Palico Capital Calls
Welcome to ‘Palico Capital Calls’, a podcast where we have conversations with some of the most brilliant minds in private equity. On our program we chat with LPs, GPs, and advisors to hear candid stories about the industry and get their take on what really matters.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 27
In this episode of Capital Calls, we welcome Brian Smiga of Alpha Partners, whose PE fund strategy focuses on growth-stage private technology companies, led by the world’s best investors. Through its unique relationships with over 700 early-stage VCs, Alpha Partners is able to create access to over 20% of Series C+ deals.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 26
In this episode of Capital Calls, we welcome Andrew Axelrod, managing partner, and portfolio manager at Axar Capital, whose PE fund strategy focuses on turnaround and distressed investments in the North American middle market. This is an extremely timely interview in light of ongoing macroeconomic events.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 25
In this episode of Capital Calls, we welcome two guests from Millennium Bridge Capital. Managing Director, Brian Knitt, and Principal, Garrett Fitzgerald. Millennium Bridge Capital has been a pioneer in the co-investment space since 2004. Their strategy targets the North American lower middle market, primarily focusing on direct and indirect buyout/control investments. In this conversation, we explore the keys to Millennium Bridge Capital’s long-lasting success and how they’ve combined traditional PE fund of funds investing with systematic co-investments results to drive more favorable all-in fees than direct fund investing.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 24
In this episode of Capital Calls, we welcome Johannes Rabini and Stefan Beil, Managing Partners at Sobera Capital, a firm that focuses specifically on the niche but thriving area of direct secondary transaction in the European market. In this conversation, they lead us through their long history in this unique strategy and what has made them so successful at sourcing opportunities.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 23
In this episode of Capital Calls, we welcome John Zic, Partner and Founding team member of EQUIAM — a fund that can easily be characterized as the ‘Moneyball’ of VC investing. John leads us through EQUIAM’s remarkable story and unique strategy that uses its proprietary data-driven model to achieve top quartile results.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 22
In this episode of Palico Capital Calls we talk to Hans van Houwelingen, Managing Partner at Urban Impact Ventures, a European Impact Venture Capital Firm on a mission to improve urban quality of life in Europe. Diving deep into what investing in urban spaces means and why it is underserved, Hans gives us a clear view into UI Ventures’ network, diversification strategy and impact framework. We talk about decarbonization and circularity, and Hans brings all this to life as he describes some of the investments they’ve made to date.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 21
In this episode of Capital Calls we talk to Boris Bakech and Eric Boustouller, partners at C4 Ventures. We dive into the explosive success that C4 Ventures has already seen since its founding in 2014 and get an inside look at how they’ve already been able to see 8 of their portfolio companies reach unicorn status including well-known investments that you’ll be familiar with such as Nest, Foursquare and Via.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 20
In this episode we talk to Borja de Roda, Managing Partner at Beka Asset Management, a fund that specializes in real asset investments. Borja presents the fund’s investment strategy with special focus on farming-related businesses. He takes us through the details of investing in agribusinesses, how it complies with the fund’s ESG strategy and the associated returns related to the sector. Borja de Roda has been involved in private equity real assets for over ten years now. He is the Managing Partner and CEO of the Asset Management Division of Beka Finance (formerly known as Gala Capital) where he has now spent almost 7 years.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 19
In this episode we talk to Natalie Adomait, Managing Director in Brookfield’s Renewable Power Group focused on impact investments. This is a timely conversation as the effects of climate change become increasingly evident. With Natalie, we get concrete insights into Brookfield’s investment philosophy and how the pursuit of creating a positive impact can also drive positive commercial returns.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 18
We have a special episode as we catch up with the host of this very podcast Claire Commons, COO and Head of Strategy at Palico. Claire worked for over 20 years in private equity having worked on behalf of pensions, endowments and families. Now as a leader in the PE tech space, we talk to her about the trends we are seeing across the InvestTech space and the rapid changes they are bringing to the PE industry as a whole.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 17
Our guest this month is Andres Hefti, Partner at Multiplicity Partners, an investment firm specialized in providing liquidity solutions to holders of private market funds and distressed assets. In our conversation, he explains how Multiplicity Partners shifted from being an advisory firm to becoming an investor in PE secondaries. Mr Hefti shares his experience and enthusiasm for the secondary market and takes us through some real-life examples that demonstrate why this asset class is so promising. He gives us a direct view into how his firm sources and values opportunities. And we also get some great pointers on best practices and what to avoid when pursuing a secondary deal.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 16
In today’s episode, we welcome Neetesh Kumar, Partner at Spruceview Capital Partners, a fund of funds investing in low and mid-market buyout funds in the United States. He takes us through Spruceview’s specific investment strategy, using real-life examples that illustrate the valuable opportunities that can be found in these specific markets and how it makes Spruceview so unique as investors.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 15
In today’s episode, we welcome Maureen Stancik Boyce and Amy Salzhauer – both Managing Partners and co-founders of Good Growth Capital. Founded in 2015, Good Growth Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm known for its expertise in finding, cultivating, and assessing complex science and technology start-ups.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 14
As a category endowments and foundations include some of the most sophisticated and prominent institutional investors. They have been long known for generating outsized returns from top-quality investment programs. With the pandemic, E&F investment portfolios are being relied on even more to support underlying operations. In this context, we spoke to 3 prominent guests from prestigious E&F programs: Abigail Archibald, Senior Portfolio Manager at the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Lisa Vazquez, Portfolio Manager at Mass General Brigham, and Kristin Reynolds, Partner & co-head of the E&F practice at NEPC.We get their thoughts on the top decisions they are making as they navigate unprecedented challenges.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 13
We speak with Jennifer Choi, Managing Director for Industry Affairs at ILPA as she shares her view of the LP industry in recent months, how the crisis has impacted LPs engagement with GPs, and how ILPA has adapted to continue to serve the interests of LPs.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 12
From partnering with Elon Musk to describing how Brookfield became a technology investor, Josh Raffaelli, Managing Director at Brookfield Asset Management and former Managing Director at Silver Lake takes us through his different experiences in technology investments. We talk about a special unit called Brookfield Technology Partners —a branch of Brookfield that invests in technologies that digitize the built world.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 11
In this episode we’ll be talking about Endowments and Foundations with Brendon Parry, Managing Director & Head of Private Equity at TIFF. It is an interesting time for Endowments and Foundations as they face particular challenges brought on by the pandemic, and so our conversation is that much more meaningful as we talk to one of the foremost thought leaders in the space of PE investing for E&Fs. In the chat Brendon reflects on TIFF’s investment principles, how certain Endowments & Foundations remain solid despite the challenges brought on by Covid-19, and trends towards secondaries & co-investment opportunities.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 10
A panel discussion featuring senior executives from VCFA, Coller Capital and Hamilton Lane. We discuss How technology helps Secondary buyers to make decisions? What reasonable expectations a seller should have during COVID-19? How buyers deploy their record amount of dry powder and their opinion on the cyclic nature of portfolio cash flows? And much more!
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 9
Chris Keller, Managing Partner at NextGen Venture Partners, as a true serial entrepreneur, created the world’s first celebrity fantasy league (Fafarazzi) and the world’s first email follow-up tool Followup.cc and then began his VC career at NextGen. An ex-Hubspot, Chris reflects upon how NextGen leverages its network for its portfolio companies, why he pushed to scale up by going virtual, and finally, his thoughts on the Fintech industry and how it helped consumers to tide over Covid-19 crisis.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 8
Sean Ruhmann, Portfolio Manager running the TA Realty Core Property Fund, shares how his roots of a mechanical engineer kickstarted his Real Estate Investment industry career spanning almost 2 decades. The former Director and Partner at NEPC reflects on the current trends at ODCE Index and shares his take on the pressing factors on the future demand and supply. An ex-Goldman Sachs, Sean discusses how Core Real Estate funds act as income-focused assets, the unique diverging returns between different property classes and finally, his thoughts on the hybrid status of Real Estate funds regarding liquidity.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 7
A panel discussion featuring senior executives from LACERA, Campbell Lutyens and Nokia Investment Management Corporation. We discuss- How COVID-19 is affecting the secondary market? What best practices should LPs consider when selling their fund stakes in this uncertain environment? And much more.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 6
Asaf Horesh, General Partner at Vintage Investment Partners, served as a helicopter pilot under the Israeli Air Force before beginning his career in PE as a Principal at Greylock IL (now 83 North). The Wharton alumni and ex-BCG consultant reflects upon his unique path into the industry, how Secondaries and the Dot-com crisis proved a genesis for Vintage Investment Partners and his thoughts on the “second derivative” effects of Covid-19 and the demand for liquidity in the forthcoming future.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 5
Steven Cowan, co-founder and managing director of 57 Stars, is a pioneer in the emerging markets private equity space, having begun his PE career in the mid-90s at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC – now known as the DFC). We talk about his unique path into the industry, and we also get his thoughtful insights on emerging markets and what it means for PE investing in today’s market.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 4
As an experienced venture capital investor, Luca Mannucci reflects on his past experiences in the field, the storied history of Banca Sella Group in the venture space, and how he thinks the current crisis may affect investment decisions from investors actively allocating to venture capital.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 3
In episode three of Palico Capital Calls our Head of Strategy, Claire Commons, speaks to Eric Marchand, the Head of APAC Private Equity at Unigestion, who joins us all the way from Singapore to discuss the current and future outlook for private equity in the Asia Pacific region. The discussion highlights Eric’s start in private equity, where it has brought him today with Unigestion, and gives insight as to why the APAC region may come out of the current crisis stronger than other regions in the world.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 2
In episode two our Head of Strategy, Claire Commons, sits down with Ted Lamade, Investment Director at the Carnegie Center for Science. In this candid interview, we discuss Ted’s life and growth as an investor who has dealt with crises in the past and how he continues to make investment decisions during the current downturn at a storied endowment.
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 1
In our first episode, we talk to our very own Claire Commons, Head of Strategy here at Palico. We discuss her 20-year career in Private Equity that has seen everything from 9/11, to the Tech-Bubble of the early 2000s, to the Global Financial Crisis of 08/09. She talks about what we can learn from those moments and what happens to be different in the time of Covid-19
Palico Capital Calls – Episode 2
