2025 Texas Private Equity Conference

Friday, February 28, 2025

8:00-8:30 am

Registration and Breakfast

8:30-9:00 am

Welcome: Ken Wiles, Executive Director, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance, McCombs School of Business

Speaker: Lillian Mills, Dean, McCombs School of Business

9:00-10:15 am

Panel 1: Managing Private Capital Funds During Technological, Economic, and Regulatory Uncertainty

Description: Private Equity fundraising, deal, and exit activity have declined materially since the beginning in 2022 after the Federal Reserve began increasing interest rates. US PE exits in 2021, for example, totaled approximately $841 billion and declined to $302 billion in 2022, $277 billion in 2023, and $417 billion in 2024. As a result, providing liquidity to LPs has become a focus for GPs as evidenced by the increase in secondary offering and continuation funds. Market dynamics continue to change as the Fed begins to pursue a more accommodative monetary policy and a new federal administration modifies regulatory oversight. The industry still confronts increased capital costs, elevated geopolitical uncertainty, higher returns from publicly traded assets, private credit, and changing investor preferences. Despite these challenges US PE Funds have more than $900 of dry powder to deploy. This panel will address private capital investments vehicles, liquidity, pricing, fees, fundraising, asset allocation, exits, and other fund strategies in a dynamic economic environment.

Moderator: Chirag H. Shah, Managing Director, Secondary Advisory, Campbell Lutyens

Panelists:

• Miguel Espinosa, Managing Director, Nomura Securities
• David Fox, Partner, Co-Head of Sage Fund, Leonard Green & Partners
• Eric Lang, Senior Managing Director, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Anthony Tutrone, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman

10:15-10:45 am

Break

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

Panel 2: Driving Operational Excellence and Value Creation in Portfolio Companies

Description: Economic uncertainly and a challenging exit market affects the management of portfolio companies. The cost of capital may decline, but longer holding periods are exerting downward pressure on returns. Driving operating results has become the predominant source of returns, sources of capital are changing, deal terms are more investor friendly, exit opportunities have diminished, valuations have declined, consumer and business spending is under pressure, and investor preferences are changing. The technology landscape continues to change with AI creating uncertainty and opportunities for investors. This panel will address the management of companies under dynamic market conditions, the search for value creation, restructuring and turnaround strategies, and emerging market opportunities.

Moderator: Brian Hegi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Crossplane Capital

Panelists:

• Craig Bondy, Senior Advisor, GTCR
• Shawn O’Neill, Senior Advisor, SilverLake
• David Strassner, Managing Director, Swan & Legend
• Hilary Fleischer, Managing Director, Strattam Capital

12:00-12:30 pm

Break

12:30-1:45 pm

Lunch and Fireside Chat: Joe Lonsdale, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Palantir/8VC and Ken Wiles, Executive Director, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance, McCombs School of Business

Introduction of HMTF Scholarship Recipients: Jonathan Cohn, Academic Director, HMTF Private Equity Center, McCombs School of Business

1:45-3:00 pm

Networking Reception

Joe Lonsdale

Joe Lonsdale

Founder and Managing Partner, 8VC

Joe Lonsdale is the Founder and Managing Partner at 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm managing over $6 billion in capital. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), a global software company known for its work supporting US and its allies’ defense and intelligence. Since then, he has founded over a dozen prominent companies, including Addepar, a wealth management platform helping investors manage over $7 trillion, and OpenGov, the leading cloud software provider for local governments which recently sold for $1.8 billion. He continues to create and scale companies through the 8VC Build program.

Joe was an early investor in Anduril, Oculus (acq. FB), Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH), Oscar (NYSE:OSCR), Illumio, Wish (NASDAQ:WISH), JoyTunes, Blend (NYSE:BLND), Flexport, Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY), Orca Bio, Qualia, Synthego, RelateIQ (acq. CRM), Yugabyte, among many others.

Joe and his wife Tayler are active in a variety of philanthropic and institutional pursuits. In 2018, they founded the non-partisan Cicero Institute, which crafts and advances policies to promote effective and accountable governance, and is now successfully battling special interests with teams in over a dozen states. In 2021, Joe became the founding chairman of the board of the University of Austin (UATX), a new university dedicated to restoring the pursuit of truth in higher education. He also sits on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute.

Joe, Tayler, and their five children live in Austin, TX

Panel 1

Moderator:

Chirag H. Shah
Managing Director, Secondary Advisory, Campbell Lutyens

Chirag has two decades of experience across private equity globally. Prior to joining Campbell Lutyens, Chirag spent over 13 years as an investor leading fund investments and co-investments at top institutional investment organizations, including the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, DB Private Equity, and GE Asset Management. Most recently, Chirag was a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, an $80+ billion sovereign wealth fund and one of the world’s most premier investors in private equity. He began his career in investment banking at Citi / Salomon Smith Barney in New York and Singapore focusing on mergers and acquisitions and financings.

Chirag is also actively involved in the broader alternatives industry. He is an advisory board member of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance at The University of Texas at Austin. Chirag recently served on the Global Capital Markets Advisory Council of the Milken Institute and the Limited Partner Advisory Council for SEO’s Alternatives Investments program.

He received his BBA and MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and sits on the New York for McCombs Council.

Panelists:

Miguel Espinosa
Managing Director, Nomura Securities

Miguel Espinosa is a Managing Director and the Head of Investment Banking, Americas and Co-Head of Financial Sponsors, Americas at Nomura Securities. He started their San Francisco Investment Banking office in 2014 and has grown that business to 50+ professionals.

David Fox
Partner, Co-Head of Sage Fund, Leonard Green & Partners

David joined LGP as a Partner to Co-Head the Sage Fund in 2024. Prior to LGP, David was most recently a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Strategic Partners, which he originally joined in 2007 through its predecessor business, CSFB Strategic Partners. David graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction in Management and an M.B.A. in Finance, Beta Gamma Sigma. David Serves on the Executive Committee of the First Tee of Metropolitan NY.

Eric Lang
Senior Managing Director, Private Markets, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Eric Lang is responsible for developing and implementing the investment strategy and portfolio construction for one-third (33%) of the Trust. This allocation comprises 15% allocated to Real Estate, 12% to Private Equity, and 6% to Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure. In his role, he is a member of several key committees, including the TRS IMD Executive and Management Committees and the overarching TRS Investment Committee. He also is a member of the Private Equity, Real Estate, and ENRI Investment Committees.

Prior to his current position, Lang served as Managing Director of Real Estate at TRS. He has a robust background in the industry, having held the role of Managing Director at Kennedy Wilson and worked as an asset manager for American General Corporation, which is now AIG.

Lang is an active member of the PREA Foundation Board of Directors and has previously been a board director for Home Partners of America. Additionally, he has served as Chairman and former board member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and was the Chairman of the 2009 PREA Fall Conference. He also chaired the inaugural PREA|IPD U.S. Property Fund Index Advisory Board and currently serves on the Executive Council of the University of Texas Real Estate Center.

Eric earned his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from the University of Houston.

Anthony “Tony” Tutrone
Managing Director, Neuberger Berman

Anthony “Tony” Tutrone is the Global Head of Alternative Investments at Neuberger Berman, a private, employee-owned investment management firm with over $500 billion of assets under management. Tony started Neuberger Berman’s alternative investment business in 2002. Today the business he started manages over $120 billion across private market and semi-liquid alternative investment strategies on behalf of institutional and high net worth clients from around the world. The team has grown to over 400 dedicated professionals operating out of 15 offices across North America, Europe, and Asia. Tony is a member of Neuberger Berman’s Partnership, Asset Allocation, and Private Market Investment Committees. He has been a member of the board of directors of several public and private companies and has been on the advisory boards of several private equity funds. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors of Identity Digital Inc. and Marquee Brands LLC, and he is a member of the Blue Owl Strategic Capital Investment Committee (formerly DYAL Capital).

Prior to Neuberger Berman, from 1994 to 2001, Tony was a Managing Director and founding member of The Cypress Group, a private equity firm focused on middle market buyouts that managed approximately $3.5 billion of commitments. Tony began his career at Lehman Brothers in 1986, and was one of the original members of the firm’s Merchant Banking Group. This group managed a $1.2 billion private equity fund focused on investing in middle market companies.

Tony earned a BA in Economics from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tony is a member of the Columbia College Board of Visitors. Tony is a member of Board of Trustees of Brophy College Preparatory High school in Phoenix, AZ.

Panel 2

Moderator:

Brian Hegi
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Crossplane Capital

Brian is a co-founder and Managing Parter of Crossplane Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm founded in 2018 investing control equity in niche manufacturing, industrial services, and value-added distribution businesses. Crossplane currently manages over $730 million across two funds and co-investment vehicles. He began his career as an operations improvement consultant with AlixPartners and AT Kearney and has been an industrial-focused private equity investor for the last 17 years. Brian graduated with a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University and is a proud owner of a section of the goal post that students carried 2.5 miles down Broadway Avenue and threw in the Cumberland River after beating Alabama this season. Most importantly, Brian is a diehard Longhorn as a 2004 MBA graduate from the McCombs School of Business.

Panelists:

Cragi A. Bondy
Senior Advisor, GTCR

Craig Bondy is the Founder & CEO of Bondy Capital LLC, a private investment firm focused primarily on direct private equity investments in the technology and tech-enabled business services sector. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and CEOs to build long-term platform investments and also seeks to invest in innovative managers in the private alternative asset industry.

Craig also serves as a Senior Advisor to GTCR and previously spent 23 years as a Managing Director of GTCR, where he served as the Co-Head of the firm’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications group, and served in various leadership positions including co-chair of GTCR’s Investment Committee and Managing Partner of the firm. During his career at GTCR, Craig participated in 8 funds and led over 85 transactions for the firm. Founded in 1980, GTCR is a premier private equity firm that utilizes The Leaders Strategy approach to investing and driving transformation in companies participating in select high-growth industries. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $30 billion in over 280 companies and the firm currently manages $40 billion in equity capital.

Prior to joining GTCR, Craig worked in the investment banking department of Credit Suisse First Boston in Chicago where he focused on M&A advisory and capital markets transactions primarily for Midwest industrial clients. He also worked in CSFB’s London office where he advised European governments on the privatization of several state-owned businesses including telecom, oil & gas, banking, and aviation assets.

Craig holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He received his BBA in Finance with high honors from the Honors Business Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

Outside of Bondy Capital and GTCR, Craig is the Campaign Chairman and board member of Communities In Schools of Chicago, a non-profit organization that connects public school children with free social, emotional, health and enrichment programs. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the McCombs School and member of the Development Board at the University of Texas, and the GSB Management Board at Stanford University.

Shawn O’Neill
Senior Advisor, Silver Lake

Shawn O’Neill is the Managing Partner of SLW (formerly Silver Lake Waterman), a strategy he founded within Silver Lake in 2011. He continues to serve as a Senior Advisor to Silver Lake. With nearly 30 years of experience, Shawn has been an investor in and strategic advisor to leading technology companies.

Before Silver Lake, he founded Bandon Partners, a boutique investment bank, and served as CFO for two venture-backed companies. Earlier in his career, Shawn was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley, DMG Technology Group, and Lehman Brothers.

Shawn holds a B.B.A. with honors from the University of Texas and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the McCombs School of Business.

David Strassner
Managing Director, Swan & Legend

Mr. Strassner sits on boards of Ordergroove, Urban Stems and Think Food Group. He is an active advisor to the boards of WTHN and Lekka Foods.

Prior to joining SWaN, Mr. Strassner covered the consumer and retail industries as an equity research analyst at Salomon Brothers, Citigroup, Bank of America Securities, and Janney Montgomery Scott, for nearly two decades. Mr. Strassner’s in-depth understanding and insights into the world’s largest retailers, including WalMart, Home Depot, and Best Buy, has led him to become an industry expert. He is a sought-after resource to many large U.S. retailers and media outlets.

In 2001, Mr. Strassner joined Andor Capital, where he built and let its consumer team. Andor Capital was one of the largest long/short hedge funds at the time with over $10B in AUM.

Mr. Strassner previously served on the board of Seeds of Peace, a conflict resolution organization that leads various cross cultural initiatives, including an annual summer experience in Maine where Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Afghani, Indian, and Pakistani teenagers are brought together to foster cultural and religious understandings of their respective worlds. Prior to Wall Street, Mr. Strassner was a franchisee of I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt in New York City. He was also an analyst in the M&A department at Lehman Brothers following his undergraduate studies.

Mr. Strassner earned a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration from Cornell University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Hilary Fleischer
Managing Director, Strattam Capital

Hilary Fleischer joined Strattam Capital in 2014 and is a Partner. She is currently a director of Affinaquest, Netstock, Resource Navigation, and Intellect. She is a board observer of Green Security. Previously, Hilary was an Associate at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and an Analyst at Lazard.

She sits on the Leadership Council of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology at the University of Pennsylvania. Hilary attended University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. and B.A.S., and Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she earned her M.B.A. Hilary lives in San Francisco, and you can often find her urban hiking in the Presidio or visiting one of the many local playgrounds with her young kids.

We do not have a room block for these hotels.

AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center
1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
Phone: 512-404-1900
Toll-free: 877-744-8822

Hampton Inn & Suites Austin at The University/Capitol
1701 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-499-8881

Hotel Ella
1900 Rio Grande Street
Austin, TX 78705
Phone: 512-495-1800

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotels
303 W. 15th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-478-7000

AC Hotel Austin-University
1901 San Antonio Street
Austin, TX 78705
Phone: 512-473-8920

Hilton Garden Inn Austin-University Capitol District
301 W. 17th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-319-3333

2024

8:00-8:30 am
Registration & Breakfast

8:30-9:00 am
Welcome: Ken Wiles, Executive Director, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance, McCombs School of Business
Speaker: Lillian Mills, Dean, McCombs School of Business

9:00-10:15 am
Panel 1: Managing Private Capital Funds During Economic Uncertainty
Private Equity fundraising, deal, and exit activity declined materially beginning in 2022. PE exits during the first three quarters of 2021, for example, totaled approximately $700 billion and declined to about $185 billion during the first three quarters of 2023. Private capital markets continue to confront restrictive Federal Reserve monetary policy objectives, increased capital costs, elevated geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory uncertainty, higher returns from publicly traded assets, and changing investor preferences. Despite these challenges PE Funds have more than $3.7 trillion of dry powder to deploy. This panel will address private capital, pricing, fundraising, asset allocation, and other fund strategies in an uncertain economic environment.
Moderator: Matt Lyons, Wilson Sonsini
Panelists:
Ashley Baum, Senior Director and Head of Special Opportunities, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Shawn O’Neill, Managing Partner, Silver Lake
George Seay, Founder and Chairman, Annandale Capital
Carlos Whitaker, Sr. Managing Director, Blackstone Credit

10:15-10:45 am
Break

10:45 am – 12:00 pm
Panel 2: Driving Portfolio Company Values and Returns in Challenging Markets
Economic uncertainly affects the companies in which PE firms invest. The cost of capital has increased, sources of capital are changing, deal terms are more investor friendly, exit opportunities have diminished, valuations have declined, consumer and business spending has begun to soften, and investor risk preferences are changing. This panel will address the management of companies under uncertain market conditions, value creation, restructuring and turnaround strategies, and emerging investment opportunities.
Moderator: Ken Wiles, Executive Director, HMTF Private Equity Center
Panelists:
George Ackert, Sr. Managing Director, Evercore
Brian Hegi, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Crossplane Capital
Jeffrey Klein, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
David Lorch, Managing Director, Cerberus Capital Management

12:00-12:30 pm
Break

12:30-1:45 pm
Lunch and Fireside Chat: Bill Gurley, General Partner, Benchmark. and Britt Harris, Founding Advisor, On Eagles Wings Advisors
Introduction of HMTF Scholarship Recipients: Jonathan Cohn, Academic Director, HMTF Private Equity Center, McCombs School of Business

1:45-3:00 pm
Networking Reception

2023

8:30-9:00 am
Registration and Breakfast

9:00-9:15 am
Opening Comments
Welcome: Ken Wiles, HMTF Private Equity Center
Speaker: Ethan Burris, Senior Associate Dean, McCombs School of Business

9:15-10:00 am
Keynote Speaker: Pia Orrenius, Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

10:00-10:15 am
Break

10:15-11:15 am
Panel 1: Private Equity: Creating Value in an Era of Economic Uncertainty
Private Equity and Debt fundraising, deal, and exit activity remained robust during the first half of 2022 generating more than $3 trillion of dry powder available to invest. During the second half of the year, as the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising interest rates and withdrawing liquidity from the markets, uncertainty about economic conditions led to a substantial decline in deal and exit activity across all sectors of the private capital markets. This panel will address private capital, pricing, fundraising, asset allocation, and other strategies in an uncertain economic environment.
Moderator: Ken Wiles, Executive Director, HMTF Private Equity Center
Panelists:
Ashley Baum, Director of Special Opportunities, Teacher Retirement System
Tiffany Kosch, Managing Partner, CenterGate Capital
Robert Morse, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Strattam Capital
David Rosenberg, Co-Portfolio Manager, Oaktree Capital Management

11:15-11:30 am
Break

11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Panel 2: Venture Capital: Risk, Return, Repeat
Is this déjà vu all over again? What lessons from past economic cycles can help navigate the current economic environment? Venture Capital seeks investment opportunities that will disrupt existing markets and create new ones. Macroeconomic disruptions increase fundraising and deal uncertainty but also create the market opportunities from which new companies can emerge and prosper. Coming off two years of record fundraising, U.S. Venture Capital firms have more than $300 billion of dry powder to deploy in an increasingly uncertain market. This panel will address sector opportunities, fundraising, portfolio company management, deal pricing and terms, exit opportunities, and other emerging topics in venture capital.
Moderator: Jim Nolen, Associate Director, HMTF Private Equity Center
Panelists:
Roger Chen, Partner, Silverton Partners
Drew Oetting, Founding Partner, 8VC
Krishna Srinivasan, Founding Partner, Live Oak Venture Partners
Gavin Turner, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Mainsail Partners

12:30-1:45 pm
Lunch
Fireside Chat: Jose Feliciano, Managing Partner and Co-founder, Clearlake Capital Group and Neil Randall, Managing Director and Head of Private Equity, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Scholarship Recipient Recognition: Jonathan Cohn, Academic Director, HMTF Private Equity Center

1:45-1:55 pm
Break

1:55-2:55 pm
Panel 3: Special Topic in Private Capital: Agricultural Technology, Energy, and Real Estate
Private Capital markets are being disrupted by rapidly evolving technology developments, macroeconomic uncertainty, investor preference, and government regulations, among others. Three industries that are confronting these pressures more than many are food and agricultural technology, energy, and real estate, and this panel will address the unique challenges and opportunities in these industries including how to identify opportunities, portfolio strategies, capital allocation, and exit opportunities.
Moderator: Sheridan Titman, Director, Energy Management and Innovation Center, McCombs School of Business
Panelists:
Jason Downie, Managing Partner, Tailwater Capital, LLC
Eric Lang, Senior Managing Director of External Private Markets, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Vince Reyna, Senior Principal and CIO, Pennybacker Capital
Spencer Swayze, Managing Director, Paine Schwartz Partners

2:55-3:00 pm
Closing Comments