Private Equity Fast Pitch

His investments include automation firm Parseq, serialisation specialist Advanco, fintech company ieDigital and digital transformation experts MajorKey.

Rami usually acquires a controlling interest in businesses, where he provides CEOs and decision-makers with the tools, expertise, and strategies to drive organic growth – a pragmatic business philosophy taken from an extensive career in operations.

Rami has held a number of executive positions with corporations, including Operations Director, Chairman, CEO, and COO.

Prior to this, Rami worked in line management with Atos, where he was Managing Director of BPO/ITO for the firm in the UK. He also had a brief consulting career with KPMG, as well as a 10 year career at Schlumberger, starting as an operating engineer before holding a succession of management roles.

Rami holds two degrees – one in Aerospace Engineering and the other in Pure and Applied Mathematics – both gained at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

In his personal life, Rami is a professional kickboxer and has fought in 13 competitive bouts. He has chalked up six wins and one draw as an amateur; and four wins, one draw, and one loss as a pro. He has a black belt, 1st Dan and trains at least three times a week.

He is also passionate about music production

Chris Burbach is a Co-Founder, Partner and the Chief Executive Officer of Fundamental Income. Chris is a member of the Board and jointly leads the Company's Investment Committee.

Before founding Fundamental Income, Chris served as Executive Vice President of Underwriting for STORE Capital Corporation (NYSE: STOR) for seven years. In that role, he led the underwriting of approximately $12 billion in net lease investments, including over $7.5 billion in closed transactions. Chris also served as both a member and chairman of STORE's Investment Committee. In addition to his investment and management responsibilities, Chris co-led numerous aspects of STORE's capital markets activities, including corporate capital strategy, corporate credit ratings, the issuance of $725 million in investment grade corporate unsecured notes, and the issuance of over $2 billion in asset-backed notes, including A+ and AAA-rated notes.

Before joining STORE, Chris spent six years at Spirit Finance Corporation, where he served as the Vice President of Investment Management responsible for managing the company's $3.5 billion real estate investment portfolio, in addition to managing the underwriting group. He also previously served as CEO of VM Management, Inc., an owner and manager of private charter schools, and as a consultant for Navigant Consulting working with construction and government industry groups. Chris earned his B.S. in Finance from Santa Clara University and his M.B.A. from Arizona State University. Chris is also a CFA® charterholder.

Jeff serves as Managing Partner of Cloverlay and is a member of the Firm's Investment Committee and Board of Directors. Prior to founding Cloverlay, Jeff was a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP), a division of Morgan Stanley's institutional asset management business. While at AIP, Jeff was a member of the Executive and Business Committees and served on AIP's Private Markets Investment Committee as a Portfolio Manager responsible for leading primary fund, co-investment and secondary transactions focused on special situations globally and North American buyouts. Prior to AIP, Jeff advised and traded equity options and futures with U.S. hedge funds in Morgan Stanley's Equity Derivatives Group in New York. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Jeff was on the investment team at Petra Capital Partners, where he was responsible for screening, researching, structuring and monitoring private equity investments in health care and information services companies. Prior to Petra Capital, Jeff was an investment banker at Robertson Stephens, where he executed a variety of public and private equity, debt and convertible offerings along with mergers and acquisitions in financial services, health care, and business services.

As president of EGI, Mark oversees all aspects of the business. He focuses on maximizing and sustaining the value of the firm's investment portfolio and applies his 20+ years of board and CEO experience inside and outside the organization by actively engaging with the investment team and portfolio companies to improve business strategies and operating capabilities.

In addition, Mark is the chair of the Chai Trust Company, LLC (Chai) investment committee as well as the executive vice president of Chai, which serves as the corporate trustee for the Zell family trusts. He also serves as board chair for Ardent Health Services, East Coast Warehouse & Distribution, Lanter Delivery Systems, Paper Transport, and an agricultural equipment dealer.

Mark joined EGI in 2006 as a managing director and has held temporary in-house assignments within EGI portfolio companies to accelerate and increase the effectiveness of turnarounds, including stints at Tribune Interactive and Exterran Holdings, Inc. Prior to joining EGI, Mark was the chief executive officer of Sunburst Technology Corporation and on the company's board of directors. He also served as the president of Budget Group, Inc. (Budget Rent A Car and Ryder Truck Rental) and was on the company's board. Earlier in his career, Mark worked at The Coca-Cola Company in senior brand management and sales roles.

Mark holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Amherst College.

Head of Secondary Investments Private Equity

Responsibilities at Schroders Capital

Christiaan van der Kam is the head of Schroders Capital's secondary investment program, responsible for all secondary investment activities globally.

Background

Prior to joining Schroders Capital in 2020, Christiaan spent more than 12 years at Unigestion, where he co-lead the global secondary investment program and was responsible for all secondary investments in North America and Asia. Prior to that, he worked at New Amsterdam Capital, a hedge fund based in London, where he provided financial and advisory services to companies. Christiaan started his private equity career at ATP Private Equity from 2001–2006. ATP is the largest pension fund in Denmark and one of the largest private equity investors globally.

Education

Christiaan holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business and a Master degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

Marc J. Leder, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., has been engaged in leveraged buyouts, investment banking, and business operations for more than 30 years. In addition, Mr. Leder is a member of the Sun Capital Executive Committee which oversees and manages the overall strategy of the firm. Mr. Leder received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Leder is a Member of the International Counsel for the Museum Berggruen in Berlin and also sits on the Board of the Institute of Contemporary Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.

Today's special episode isn't simply "advice". It provides deep insight into life's journey, successes, and failures from top private equity and investment banking professionals. We've compiled a video of college photos from our speakers to connect the past with the present. To explore the journey and look at what it takes to achieve your dreams.

Want to listen to a particular guest, see below:

Kurt Haras - Cowen (5:20)

Jay Jester - Plexus Capital (7:45)

Charlie Gifford - New Heritage (12:04)

John Huhn - Compass Group (17:58)

Doug McCormick - HCI Equity Partners (20:11)

Ken Firtel - Transom Capital (24:30)

Brandon Knapp - Evercap Advisors (36:18)

Jim Mahoney - Huron Capital (40:49)

Julia Buthman - Prudential Private Capital (44:44)

Connor Mitchell - Solomon Partners (48:13)

Vikram Agrawal - American Resilience Partners (51:28)

Paul Hobby - Genesis Park (54:51)

Alex Western - Terminus Capital Partners (58:47)

Tom O'Rouke - Baypine (1:05:00)

Jeffrey Armbrister - Hamilton Lane (1:07:49)

Caroline Stevens - MPK Equity Partners (1:14:36)

Stephen Vaccaro - Hirtle, Callaghan, & Co (1:16:59)

Ganesh Rao - Thomas H. Lee Partners (1:21:13)

Jeff Eaton - Eaton Partners (1:22:51)

Arthur Hollingsworth - Lone Star Investment Advisors (1:26:01)

Dave Tayeh - Investcorp (1:27:55)

Brian McGee - New Water Capital (1:31:35)

Brian McGee is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at New Water Capital with over 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Before joining New Water, Brian was a senior member of the Transaction team at Sun Capital Partners, where he most recently served as a Principal. Prior to joining Sun Capital in 2007, Brian was a Senior Associate at Chanin Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on debt restructurings, special situations and bankruptcy advisory. Brian began his finance career with Banc of America Securities Investment Banking as an Analyst in the Industrials Group. Brian earned a BA in both Economics and Political Science from Davidson College.

David Tayeh joined the Firm in 1999 as a Partner in the Private Equity team. From 2003 to 2005, David served as the Chief Financial Officer of Jostens, Inc., a former Investcorp portfolio company. Prior to Investcorp, David was a Vice President with DLJ. ​

In 2015, David rejoined Investcorp as the Head of North American Private Equity from CVC Capital Partners where he was a Partner from 2011. David is a member of Investcorp's Operating Committee, Investment Committee and the Financial & Risk Management Committee. ​

He currently serves on the board of directors of AlixPartners, CrossCountry Consulting, Fortune International, Health Plus Management, ICR, KSI Auto Parts, RESA Power, Revature, Roadsafe, Sunrise Produce, Alex Lee, and Arab-American Family Support Center.

David holds a BA degree in Politics, Economics, Rhetoric and Law from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania

Mr. Hollingsworth is Managing Partner of five private equity funds with over $350 million under management. He has 30 years of experience in private equity investing and investment banking with the funds mentioned above, Paine Webber Incorporated (now UBS), and First Boston Corporation (now Credit Suisse). He served on the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, was Chairman of VisitDallas, was Chairman of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and also has served as the Vice Chairman of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority. Mr. Hollingsworth currently serves on the boards of Continental Electronics Corporation, Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, Frac Tank Rentals LLC (Managing Member), Oil Works, Inc. (Chairman), Trinity Forge, Inc. (Chairman), Mall Area Redevelopment Board, Safety Storage, Inc., and Yellow Checker Cab Company of Dallas/Fort Worth, Inc. He is a former board member of the City of Dallas Reinvestment Zone Board, the City of Dallas Privatization Technical Subcommittee, the LBJ Executive Board, which developed the construction plan for IH 635 Freeway, and the University of Texas Southwestern University Hospitals and Clinics Board of Visitors. Mr. Hollingsworth was a Director and largest shareholder of Accessbancorp which was successfully sold in 2022 to Texas Regional Bank. A Harvard College Scholar, Arthur Hollingsworth earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University and has served as Chairman of the Harvard Club of Dallas. He received Harvard's Albert H. Gordon '23 Award. He is an inductee in the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame for his role as Co-Captain of the National Championship 1985 Harvard Rowing Team, as referenced in Devin Mahony's book, The Challenge. (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989. Print.) In January 2009, the Dallas Business Journal awarded Mr. Hollingsworth with the Community Impact Dealmaker of the Year award. Mr. Hollingsworth was honored as the 2014 Human Relations Award recipient by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. A direct descendant of Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Hollingsworth serves as President of the Alexander Hamilton Scholars Board of Directors (www.hamiltonscholars.org). Mr. Hollingsworth's daughter is currently a senior at Harvard College and Co-Captain of the Harvard Cheerleading Team.