Episode 16 & 17: Trends in ESG Investing & Enhancing Diversity in the Alternative Investment Industry

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As you know, in addition to posting educational articles, Agecroft Partners is focused on enhancing people’s knowledge of the alternative investment industry through its complimentary Gaining the Edge - Hedge Fund Educational Webinar Series where we invite leading institutional investors and other industry professionals from around the world to give their views on different aspects of the industry.

Episodes 16 & 17 will take place back-to-back on Wednesday, February 24th, beginning at 11:15 am ET and 12:15 pm ET respectively. 11 hedge fund industry professionals will join us to discuss trends in ESG investing and how to enhance diversity in the alternative investment industry. To register for one or both of the webinars, please click here.

11:15 am ET - Episode 16: Trends in ESG Investing

• Aetos Alternatives Management, Juliette Menga CFA, Director – Chair of the ESG Committee
• Aksia, Michelle Perry, Director of Operational Due Diligence; ESG & Sustainability
• California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Brian Rice, Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies
• Church Commissioners for England, Bess Joffe, Head of Responsible Investments
• United Nations Pension Fund, Herman Bril, Director of Investments

12:15 pm ET - Episode 17: Enhancing Diversity in the Alternative Investment Industry

• Albourne Partners, Sasha Kus, CFA, Partner & Senior Portfolio Analyst
• Aon, Meredith Jones, Partner, Global ESG Practice Lead, Responsible Investing, Emerging & Diverse Manager Research
• Investor Leadership Network, Amy Hepburn, CEO
• Mercer, Gurneet Sehmbhi, CFA, Investment Associate
• PAAMCO Prisma, Von Hughes JD, CAIA, Partner, Managing Director
• Xponance, Tina Byles Williams, CEO, CIO & Founder

Both episodes will be moderated by Don Steinbrugge, CFA, Founder & CEO, and Doug Rothschild, President of Agecroft Partners.

The live webinars will be interactive and will allow investors to submit questions. To view any of our past webinars, please click here. Most profits from Gaining the Edge Conferences and Webinars are donated to nonprofit organizations that benefit children. Agecroft and Gaining the Edge have proudly donated over $2.5 million to these organizations to date.

Guest Speakers for Episode 16

Aetos Alternatives Management, Juliette Menga CFA, Director – Chair of the ESG Committee

Ms. Menga is a Director on Aetos’ investment team and Chair of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Aetos in 2020, Ms. Menga was a Director of Investments and Associate Portfolio Manager at Alternative Investment Group (AIG) from 2007, where she launched and co-managed two fund of hedge fund strategies focused on ESG and opportunistic investments. Prior to AIG, she worked at New York Life Investment Management as an Analyst in their Derivative Analytics Group and at Excalibur Advisors as a Research Analyst.

Ms. Menga received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics at Kennesaw State University and a Master of Science in Financial Mathematics from Florida State University.

Ms. Menga is a CFA Charterholder, a member of PRI’s Hedge Fund Advisory Committee and served on the PRI Hedge Fund Working Group to develop guidelines for the application of ESG principles to hedge strategies. She serves on the Investment Committee of the Nellie Mae Educational Foundation as an Advisory Board member and is a board member of Wholesome Health Promotions, an organization that educates and promotes general wellness, good nutrition and health practices in rural and underprivileged communities in Cameroon.

Aksia, Michelle Perry, Director of Operational Due Diligence; ESG & Sustainability

Michelle is a Director on the Operational Due Diligence team and has over 19 years of industry experience. She performs and manages the operational reviews of alternative investments. In her role, Michelle conducts onsite visits with managers, liaises with service providers, reviews documentation and prepares analysis for Aksia’s clients. Michelle is also Aksia’s ESG and Sustainability Officer and is responsible for overseeing the evaluation of ESG considerations and their integration into Aksia’s research approach.

Prior to joining Aksia in 2014, Michelle was the Head of Operational Due Diligence on the Alternative Investments team at Santander. Before joining Santander, Michelle held various roles within Deloitte’s global offices, including Audit Manager with the financial services division (Sydney, Australia) and the transaction services division (London, UK).

Michelle graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BS in Finance with honors and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting. She is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa).

California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Brian Rice, Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies

Mr. Rice is a Portfolio Manager in the CalSTRS Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies unit and has been leading sustainability efforts at CalSTRS for over 15 years. He is responsible for CalSTRS sustainable manager portfolio, a $2.2 billion externally managed public equity strategy that employs fund managers incorporating ESG factors into their investment portfolio construction and management. 

