Private Funds
CFO
CFO
Private Fund Compliance Forum New York 2023
23 - 24 May 2023,
Convene 117 West 46th Street, New York
Exploring the role of the private funds CCO
The Private Fund Compliance Forum dissects critical, regulatory changes governing private equity, their impact on compliance processes, and provides the latest approaches for managing your firm’s compliance program.
The Forum is an established industry resource aimed to give you practical insights and takeaways from leading compliance, legal, and finance experts.
With a rich history of breaking critical information impacting our industry, private fund compliance professionals make this the must attend event of the year.
Book before February 3 to save $500+
Why the Private Fund Compliance Forum?
Protect
Protect your firm and investors from SEC enforcement and hear of new actions.
Perfect
Benchmark your firms current compliance processes against others to give you new best practices.
Prepare
Keep yourself up to date on the latest SEC regulations, expectations, and initiatives.
“One of my go-to events each year due to the timely program content and excellent panelists.”
Liz Staley, Leerink Capital Partners
“The conference was extremely valuable and I took a lot of action items applicable to our firm.”
Ashley Sherman, Frontier Growth
Agenda topics include:
- Effects of the marketing rule
- Overview and evolution of the CCO role
- Managing cybersecurity threats
- Navigating fees and expenses
- Uncovering SEC exam priorities
- ESG and climate related regulations
- Business continuity planning
- Managing technology and external providers from a compliance standpoint
2023 featured speakers
2022 attendees included:
What our attendees say about the Forum
PCCP
Gabriel Willey
This is the most informative of the conferences I do every year
Kohlberg & Co.
Daniel Gewanter
Enjoyed the SEC perspective and perspective of real CCOs from peers
Omega Funds
Mark Russell
Excellent event, with all topics being highly relevant
2023 Agenda
Download the agenda to see the timely and relevant topics that will be covered at this year’s Forum.
If you are interested in a speaking role please contact contact Nikki Gale at nikki.g@pei.group.
All times are listed in Eastern Time (ET)
View agenda page
Agenda
Day 1 - Tuesday 23rd
Welcome
08:30 - 09:30
Registration & continental breakfast
09:30 - 09:35
PEI & chair’s welcome
Gregory Hegerich
Chairperson:
Gregory Hegerich, Head of Compliance, North America Private Investments & Real Estate, Bain Capital
Gregory Hegerich
Head of Compliance, North America Private Investments & Real Estate, Bain Capital
Read bio
Plenary sessions
09:45 - 10:30
Evolution and expectations of the CCO
Kelly Pettit,
Carolyn Drayer-Greenwalt,
Arthur Price ,
David Smolen
- Navigating an increasing workload brought on by increased regulatory concerns
- Ensuring CCOs have a seat at the leadership table
- Identifying resources to complete tasks
- Are multifunctional CCOs here to stay?
- The face of compliance: uncovering liability of the CCO
- Looking ahead: what’s on the horizon for CCO responsibilities?
Moderator:
Kelly Pettit, Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, Associate General Counsel, General Atlantic
Panelists:
Carolyn Drayer-Greenwalt, Chief Compliance Officer, Patient Square Capital
Arthur Price, Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Thomas H. Lee Partners
David Smolen, Managing Director, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, GI Partners
Arthur Price
Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.
Read bio
10:30 - 11:15
How are CCOs grasping technology as firms face regulatory demands?
Sarah Conde,
Austin Ericson
- Enlisting third party support to navigate regulatory tasks
- How are firms utilizing captured data to improve compliance programs?
- Creating standardization across managing compliance efforts across the firm through technology
adoption - Using technology tools to scale and grow compliance efforts
- Programs available to organize compliance responsibilities
Panelists:
Sarah Conde, General Counsel, Managing Director & Chief Compliance Officer, Providence Equity Partners
Austin Ericson, Legal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Star Mountain Capital
Christy Lukach, Chief Compliance Officer and Managing Director, Finance, Brightstar Capital Partners
Networking break
11:15 - 11:45
Networking coffee break
Plenary sessions
11:45 - 12:30
Staying abreast of cyber risks to protect the firm
Eric DiFiore
- Working alongside internal and external cyber partners to remain compliant
- Interpreting recent regulatory risk alerts and SEC priorities for safeguarding the firm and its investors
- Surveilling 3rd party app and vendors/communication to ensure they are compliant with firm’s policies and procedures
- Coordinating with IT and cyber teams to ensure substantial protections are in place
- Conducting cyber due diligence on external parties (vendors, software)
- Addressing security concerns associated with internal and external communication (use of personal devices, instant/text messaging platforms, video communications, etc.)
Panelists:
Eric DiFiore, Chief Compliance Officer, TZP Group
Ellen Rosenberg, Partner, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, GreyLion Capital
Iris Rosken, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Special Projects, Atlantic Street Capital
12:30 - 13:15
Avoiding surprises: uncovering SEC exam priorities and processes for 2023
Jason Brown,
James Kerr,
Steven Spencer
- Expectations from start to finish of the exam process – any new actions from the current Commission on private fund advisers?
- What items are being referred to enforcement?
- Will the SEC still write rules based on exam findings?
- Conducting SEC exams post-pandemic
- The correlation between risk alerts and exam priorities
Moderator:
Jason Brown, Partner, Ropes & Gray
Panelists:
James Kerr, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and Senior Counsel, Bow River Capital
Steven Spencer, Partner and Chief Legal Officer, Siris Capital
Networking luncheon
13:15 - 14:15
Networking luncheon
Breakout sessions I
14:15 - 15:00
Track A - The institutionalization of ESG
Sarah Curran,
Jennifer Lin
The institutionalization of ESG
- Ensuring firms have the proper documentation in place to showcase their ESG efforts
- Items to include in LP reporting
- What to do when firms are not an impact or ESG fund but have developed ESG policies?
- The potential impact of the SEC’s focus on ESG
- Creating ESG committees or advisory boards
- Designing policies and procedures unique to ESG efforts
- Ensuring policies and procedures adhere to various geographical regions
Panelists:
Sarah Curran, Director of Enterprise Risk and CCO, Private Investments, Wellington Management Company
Jennifer Lin, Chief Compliance Officer, Fundamental Advisors
14:15 - 15:00
Track B - Developing internal and external compliant communication practices
Laura Ferrell,
Jeff Kropp,
James Pickel
- Monitoring work approved communication platforms across all geographies
- What apps and platforms are deemed safe for conveying sensitive information?
- Safely retaining internal and external communication
- SEC prep: How are firms documenting communication violations?
- Sign of the times: Do current Commission rules on communication practices and record keeping align with the reality of today’s workplace?
Moderator:
Laura Ferrell, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Panelists:
Samantha Katz, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer,
Argand Partners
Jeff Kropp, Chief Compliance Officer & Assistant General
Counsel, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
James Pickel, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer,
Lindsay Goldberg
Think tanks I
15:05 - 15:50
Think tank A (GPs only) Developing a mighty compliance program to withstand demand in an evolving industry
Alicia Novak
- Instilling and maintaining an internal “culture of compliance”
- Reviewing compliance policies and procedures to ensure the firm is up to date
- CCO involvement in portfolio company compliance
- Employee compliance training – breaking it down into smaller sections or hosting one large annual training?
- The involvement of compliance into daily decision making
- Deciding to invest resources to expand compliance teams to navigate workload (in-house or external)
Facilitator:
Alicia Novak, Senior Vice President, Deputy Chief Compliance
Officer, HarbourVest Partners
15:05 - 15:50
Think tank B (SPs only) Proposal breakdown: navigating and preparing clients for SEC rules on the horizon
- How is the current pace of proposed rulemaking changing the industry?
- Methods for educating clients on steps to take when complying to new rules
- What can your organizations do now to get ahead of preparing clients for rule implementations?
- Will proposed outsourcing rule change vendor/client relationships?
Networking coffee break
15:50 - 16:15
Networking coffee break
Keynote interview
16:15 - 17:05
Keynote interview
Networking reception
17:05 - 18:00
Cocktail reception and end of day one
Agenda
Day 2 - Wednesday 24th
Welcome
08:00 - 09:00
Breakfast
08:00 - 09:00
Kirkland and Ellis’s Women’s Networking Roundtable
09:00 - 09:50
CCOs Think tank (GPs only)
Patty Nykodym
Designed to facilitate candid discussion, this closed-door session for CCOs targets the issues and challenges impacting your firm. Attendees can benchmark ideas and share best practices to help you gain solutions for common concerns facing your office.
Facilitators:
Patty Nykodym, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Compliance Officer, FFL Partners
Usman Shakeel, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Wind Point Partners
09:55 - 10:00
Chairman’s opening remarks
Jacob Comer
Chairperson:
Jacob Comer, General Counsel and CCO, NovaQuest Capital
Plenary Session
10:00 - 10:45
Lessons learned: effects of the Marketing Rule implementation
Joel Wattenberg,
Renata Malavazzi,
Andrew Prodromos
- Checking to see if your policies and procedures match up with the new standards
- Working alongside IR and deal teams to accurately present the firm
- Avoiding early deficiencies in Marketing rule driven SEC exams
- Methods of tracking and managing advertising records
- How are firms showcasing and calculating net performance?
Moderator:
Joel Wattenbarger, Partner, Ropes & Gray
Panelists:
Renata Malavazzi, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Paine Schwartz Partners
Andrew Prodromos, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Insight Partners
Michelle Vaughn, Chief Compliance Officer, LLR Partners
10:45 - 11:30
Overseeing risk sensitivity in private markets
- Identifying avoiding, and mitigating conflicts of interest
- How are firms preventing the misuse of MNPI?
- The CCO responsibility in portfolio company risks
- Ensuring the firm has a grasp on protecting data and sensitive information
- Taking a proactive role in non-regulatory related risks
Panelists:
Drew Weilbacher, Chief Compliance Officer, TSG Consumer
Networking break
11:30 - 12:00
Networking break
Plenary Sessions
12:00 - 12:45
Know your customer – understanding what LPs want in firm compliance
Sara Robinson Dasse
- Key attributes of a standout compliance program
- The standardization for reporting
- Navigating due diligence questionnaires and requests
- How to ensure trust and transparency between GPs and LPs?
- What do LPs wish for private fund advisers to share? (i.e., deficiency letters, examinations, audits, etc.)
- Fundraising etiquette: approaching LP communication during the investment process
Panelists:
Sara Robinson Dasse, Partner & Chief Compliance Officer, Adams Street Partners
Keynote interview
12:45 - 13:30
Keynote interview
Bruce Karpati,
David Stern
Keynote Speakers:
Bruce Karpati, Partner, Global Chief Compliance Officer, KKR
David Stern, Managing Director, Chief Information Security Officer, KKR
Networking lunch
13:30 - 14:30
Luncheon and end of conference
Pre-Event Resources
2023 Speakers
For speaking opportunities, contact Nikki Gale at nikki.g@pei.group.
Teresa Bernstein
Chief Operating Officer, GC and CCO, ACON Investments, L.L.C.
Teresa Y. Bernstein is the Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of ACON Investments, a private equity investment firm based in Washington, D.C. that invests in middle market companies across the United States, Latin A… Read full bio
Jason Brown
Partner, Ropes & Gray
Jason Brown is a partner in the asset management group and co-head of the firm’s private funds regulatory practice. Jason has extensive experience representing investment advisers to private equity funds, real estate funds, credit funds, venture capi… Read full bio
Jacob Comer
General Counsel and CCO, NovaQuest Capital
Jacob Comer is a Partner and the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of NovaQuest Capital Management, a private investment firm focused on investments in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences sectors. He has 19 years of legal and regulator… Read full bio
Sarah Conde
General Counsel, Managing Director & Chief Compliance Officer, Providence Equity Partners
Sarah Conde is managing director, general counsel & chief compliance officer of Providence Equity Partners, a sector-focused private equity firm with approximately $32 billion in aggregate private equity capital commitments. At Providence, Sarah… Read full bio
Sarah Curran
Director of Enterprise Risk and CCO, Private Investments, Wellington Management Company
Sarah is the head of Enterprise Risk and Chief Compliance Officer for Wellington Management’s Private Investments business. She leads a team that is responsible for the design and management of the private investments compliance program and for provi… Read full bio
Eric DiFiore
Chief Compliance Officer, TZP Group
Eric DiFiore joined TZP Group in August 2022. Prior to joining TZP, Eric was an Investment Management Associate at Lowenstein Sandler LLP where he provided counsel to emerging and well-established hedge, private equity, and venture capital fund manag… Read full bio
Carolyn Drayer-Greenwalt
Chief Compliance Officer, Patient Square Capital
Carolyn Drayer-Greenwalt is the Chief Compliance Officer at Patient Square Capital. Most recently, Ms. Drayer-Greenwalt was the Chief Compliance Officer at Genstar Capital, where she focused on corporate governance, implementing and monitoring new co… Read full bio
Austin Ericson
Legal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Star Mountain Capital (New York & Tampa)
Mr. Ericson is the Legal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Star Mountain Capital, a specialized investment manager with over $3 billion in assets under management focused on investing in established, private small and medium-sized North America… Read full bio
Laura Ferrell
Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Laura N. Ferrell is a partner in the Corporate Department and a member of the Investment Funds Practice and Financial Institutions Industry Group. Ms. Ferrell advises a broad cross-section of the asset management industry on a variety of complex lega… Read full bio
Andrew Goldberg
Partner, General Counsel, Leonard Green & Partners
Andrew Goldberg joined Leonard Green & Partners (“LGP”) as General Counsel in 2016, and is responsible for legal, compliance, ESG, operations and human resources. LGP is a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los An… Read full bio
Gregory Hegerich
Head of Compliance, North America Private Investments & Real Estate, Bain Capital
Mr. Hegerich joined Bain Capital in 2007. He is the head of compliance for North American Private Investments and Real Estate responsible for providing business unit compliance support to Bain Capital’s registered investment advisors. Prior to joinin… Read full bio
Bruce Karpati
Partner & Global Chief Compliance Officer, KKR
Bruce Karpati joined KKR in 2014, is a Partner of the Firm, and serves as Global Chief Compliance Officer and Counsel. He serves on the Firm’s Risk & Operations Committee, is a member of the Firm’s Valuation Committee, chairs its Global Conflicts… Read full bio
Samantha Katz
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Argand Partners
Samantha Katz is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Argand. Previously, Samantha was a corporate partner at Winston & Strawn LLP where she focused her practice on the representation of private equity funds in their acquisitions and d… 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
Jeff Kropp
Chief Compliance Officer & Assistant General Counsel, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Jeff Kropp serves as Chief Compliance Officer & Assistant General Counsel of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC. In this capacity, he assists with the legal and compliance aspects of LLCP’s investment activities and business affairs. Prior to… Read full bio
Jennifer Lin
Chief Compliance Officer, Fundamental Advisors
Jennifer Lin is the Chief Compliance Officer, Chair of the DEI Committee of Fundamental, and a member of the Senior Management Team. Prior to joining Fundamental in 2021, Ms. Lin was Director of Compliance and ESG Officer at Rhône Group, where she wa… Read full bio
Renata Malavazzi
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Paine Schwartz Partners
Renata Lombardi Malavazzi is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Paine Schwartz Partners. Ms. Malavazzi joined Paine Schwartz Partners in 2020, and oversees the Firm’s legal and regulatory matters. She is also a member of the Firm’s E… Read full bio
Paul Marnoto
General Counsel, Parthenon Capital Partners
Paul Marnoto is the General Counsel for Parthenon Capital. Prior to joining Parthenon, he was a partner in the Investment Management Group of K&L Gates LLP, where he represented sponsors of middle market buyout, venture capital and hedge funds on… Read full bio
John McGuinness
Chief Compliance Officer, StepStone Group
John McGuinness leads the Compliance team at StepStone Group, where he serves as Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel. Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. McGuinness was a vice president at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he served as a c… Read full bio
Martha Mensoian
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Ethos Capital
Martha is responsible for overseeing Ethos Capital’s legal, regulatory and compliance matters. Prior to her role at Ethos Capital, Martha held in-house legal and compliance positions at alternative asset managers in Boston and New York, including as… Read full bio
Alicia Novak
Senior Vice President, Deputy Chief Compliance Officer, HarbourVest Partners
Alicia Novak is Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at HarbourVest Partners, LLC, a global private equity investment manager, where she focuses on all aspects of the Firm’s regulatory and compliance functions. Alicia has over 16 years of experience in s… Read full bio
Patty Nykodym
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Compliance Officer, FFL Partners
Patty Nykodym joined FFL as Chief Financial Officer in 2008 and was also appointed Chief Compliance Officer in 2011. Patty manages all aspects of FFL’s accounting, tax, financial management, and oversees reporting legal and regulatory compliance func… Read full bio
Kelly Pettit
Chief Compliance Office and Associate General Counsel, General Atlantic
Kelly Pettit is Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, and Associate General Counsel at General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm with $73B in assets under management and 16 locations globally. Based in New York, she leads the firm’… Read full bio
James Pickel
General Counsel & CCO, Lindsay Goldberg
James is a General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Lindsay Goldberg. Prior to joining Lindsay Goldberg, James was a Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Colony Capital. Previously, he worked at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in th… Read full bio
Arthur Price
Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.
Arthur B. Price is Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel at Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”), a private equity firm based in Boston. Prior to joining THL in 2011, Mr. Price practiced law at Ropes & Gray LLP. Mr. Price holds a… Read full bio
Andrew Prodromos
Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Insight Partners
Andrew Prodromos is Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Insight Partners, a global venture capital and private equity firm where he focuses on all aspects of Insight’s legal, regulatory, compliance and ESG functions. Prior to joini… Read full bio
Sara Robinson Dasse
Partner & Chief Compliance Officer, Adams Street Partners
Sara is responsible for the firm’s global regulatory compliance program. Prior to joining Adams Street, she was a Partner in the Investment Management group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where her practice focused on regulatory counseling in connectio… Read full bio
David Smolen
Managing Director, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, GI Partners
David Smolen is the Managing Director, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of GI Partners. Mr. Smolen chairs the Firm's ESG Committee. Prior to joining GI Partners, Mr. Smolen was Senior Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Silver Lak… Read full bio
Steven Spencer
Partner and Chief Legal Officer, Siris Capital
Mr. Spencer is a Partner and the Chief Legal Officer of Siris. He joined Siris from Point72 Asset Management, L.P., where he was a Managing Director in the legal department, primarily representing the firm in connection with its private investments.… Read full bio
David Stern
Managing Director, Chief Information Security Officer, KKR
David Stern joined KKR in 2021 and is the Firm’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Prior to joining KKR, he was CISO at Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was responsible for all aspects of the information security program across their global footp… Read full bio
Joel Wattenberg
Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP
Joel Wattenbarger is a partner in the asset management group and co-head of the firm’s private funds regulatory practice. Joel represents investment management clients, focusing primarily on hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity funds and fund… Read full bio
Drew Weilbacher
Chief Compliance Officer, TSG Consumer
Drew Weilbacher is the Chief Compliance Officer at TSG Consumer Partners. Drew is responsible for administering TSG’s global compliance and enterprise risk programs. Prior to joining TSG, Drew was co-head of the private fund practice at Promontory Fi… Read full bio
Connect with a community of CFOs, COOs and senior finance executives
The Private Fund Compliance Forum offers a unique opportunity for providers to engage and connect with senior compliance professionals in the private equity sector through thought leadership, networking, and more.
For exclusive sponsorship packages for 2023, contact Josh Stoller at joshua.s@pei.group or call +1 646 970 3923.
