Finding Finance

Lewis Hershkowitz is the President and CEO of Big Geyser Inc. which is one the largest independent nonalcoholic beverage distributors in the Northeast and the largest in New York. Founded in 1986 by Mr. Hershkowitz’s late father, it has represented some of the largest brands in the world such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Campbell’s, Monster, and Hormel. Over the years, Big Geyser has also identified and built brands such as Essentia, Core, Body Armor, Honest Tea, Zico, and Vitamin Water into the behemoths that they are today. They are also the founder of the famous snack and beverage brand, Hal’s New York.

Pawan Singh is a Partner at Bain Capital Private Equity based in their India office. Prior to that, he was a part of the North American Private Equity team based out of New York. Mr. Singh has been at Bain Capital since 2001. Bain Capital is one of the world’s leading private investment firms with approximately $185 billion of assets under management. Bain specializes in private and public equity, fixed income, venture capital, and specialty fund investments across multiple sectors, industries, asset classes, and geographies. 

Brian Mooney is a retired options trader on bonds, - also known as trading options on interest rates - working 24 years at Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is one of the largest global investment banks and financial services companies that offers a range of services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. He later moved to Merrill Lynch Bank of America - the second largest investment bank in the world - and worked there for 12 years before his recent retirement. During the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch, which provides a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory, and other services. 

Hope Lane is a senior at the Wharton School, completing a dual degree in finance and systems engineering. Wharton is the world-renowned business school at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Rajinder Singh is the Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of BankUnited Inc. Mr. Singh was one of the founding organizers of BankUnited, prior to which he was managing director and led the financial services practice of WL Ross & Co. BankUnited Inc. is the bank holding company of BankUnited N.A., a national bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida, with banking centers across the state of Florida, New York metropolitan area and Dallas, Texas.

Stephen Witthuhn is the Chief Operating Officer for Finance & Strategy at BlackRock. Mr. Witthuhn has been at BlackRock since 2012, prior to which he was an engagement manager at McKinsey from 2008-2012. BlackRock is an American multinational investment company. They are one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory, and risk management solutions.