Private Funds
CFO
CFO
Private Fund Compliance Operations Forum New York 2024
November 19-20, 2024
Convene, 360 Madison Avenue, New York
Exploring the role of the private funds CCO
The Private Fund Compliance Operations Forum is a collaboration-first event for compliance professionals to benchmark their processes and bring new strategies back to their firm.
Across two days you’ll take a deep dive into vital strategies needed to meet the evolving non-legal and regulatory expectations for your role.
This Forum is essential for all compliance professionals to discuss how SEC rules are being applied, improve your firm’s practices, and ensure your firm is on pace with the rest of the industry.
Book now to save $950+
Why the Private Fund Compliance Operations Forum?
Benchmark against peers
Benchmark your back-office operations against peer organizations and learn how they are writing their AI, cyber, and data policies.
Build a cohesive strategy
Improve your firm’s risk and data management, cybersecurity, tech solutions, LP relations and much more.
Broaden your understanding
Expand your knowledge base of all things related to the SEC to help guide your firm forward.
“The selection of topics were all very relevant and it was helpful to learn of insights from the panels…”
Eli Oh, Crow Holdings Capital
“Great networking opportunities, interesting topics, and fabulous guest speakers.”
Alexandra Maisel, Sun Capital Partners
2023 featured speakers
2023 attendees included:
Build an expansive knowledgebase
Collaborate with your peers through conversational sessions to solve the biggest issues facing the industry. Topics of discussion include:
- What to expect when you’re examined and how to prep
- Talent implications for complying with the private fund adviser rules
- Cybersecurity protocols that reduce exposure across your portfolio
- Firmwide risk management strategies
- And more…
View agenda page
Agenda
Day 1 - Tuesday 19th
Registration - Breakfast
08:00 - 09:00
Registration and Breakfast
Pre-Conference Breakfast Meeting
08:10 - 08:55
Breakfast Meeting
A 15-minute panel discussion followed by a 30-minute interactive conversation between moderator, panelists and audience members.
Bringing along the troops: Communicating and training with employees approaches and processes that work
- Tailor training and information based on job function
- Evaluate effectiveness of different formats (e.g., live, recorded, written, in person or hybrid) for different outcomes
- Maintain ongoing communications with employees
- Completing training for compliance violations
- Engagement of senior leaders and establishing the importance of trainings
Plenary
09:00 - 09:10
PEI Welcome
Brian Anderson, Senior Conference Producer, PEI Media Group
09:10 - 09:15
Welcome Remarks
09:15 - 10:00
Keynote
Roundtables | Peer-driven conversations, facilitated by two industry leaders. Throughout the session, facilitators will rotate tables every 30 minutes to ensure all delegates discuss each of the three roundtable topics.
10:05 - 11:35
Compliance considerations during fundraising (Large Departments)
Heather Zuzenak
- Where to go for research and guidance
- What is your role during fundraise
- How to review and approve marketing materials
- Milestones for backwards planning
Heather Zuzenak, Chief Compliance Officer, Advent International
10:05 - 11:35
Protocols and solutions to off-channel communications (Large Departments)
- What technologies work and don’t work
- Explore user-friendly systems for maximum adoption and impact
- Learn why certain protocols work or don’t work
- What’s the ease of review once assortment records are being maintained accurately and completely
- Identifying and mitigating risks and how much is enough
- Discuss nuances of rules (e.g. screen captures)
- What does compliance do with additional data and does it comply with protocols you have in place already
Facilitator
Bradley West, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Pritzker Private Capital
10:05 - 11:35
Ongoing operations throughout the year that ensure SEC exam readiness (Large Departments)
- Get the most out of your mock exams and audits
- Having the business ready for exam throughout year through continuing monitoring of processes
- Get compliance buy in from the rest of your firm and ensure they are doing their job
- Define and observe proactive transparency
Facilitators
Jae Lee, SVP, Internal Audit & Compliance Monitoring, Brookfield Asset Management
Michael Henry, Senior Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, Wafra
10:05 - 11:35
Compliance considerations during fundraising (Small Departments)
- Where to go for research and guidance
- What is your role during fundraise
- How to review and approve marketing materials
- Milestones for backwards planning
Facilitator
Jackie Cangero, Counsel, GI Partners
10:05 - 11:35
Protocols and solutions to off-channel communications (Small Departments)
- What technologies work and don’t work
- Explore user-friendly systems for maximum adoption and impact
- Learn why certain protocols work or don’t work
- What’s the ease of review once assortment records are being maintained accurately and completely
