Jonathan Armitage Chief Investment Officer MLC

Jonathan Armitage leads the investment team and assumes overall responsibility for the investment outcomes of the MLC portfolios.  Mr. Armitage joined MLC in August 2011 as Global Equities Portfolio Manager. He was appointed Head of Equities in December 2011 and Chief Investment Officer in March 2013. Mr. Armitage has over 25 years investment experience, having worked in the UK, Australia and the US. Mr. Armitage started his career at Schroders in London and has managed UK, Australian, Asian, US, EAFE and global equities. He was Head of US Equities at Schroders from 2005 and then a portfolio manager on the Global Equity team, which managed over US$15bn of assets for institutional and retail clients. Mr. Armitage holds a Masters of Arts from Cambridge and CFA (previously Associate of the Institute of Investment Management and Research).

Jessica Archibald Managing Director TOP TIER CAPITAL PARTNERS

Jessica Archibald is Managing Director at Top Tier Capital Partners, focused on all aspects of portfolio construction, manager selection, due diligence, and investment monitoring. She is also integral part of the firm’s fundraising team. Ms. Archibald serves on the fund advisory committees for seven venture capital firms. Before joining the Top Tier team, she was with Care Capital, a biotechnology venture capital firm, and was on the equity research team at Salomon Smith Barney.

Ms. Archibald has a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Connecticut College and has an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She is an active competitive rower and is a previous member of the rowing teams at Connecticut College and the New York Athletic Club, where she was a nine-time national champion.

Lynn Baranski Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer BLACKROCK PRIVATE EQUITY PARTNERS

Lynn Baranski, Managing Director, is the Global Head of Investments for BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP) within BlackRock Alternative Investors. She is a member of PEP's Management Committee, Investment Committee, Valuation Committee and Investment Operating Committee.

Ms. Baranski's service with the firm dates back to 1997, including her years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. Before joining PEP in 2001, she worked for four years as a high yield portfolio manager and research analyst in the fixed income division. She joined MLIM from Bank of America Securities, Inc. (formerly NationsBank), where she was a member of the Financial Sponsor Advisory group.

Ms. Baranski earned a BA degree in history and art history from Wake Forest University and an MBA degree in finance from Vanderbilt University.

Jon Freeman Partner COLLER CAPITAL

Jon Freeman is a Risk Partner responsible for the oversight of the firm’s investment analysis and portfolio management. Mr. Freeman is based in the firm’s London office.

Mr. Freeman started as Coller Capital’s first investment analyst and has held numerous roles within the investment team, working on transactions in all of the Coller funds.

Prior to joining Coller Capital in 1996, Mr. Freeman began his career with Arthur Andersen before moving on to working in the tax departments of Dowell Schlumberger and McDermott Engineering.

Mr. Freeman has a BSc (Hons) in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, London, and is a UK Chartered Management Accountant.

Alicia Gregory Head of Private Equity MLC

Alicia Gregory has worked within the PE program for the last 11 years and brings with her significant experience as an investor and leader. Alicia returned to Australia in January this year having spent three years in London as Head of European PE.

Alicia has over 17 years' experience in the financial services sector. This career includes investment research with the ThreeSixty Investment Strategy & Research team and prior to that she worked at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in various research and credit related roles. Alicia holds a Bachelor of Business from University of Technology, Sydney, is a CFA charterholder and has completed the General Management Programme at INSEAD.

Bill Hartnett Head of Responsible Investment LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPER

Speaker bio is coming soon.

Stan Kolenc Managing Director OPTRUST

Stan Kolenc joined OPTrust in 2005 and is responsible for private equity and infrastructure investments in Asia.

Prior to OPTrust, Mr. Kolenc worked at Macquarie Bank in London, Madrid and Toronto focusing on infrastructure M&A and asset management across utility and transportation sectors.

James Lilico Portfolio Manager - Private Markets SUNSUPER

James Lilico is a Portfolio Manager in the Private Markets team at Sunsuper, a $58 billion profit-for-members superannuation fund. His role encompasses portfolio construction, investment research, selection and execution and ongoing review and reporting across the private capital and property asset classes.

The private capital portfolio is a programme of over $3.5 billion, which consists of primary and secondary fund investments and co-investments across the buyout, venture, distressed, natural resources and real estate areas. Mr. Lilico represents Sunsuper on various advisory boards in Australia and overseas.

Mr. Lilico has been with Sunsuper for 8 years. Prior to this, he was at RMB Capital Partners and Grant Samuel. Mr. Lilico has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Science in Decision and Information Sciences from the University of Florida.

Andrew Major General Manager - Unlisted Assets HESTA

Andrew Major is the General Manager – Unlisted Assets at HESTA, an industry superannuation fund with over $33 billion under management.  He leads a team responsible for managing HESTA’s equity and debt investments in the Infrastructure, Private Equity, Property, Hedge Fund and other alternative investment categories.  Mr. Major represents HESTA on various Fund Advisory Boards and advocacy groups, and he represents the Investor Group on Climate Change on the Climate Bonds Standards Board.  Mr. Major is also a Council member of AVCAL, the industry body representing the private equity and venture capital sectors in Australia.
Prior to joining HESTA, Mr. Major worked in private legal practice and for the Macquarie Group in its Investment Banking Division, where he performed a variety of roles covering legal risk management, corporate & structured finance, principal investment and funds management.  He has undergraduate degrees in Economics and Law (both with Honors) and a Masters in Applied Finance.

Liza McDonald Head of Responsible Investments FIRST STATE SUPER

Since joining FSS in December 2006, Ms. McDonald’s key responsibilities have included assisting the investment team with investment and asset class research and reviews.

As Head of Responsible Investment, Ms. McDonald is responsible for development and implementation of First State Super’s Responsible Investment Policies and Socially Responsible Investment Options including manager and asset class ESG reviews; execution of the Fund’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan and broader ESG policy compliance (voting, screening and engagement with companies).

Prior to joining FSS, Ms. McDonald was employed at Mercer Legal from June 1997 to December 2006 focusing on trustee education and corporate secretarial duties for trustees.

Ms. McDonald holds a Post Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance at Kaplan Education.

Kate Misic Head of Alternative Investments TELSTRA SUPER

Speaker bio is coming soon.

Jenny Newmarch Portfolio Manager - Private Equity FIRST STATE SUPER

Jenny Newmarch is the Portfolio Manager for Private Equity at First State Super, a AUD $90billion superannuation fund headquartered in Sydney. Prior to First State Super, Ms. Newmarch was an Investment Director with Asia pacific private equity advisor, ROC Partners.

Wendy Norris Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Private Markets FUTURE FUND

Wendy Norris joined the Future Fund in April 2010 and is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Private Markets.  Ms. Norris is responsible for managing the strategy for the Private Markets portfolio which includes Infrastructure & Timberland, Private Equity and Property.  Prior to this role, Ms. Norris was Head of Infrastructure and Timberland.

Ms. Norris was previously an Investment Director with Hastings Funds Management where she was responsible for managing infrastructure investments and leading transactions in Australia, the UK and the US.

Ms. Norris holds an applied science degree from the University of New South Wales and a graduate management diploma from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Sam Robinson Managing Partner NORTH-EAST PRIVATE EQUITY ASIA

Sam Robinson is Managing Partner of North-East Private Equity Asia, which focuses on Asia private equity funds. Mr. Robinson is based in Singapore and has worked in private equity since 1998, initially joining Schroder Ventures in the UK. In 2001, he was one of the founder members of SVG Advisers, a fund of funds business, where he managed the global investment team. SVG Advisers was acquired by Aberdeen Asset Management in 2013, whereupon Mr. Robinson became Head of Asia Private Equity Fund Investment until his departure in 2015.

Joanne Saleeba Investment Manager - ESG, HESTA Private Equity Advisory Committee Member, UN PRI

Since joining HESTA in 2011, as Investment Manager - ESG, Joanne Saleeba has been responsible for incorporating ESG considerations within HESTA's investment processes and decision making across all asset classes, including within with the selection, appointment and monitoring of managers and co-investments. Ms. Saleeba has a keen interest in private equity, participating on the PRI Private Equity Advisory Committee as well as the Working Groups responsible for the development of the Limited Partner Responsible Investment Due Diligence Questionnaire and the guide to ESG monitoring, reporting and dialogue in private equity.

Ms. Saleeba has been involved in ESG issues for almost two decades, beginning her career as an environmental economist with the EPA before moving into corporate sustainability roles at ASX listed companies including Environment Manager at Telstra and Group Sustainability Manager at Transurban. Ms. Saleeba was the first Executive Director of the Investor Group on Climate Change Australia & New Zealand and held this role for 5 years until 2009. Ms. Saleeba holds a B Comm (Hons) degree from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Environmental Science from Monash University.

David Simons Co-Founder POTENTUM PARTNERS

David Simons is Co-Founder of Potentum Partners, an outsourced CIO solution for Private Equity.  Potentum comprises the senior private equity team that recently left Australia's Future Fund, having built a US$20bn program for the sovereign wealth fund.  Mr. Simons spent 10 years at Future Fund and prior to that, held a number of private equity and corporate finance roles.

Marcus Simpson Global Head of Private Equity QIC

Marcus Simpson founded and manages QIC's private equity program of $5.0bn AUM globally in funds, co-investments, directs and direct secondary fund interests. He is at the forefront of a new private equity investment model reflected in a 2015 paper co-authored by Josh Lerner and Hugh MacArthur: The Next Generation Private Equity Investor.

Prior to founding QIC's program in 2005, Marcus was Chief Executive, North America, Altius Associates Ltd, with US$27 billion (as of Q2 2015) under management or advice. He established Altius' US operation in 2000 and participated in the global management, investment strategy and execution, and client acquisition.

From 1996 to 2000 Marcus worked for the Virginia Retirement System ("VRS"), a US public pension plan with assets of US$62 billion. Marcus founded its non-US portfolio and then became Head of Private Equity.  

From 1990 to 1995 he worked in the London office of the Bankers Trust Company where he structured a number of buy-out financings and worked on corporate restructurings.

Marcus is Chairman Emeritus of the Institutional Investors Roundtable, an international community of large, long-term institutional investors seeking to collaborate on private market investment.

Hunter Somerville Partner GREENSPRING ASSOCIATES

Hunter Somerville is a Partner at Greenspring Associates and is responsible for the sourcing and due diligence efforts on fund, direct and secondary opportunities. He is also actively involved in the assessment of micro-vc managers for the Firm. 

Additionally, Hunter serves on the LP Advisory Boards for 5 AM Ventures, Bolt, Pear, Bullpen Capital, Redpoint China, Fika Ventures, Foundry Group, Icon Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Pioneer Square Labs, Primary Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, TLV Partners and Amiti Ventures. 

Mr. Somerville has played a meaningful role in Greenspring Associates’ investments in Matrix Medical, Docusign, Rover, Teladoc, Senseonics, G5, Rocket Lab, Channel 51, Omnispace, OPAQ Networks and PolicyGenius. 

Prior to joining Greenspring, Mr. Somerville worked as an Associate for Camden Private Capital. While at Camden Private Capital, he conducted due diligence and monitored fund investments across venture capital, growth equity, debt and buyout structures.

He received his M.B.A at the Robert H. Smith School of Business with a concentration in Finance and Strategy. Mr. Somerville completed his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a minor in History.

Suzanne Tavill Managing Director STEPSTONE

Speaker bio is coming soon.