Mr. Rice also leads CalSTRS Transition to a Low Carbon Economy initiative, a cross asset class effort focused on managing physical and transitional investment risks, and implementing investment opportunities, associated with climate change. 

 Mr. Rice serves on the advisory board of the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Strategic Investor Initiative, and on the advisory committee of the Ceres Water Hub. Mr. Rice received an MBA from the U.C. Davis Graduate School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Economics-Business from U.C.L.A. 

Church Commissioners for England, Bess Joffe, Head of Responsible Investments

Bess is the Commissioners' Head of Responsible Investment and leads the team who engage across the Commissioners' multi-asset investment portfolio. Bess joined the Comissioners in 2020 from Lloyds Banking Group, where she held the position of Director of Investor Relations - ESG. Previously, Bess led the stewardship team at TIAA (Nuveen) and held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and Hermes Equity Ownership Services.

United Nations Pension Fund, Herman Bril, Director of Investments

Herman Bril joined the UNJSPF as Director in June of 2016. 

With 25 years of experience in international financial institutions in multiple countries, Mr. Bril possesses broad level expertise encompassing asset management, pension funds, life insurance, investment banking, derivatives trading and treasury operations.

Most recently, he served as Group CFO and Managing Director Cardano Risk Management, with postings in London, Rotterdam and Amsterdam over six and a half years. Prior to Cardano, Mr. Bril was Senior Vice President, Head of Treasury and Capital Management at Aegon NV and Head of Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer of Syntrus Achmea Asset Management, where he was responsible for Dutch pension funds with assets under management totaling Euro 45 billion. Mr. Bril spent 3 years as the Head of Treasury at FGH Bank and trustee of FGH Bank’s pension fund. He started his career as a fixed income derivative trader for ABN AMRO, Dresdner Bank and Deutsche Bank in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London.

Mr. Bril graduated from the Free University in Amsterdam with a Masters in Economics. Additionally, he graduated from INSEAD where he earned a diploma in Consulting and Coaching for Change. Mr. Bril recently completed a Masters degree in Studies in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Guest Speakers for Episode 17

Albourne Partners, Sasha Kus, CFA, Partner & Senior Portfolio Analyst

Sasha Kus, CFA is a Partner and Senior Portfolio Analyst at Albourne Partners, a non-discretionary investment consultant specializing in alternative assets. Since joining Albourne in 2013, Sasha has advised on portfolio construction, manager selection, risk analysis, and implementation to a rage of institutional investors including corporate and public pension plans, endowments, foundations, family offices, and financial intermediaries. Sasha began her career at the endowment office at the University of Chicago. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago and is a CFA charterholder.

Aon, Meredith Jones, Partner, Global ESG Practice Lead, Responsible Investing, Emerging & Diverse Manager Research

Meredith is the head of the global ESG practice at Aon, offering ESG evaluation, risk mitigation and sustainability services to investment managers and corporate issuers. She also is active in the investment consulting group where she is a senior member of the responsible investment team and chair of the emerging and diverse manager committee. In her roles at Aon, Meredith is responsible for providing ESG and sustainability analysis and solutions to corporations and investment managers, responsible investment policy and implementation, clients engagement on emerging/diverse manager and Responsible Investment (ESG, SRI, MRI and Impact) initiatives. She also provides board, C-Suite and investment committee education and training, portfolio assessment, program recommendations, and due diligence services. She is a frequent speaker at conference and provides thought leadership for the firm as well.

Investor Leadership Network, Amy Hepburn, CEO

Amy Hepburn is a recognized Impact Investing expert and social entrepreneur with deep expertise on gender lens social investments and the care of children in crises. In this capacity, she has spent 20 years driving social change globally in the private, non-profit and public sectors through the creation of unique public/private partnerships and investing for high impact social returns. 

Her partners consist of visionary leaders and influencers, governments, social entrepreneurs, non-profits, forward thinking companies, foundations and venture philanthropists seeking innovative solutions to persistent social issues. 

Amy was a Delegate on the first G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council created by Prime Minister Trudeau, and an active member of the NationSwell Council and The Global Women’s Forum on Economy and Society. 

She has Faculty appointments at Duke University and George Washington University where she teaches on social impact, gender equality, the care of children in crises, human rights and humanitarian action.

Mercer, Gurneet Sehmbhi, CFA, Private Equity Specialist

Gurneet Sehmbhi is a Private Equity Specialist at Mercer Alternatives based in London. Ms. Sehmbhi joined Pavilion Alternatives Group in 2015, which was acquired by Mercer in 2018.

