thei… Read full bio
Mark Shang
CFO, Banneker Partners
Mark Shang is the Chief Financial Officer at Banneker Partners and is responsible for the firm's finance, accounting, compliance and administrative activities. Mark was previously the CFO at Serent Capital, a middle market private equity firm. He was… Read full bio
Vicky Shum
Chief Operating Officer, WiL (World Innovation Lab)
Vicky is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at WiL, bringing over two decades of operational experience from building products and teams, from the ground up and at global corporations. Previously, Vicky led Global Retail Products at Sling Media, inclu… Read full bio
Aaron Simkovich
Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Maranon Capital, L.P.
Aaron Simkovich is a Managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Maranon Capital L.P. and leads the accounting function and is responsible for managing external audits, loan operations, financial analysis and reporting. Prior to joining Mara… Read full bio
Christopher Smith, CFA
Partner & CFO, SER Capital Partners
Christopher Smith (45). Mr. Smith joined SER Capital Partners in 2019 and serves as a partner. He has demonstrated track record in sustainably focused investment over almost two decades, he joined SER Capital Partners to investment in this underserve… Read full bio
Chris Sparenberg
Director, Commercial Strategy, S&P Global Market Intelligence
In his role as Director, Commercial Strategy, Chris is responsible for go-to-market, new software and data offerings, and strategic partnerships at S&P Global. Chris spent 5 years at Cambridge Associates in portfolio monitoring and quantitative d… Read full bio
Albert C. Tan
Partner and Co-Head of Fund Finance, Haynes Boone
Albert Tan is a Partner and Co-Head of the Fund Finance Practice Group with Haynes and Boone, LLP. Additionally, he serves as a member of the firm’s (i) Executive Committee, (ii) Board of Directors and (iii) Partners Compensation Committee. He previo… Read full bio
Lance Taylor
Partner and Chief Financial Officer, HGGC
Lance leads the Firm’s finance and accounting operations, provides leadership over the Firm’s human capital efforts and is involved in the day-to-day management of the Firm’s operations. Lance is a member of HGGC’s Management Committee and Valuation… Read full bio
John M. Van Der Wal
Senior Director, Compliance Advisory, COMPLY
John M. Van Der Wal is a Senior Director based in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2014. John brings over 20 years of compliance and industry related experience to his position at COMPLY, delivering comprehensive compliance solutions and services to… Read full bio
Michael Walfish
Co-founder and CEO, Walrus Security
Mike has a rare combination of practical business experience and deep technical expertise. Mike is the founder of Walrus Security, whose flagship product, DoubleCheck, is a new technology that lets users easily and securely obtain payment instruction… Read full bio
Eric Wauthy
Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Caltius Capital Management
Eric oversees all aspects of financial operations, accounting and financial reporting, taxes, investor relations and reporting, information technology, SEC and SBA compliance, and human resources for Caltius Capital Management and its funds. Prior to… Read full bio
Brianna Wener
CFO, Avante Capital Partners
Brianna Wener is the Chief Financial Officer of Avante Capital Partners. Based in Florida, Ms. Wener is responsible for the accounting and financial reporting of the firm. Ms. Wener has over 17 years of experience in financial reporting and accountin… Read full bio
Matt Whelan
CFO & Managing Director, Finance Group, Gryphon Investors
Matt Whelan joined Gryphon in 2020. In his role, Mr. Whelan oversees Gryphon’s finance and accounting activities. Prior to joining Gryphon, Mr. Whelan served as the CFO and CCO of Brentwood Associates, a Los Angeles based middle-market private equity… Read full bio
Bessie Wu
CFO and CCO, NewView Capital
Bessie is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at NewView Capital. She’s a seasoned financial executive, with expertise in financial reporting, finance operations, and regulatory compliance. At NewView Capital, Bessie acts as the… Read full bio
Elizabeth Yates
Director, Investor Relations, Thoma Bravo
Elizabeth Yates is a Director on the Investor Relations team at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, she joined the firm in 2016. Previously, Elizabeth was part of the private equity project management and origination team at Park Hill Group (Blackst… Read full bio
Weiheng Zhang
CFO, AngelList
Weiheng Zhang serves as Chief Financial Officer at AngelList Venture. Prior to AngelList Venture, Weiheng served as Head of Finance at high-growth companies Notion and Stripe between 2017 and 2021. Before his operating career, he was an investor at S… Read full bio
Connect with CFOs, COOs and their teams
The Private Funds CFO conferences enable providers to highlight their unique expertise to private equity’s most influential network of c-suite decision-makers. Sponsorship gives you:
- VIP access
- Thought-leadership opportunities
- High-profile branding
- And much more …
For more information on available sponsorship opportunities please contact Josh Stoller at joshua.s@pei.group.
Where successful CFOs and COOs connect
Better connections at the West Coast Forum
As a member of the Private Funds CFO Network, your networking experience will not stop after the West Coast Forum.
Members can connect with peers throughout the year, set up pre-meetings with those attending the West Coast Forum, meet in-person on the day, or pick up a conversation after the conference. The Network also provides opportunity for extra CPE credits for you and your team across the year.
Knowledge
Stay ahead of industry-wide issues with monthly webinars and virtual think tanks covering the most pressing subjects that CFOs, COOs and their teams face today (CPE credits available).
Connection
Find and connect with like-minded professionals facing similar challenges at our events and through our private network platform only available to members.
Events
Join in-person events and listen to the industry’s best keynote speakers, engage in working groups, think tanks, and much more. Members receive an exclusive rate for our in-person events.
Marriott Union Square
480 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA, 94108
All conference sessions will take place at the Marriott Union Square. We are offering hotel rooms with a discount.