- Identifying and mitigating risks and how much is enough
- Discuss nuances of rules (e.g. screen captures)
- What does compliance do with additional data and does it comply with protocols you have in place already
10:05 - 11:35
Ongoing operations throughout the year that ensure SEC exam readiness (Small Departments)
- Get the most out of your mock exams and audits
- Having the business ready for exam throughout year through continuing monitoring of processes
- Get compliance buy in from the rest of your firm and ensure they are doing their job
- Define and observe proactive transparency
Michele Reing, CFO, COO and CCO, Long Range Capital
Break
11:35 - 12:05
Networking Break
Plenary
12:05 - 12:55
Set up your compliance department for success
- Stay abreast of regulatory environment
- Develop customized policies and procedures
- Develop a robust training program
- How to partner with the business
- Determine how much to use outsourcing vs. in house
- Emphasizing the importance of networking and partnerships
- What experience, expertise or credentials, beyond a law degree, are needed to balance out group
Renata Malavazzi, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Paine Schwartz Partners
12:05 - 12:55
Hear from leaders from other departments on cross-departmental collaboration to manage risk
- At what point is compliance expected to interact to create timely and efficient interactions ·
- Breaking down silos and building alignment
- Where does compliance get it right and where do they get it wrong
- Common pain points across platforms and how to resolve
- Designing programs that are practical but provide what SEC needs
- Development of appropriate committees
- Training and awareness approaches that work
Lunch
12:55 - 13:55
Luncheon
Think Tanks | GP ONLY gatherings for candid discussions in a closed-door setting. Join your peers for candid discussions in a closed-door setting, with no media, vendors, or service providers in the room.
13:55 - 14:45
CCO Think Tank
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. Expect to address most pressing matters facing CCOs post PFAR and post election.
13:55 - 14:45
Senior-level professionals
Designed to facilitate candid discussion, this closed-door session for senior compliance professionals 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. Expect to address most pressing matters facing CCOs post PFAR and post election.
Workshops | These sessions are more interactive than a traditional breakout panel discussion. The sessions begin with a 25-minute panel discussion and are followed by a 40-minute interactive peer-to-peer discussion group. In the final ten minutes group leaders will come back to the panel table to present key takeaways from each small group.
14:50 - 15:55
Build tech-enabled compliance programs and AI
- How should you use AI for public facing material
- Examine criteria and approval process that should be used
- Explore potential use cases and limitations and possibilities of AI
- Weigh the pros and cons of creating technological tools in house
Junaid Subhan, Vice President, Legal Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer, Sagard
John Jacobs, Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer and Deputy General Counsel, Gryphon Investors
14:50 - 15:55
Compliance strategies for using third-party technology
- Defining what you are trying to accomplish
- How to identify and familiarize yourself with the third-party technology landscape
- What does your vendor management plan look like
- Assess/review security environment of tools
- Address issues related to adoption (ease of use, relevance)
- Evaluate cost/benefit of using technology
Break
15:55 - 16:25
Networking
Plenary
16:25 - 17:15
Hone your annual review process and testing strategies
- Areas of focus among compliance teams
- Frequency and scope of testing
- Engagement of third-party consultants
- Timing, completion and documentation of annual reviews
- Best practices for your annual review
16:25 - 17:15
Wearing multiple hats
- Learn what other hats are peers wearing (IT, ESG, Office Admin, CFO)
- Keep compliance issues in the foreground
- Streamline and manage multiple projects/tasks with technology that works for you
- Opportunities and resources to keep abreast of trends and developments
Panelists
Lisa Costello, CAO, CCO & Managing Director, HCI Equity Partners
Eve Mongiardo, Chief Financial Officer, Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Michael Altschuler, General Counsel, Comvest Partners
17:15 - 18:00
LP Panel: LPs share their perspective on their view of what makes a good compliance program
- What do they like to see in a compliance program during due diligence
- What are common areas of deficiencies
- What are best practices in compliance programs
End of Day One
18:00 - 19:00
Networking Reception
Agenda
Day Two - Wednesday 20th
Registration - Breakfast
08:00 - 09:00
Registration and Breakfast
Breakfast Meetings | 15-minute panel discussions followed by a 30-minute interactive conversation between moderator, panelists and audience members.
08:10 - 08:55
Breakfast Meeting A: Firmwide risk-management strategies
- Distinguish between compliance risks and risks that are operational Assessment and re-assessment of key vendors
- Create and evaluate processes and policies to mitigate risks
- Hear common risks associated with different risk types
- Determine which safeguards to prioritize and when and how to implement them
- Best practices for post-PFAR and post-election (what to expect from federal government)
Panelist
Adan Araujo, Senior Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer, Jasper Ridge Partners
08:10 - 08:55
GP-Only Breakfast Meeting B: Technology potluck: Peer-to-Peer reviews of technological tools and service providers
- Comprehensive compliance software
- Discuss tracking LPA, side letters, and political contributions
- IR systems and modules, including marketing materials
- Third-party software monitoring
- Vendors for off-channel communications
Moderator
Nate Saint Victor, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Engine No. 1
Plenary
09:00 - 09:05
Opening Remarks
09:05 - 21:50
Keynote
Workshops | These sessions are more interactive than a traditional breakout panel discussion. The sessions begin with a 25-minute panel discussion and are followed by a 40-minute interactive peer-to-peer discussion group. In the final ten minutes group leaders will come back to the panel table to present key takeaways from each small group.
09:55 - 11:10
Workshop A: Prepare for your exam and how to conduct your firm
- Determine exam team composition and who is in the room
- Trends in referrals to enforcement and how to avoid it
- Hear lessons learned from sweeps
- What procedures should you have in place
Panelist
Leigh Rovzar, Partner, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, BayPine LP and Declaration Partners LP
09:55 - 11:10
Determining to use compliance consultants and other third parties
- Questions to ask consultants when vetting/selecting and red flags to watch for
- Questions to ask yourself when determining what level of outsourcing you want
- Pros and cons of using regulatory arm of law firm vs using an independent consultant
- Strategies for supervising consultants
- Benefits and challenges related to off-shoring
Adam Freedman, Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, Harbourvest
Letti de Little, Chief Compliance Officer, Grain Management
Devin Holden, Chief Compliance Officer, NovaQuest Capital Management
Break
11:15 - 11:45
Networking Break
Carousel- Efficiencies, best practices and hacks
11:45 - 12:45
Carousel
A hybrid of the roundtable and think tank formats, groups will share best practices in three areas. Each table will report back to the whole group the key practices in one category.
Processes
People
Technology/Data Management
Brian Anderson, Senior Conference Producer, PEI Media Group
Plenary
12:45 - 13:25
Cybersecurity protocols that minimize risk
- Hear lessons learned from conducting pen testing and tabletop exercises ·
- Establish live and recorded trainings that bolster security ·
- Review impactful technological tools ·
- Increase awareness and get buy in from board and other stakeholders ·
- Most critical procedures that you should have in place ·
- Working in concert with CTO ·
- Balance safeguards with the needs of company to work efficiently
Giulianna Ruiz, Partner, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Trilantic North America
Teresa Bernstein, Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and CCO, ACON Investments
Lunch
13:25 - 14:25
Luncheon
Lead the discussion in 2024
Firms leading the discussion in 2024 include:
- Brookfield Asset Management
- HCI Equity Partners
- KKR
- And more…
Have a topic you would like to discuss at this year’s forum? Contact Brian Anderson at brian.a@pei.group to discuss speaking opportunities.
Teresa Bernstein
Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer, ACON Investments
Jae J. Lee
Senior Vice President, Internal Audit & Compliance Monitoring, Brookfield Asset Management
Pre-Event Resources
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 2024, contact Josh Stoller at joshua.s@pei.group or call +1 646 970 3923.
2024 Sponsors
Make essential connections
Be a part of the largest gathering of compliance leaders in the industry. Over two days you’ll build up your book of contacts while discussing solutions to shared challenges with this expansive community.
Last year compliance professionals from 150+ firms discussed everything coming from the SEC and how to best prepare their firm.
Sessions promoting collaboration
Breakfast meetings and think tanks
Cover critical issues and exchange solutions on curated topics with your peers at our breakfast meetings and GP-only think tanks.
Networking breaks
Catch up with your peers to build your network and discuss session takeaways during the many designated networking breaks.
Workshops
More hands-on than a traditional panel, our workshops start with a 25 minute discussion followed by a 40 minute peer-to-peer workshop.
Participants at a glance
“Event was a great opportunity to hear from three important constituents: SEC staff, industry advisors, and peers in the trenches who deal with the same challenges I deal with.
“
Daniel Gewanter, Kohlberg & Co
“Great networking opportunities, interesting topics, and fabulous guest speakers.
“
Alexandra Maisel, Sun Capital Partners
2023 attendees included:
Advisory Board