Ms. Sehmbhi assists in the research of private markets opportunities primarily in Europe, in addition to supporting the European investment team on advisory-related work. 

She has been in the financial services industry since 2015. Previously, Ms. Sehmbhi held internship positions at RRS Shares and Stock Brokers, India; Accelera Language; and Standard Chartered. Gurneet Sehmbhi holds a BSc in Economics from University of Warwick. She is a CFA? charterholder. 

PAAMCO Prisma, Von Hughes JD, CAIA, Partner, Managing Director

Von Hughes JD, CAIA, Managing Director and Partner, joined PAAMCO in 2003. Von serves on the PAAMCO Prisma Executive Committee and manages both the firm’s global Strategic Advisory and Client Acquisition efforts. Von specializes in public pension plan governance, advising public pension trustees, investment committees and investment staffs on governance and internal resource management. He is the author of U.S. Public Pension Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Trustees and Investment Staff (McGraw-Hill, anticipated 2019), a practical guide for the public pension trustee specifically and pension professionals in general. Von is a frequent speaker on the topics of hedge fund program structure and public pension governance. He began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York as an Associate in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group and then as a Vice President in the Equity Capital Markets Group. Von is a trustee of the Greenwich Roundtable, a non-profit research and educational organization for investors allocating to alternative investments. Von is a trustee of the National Association of Investment Companies, a Washington, DC-based trade association that serves as the largest network of diverse-owned and emerging private equity firms and hedge funds. He is also a Trustee of Northside Center for Child Development, a Harlem-based non-profit organization that provides early childhood development services in the NYC area. He received his JD from Harvard Law School, where he was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, his MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and he holds a BA in Philosophy (cum laude) from Yale University.

Xponance, Tina Byles Williams, CEO, CIO & Founder

Ms. Tina Byles Williams is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Director, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Xponance, Inc. Xponance is the successor firm representing the integration of two legacy firms, FIS Group and Piedmont Investment Advisors. Ms. Byles Williams is the lead portfolio manager of the firm's active global equity strategies and chairs the Investment Committee for Multi-Manager strategies. She has over 30 years of investment experience. Before founding Xponance and its predecessor firm FIS Group, Ms. Byles Williams was a principal and senior consultant with the investment consulting firm WHP, Inc. Ms. Byles Williams sits on numerous boards and is well regarded and frequently quoted for her insights on the investment management industry, emerging or entrepreneurial managers and global and emerging market equities.

Moderators for Episodes 16 & 17

Agecroft Partners, Don Steinbrugge CFA, Founder & CEO

Don Steinbrugge, CFA is the Founder and CEO of Agecroft Partners. Agecroft Partners has won 38 industry awards as the Hedge Fund Marketing Firm of the Year. Don frequently writes white papers on trends he sees in the hedge fund industry, has spoken at over 100 hedge fund conferences, has been quoted in hundreds of articles relative to the hedge fund industry and is a regular guest on business television.  

Don has 34 years experience in the investment management industry. Previous to Agecroft, Don was a founding principal of Andor Capital Management where he was Head of Sales, Marketing, and Client Service and was a member of the firm’s Operating Committee. When he left Andor, the firm ranked as the 2nd largest hedge fund firm in the world. Previous to Andor, Don was a Managing Director and Head of Institutional Sales for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now part of Blackrock). Previously, Don was Head of Institutional Sales and on the executive committee for NationsBank Investment Management (now Bank of America Capital Management). 

Don is a member of the Board of Directors of Help for Children (Hedge Fund Care), Virginia Home for Boys and Girls Foundation and the Child Savers Foundation. In addition, he is a former 2 term Board of Directors member of the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, The Science Museum of Virginia Endowment Fund, The Richmond Ballet (The State Ballet of Virginia), and Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. He also served over a decade on the Investment Committee for The City of Richmond Retirement System.

Agecroft Partners, Doug Rothschild, President

Douglas R. Rothschild is President of Agecroft Partners where he helps oversee the day to day operations of the firm. He has over 26 years experience in the financial services industry including 6 on the executive committee of one of the largest global hedge funds. Doug was also President of a Chicago based asset management firm where he led the growth from $300M to a peak of over $1B in AUM. He has been a presenter at hedge funds at industry conferences as well as the premiere business schools in the U.S. Doug earned a master’s degree from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College. He also spent 2 years in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals.