Private equity practitioners gather at Tuck to discuss careers and industry trends
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 16, 2007
CONTACT: Kim Keating - 603-646-2733
Hanover, N.H.—The second annual Private Equity and Growth Ventures Conference attracted some 180 industry practitioners, students, and alumni to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in February. Panel and roundtable discussions gave senior industry professionals a forum to speak candidly about such topics as hedge funds, venture capital, LBOs, and entrepreneurship.
The event was hosted by the Tuck Student Private Equity Club and the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship. Colin Blaydon, director of the center, delivered welcoming remarks. Fred Wainwright T'02, the center's executive director, led the conference organizing committee. Win Neuger T'73, chief investment officer of AIG, spoke to the conference panelists at a private dinner the night before the event. Keynote speeches were made during the conference by Ed Glassmeyer T'68, cofounder and general partner of Oak Investment Partners, and Renny Smith T'83, managing director of TH Lee Putnam Ventures.
"The conference was well attended by an impressive group of successful and prominent private equity practitioners," Smith said. "Students did a great job of organizing the panels, which covered a wide variety of the hot topics in today's private equity world. It was a great learning and networking opportunity for students and alumni."
This year saw the addition of panels exploring hedge funds, real estate, and energy investing. "Feedback from last year's conference indicated those were areas of strong interest," said Wainwright. "Our student organizers took a leadership role by inviting panelists, coordinating preparatory phone calls, and leading the panel discussions the day of the conference. It was a great opportunity for them to have visibility with industry movers and shakers. Their motivation and depth of understanding in key topic areas made quite an impression."
Panel sessions focused on six areas: Venture Capital—Financing Innovation; Hard Assets: Real Estate and Energy; LBO Industry—Present & Future; Limited Partners—Supporting PE Industry Growth; Hedge Funds: Investing; and Entrepreneurship—Growing a Company.
Career roundtables were held in conjunction with panel sessions, and offered students an opportunity to meet with Tuck alums working in the venture capital and buyout industries about job opportunities after graduation. "The advice provided at the career roundtables was invaluable," said Jordan Karp T'07, Tuck Private Equity Club co-chair and moderator of the roundtable on Venture Capital. "It is encouraging to know that however many challenges there are to crack into the industry, members of recent Tuck classes have had great success finding positions with prestigious firms. The roadmap that the members of the Venture Capital roundtable provided to attending students is something everyone will be able to apply to their pursuit of summer internships and full-time jobs."
Wainwright added, "We are grateful for the advice and guidance of the conference committee members including: John Barrett T'94 of Cook Associates, Peter Denious T'97 of FLAG Capital, Bob End D'77 T'82 of Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, and John Taylor T'79 of the NVCA."
The conference platinum sponsors were Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
"UBS greatly enjoyed supporting the conference," said Kevin Kuryla T'98, executive director of the firm's private funds group. "The event successfully drew strong representation across the worlds of private investing and provided an interactive platform for professionals to freely exchange ideas regarding the state of the industry as a whole and its future. It also provided an opportunity for networking among people with the common and strong bond of Tuck and Dartmouth."
Gold conference sponsors included Alvarez & Marsal, Deloitte, Goodwin Proctor, Graham Partners, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Torys LLP, and The Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College.
For more information about the conference, please contact the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at 603-646-0522.
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