Forum agenda
Sessions run from morning through evening with breaks between speakers and panels.
Morning Sessions
08:00 – 09:00
Chair:
Breakfast Briefing
08:30 – 09:15
Chair:
Conference Registration & Networking
09:15 – 09:20
Chair:
Actum Welcome
Raouf Fria, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Actum Group
09:20 – 09:30
Chair:
Chair Opening Remarks
09:30 – 10:15
Chair:
Panel — Investment and Value Creation in the Age of Geoeconomics
- Embedding geopolitical resilience into the value creation playbook
- Rewriting the deal underwriting and portfolio monitoring framework
- Capturing industrial policy capital as a value creation accelerator
Richard Elder, Partner & Head of Global Portfolio Solutions, Carlyle
Caitlin Gubbels, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Private Equity, CPP Investments
Rodney Zemmel, Global Head of Operating Team, Blackstone
Anne Arlinghaus, Partner & Co-Head of Capstone, Americas, KKR
Anton Orlich, Managing Investment Director, CalPERS
10:15 – 10:45
Chair:
Networking Break
10:45 – 11:30
Supply Chain Stream
Chair:
Creating Value Through Procurement Excellence
• Procurement as EBITDA engine
• The 90-day procurement sprint
• Portfolio buying power as competitive advantage
Kevin Barnes, MD, Portfolio Chief Procurement Officer, BC Partners
Seth Brody, Partner, Global Head of Operational Excellence, Apax
Amanda Good, Partner & Head of Value Creation, Searchlight Capital
Greg Pappas, MD, Portfolio Support, Berkshire Partners
Timothy Menzie, Operating Partner, Ardian
Revenue Growth Stream
Chair:
Value-Based Pricing in Fragmented Markets
• Improving pricing power and margins
• Using customer value perception to drive margin expansion
• Practical pricing strategies for scalable portfolio growth
David Buckey, MD, Head of Growth Acceleration, General Atlantic
Ingrid Hammond, Operating Partner, Portfolio Group, Bain Capital
Russ Trpkovski, Operating Partner, CVC
Hilary Headlee, Operating Partner, Insight Partners
Jeanne Chen, Managing Director, Cinven
Eric Brotman, Senior MD & Head of Partner Engagement, Blue Owl
11:30 – 12:15
Supply Chain Stream
Chair:
Buy, Build, Integrate: Turning Supply Chain Complexity into Portfolio Value
• Buy-and-build strategies across fragmented industrial markets
• Portfolio-wide vs decentralised sourcing models
• Cross-portfolio benchmarking to identify best practices
Kevin L. Masse, MD & Chief Portfolio Officer, TA Associates
Nadeem Syed, Senior MD & Head of Value Creation, Vista
Matt Eisen, Partner, Hellman & Friedman
Terrence Hahn, Operating Partner, Cerberus Capital Management
Colin Smith, MD & Head of Portfolio Transformation Team, Oaktree
Revenue Growth Stream
Chair:
Revenue Growth vs Margin Expansion: Managing the Trade-Off
• Balancing short-term EBITDA delivery with long-term commercial
investment
• Identifying profitable, scalable revenue opportunities
• Aligning investors and management on growth vs margin trade-offs
Neil Kalvelage, Senior MD, Head of Portfolio Operations, Centerbridge
Laura Desmond, Operating Partner, Providence
Vivek Jain, Managing Director, H.I.G Capital
Christy Carlson, Operating Partner, Goldman Sachs Asset
Management
Derek Mills, MD Value Creation, Permira
12:15 – 13:30
Chair:
Networking Lunch & Private Lunch
Afternoon sessions
13:30 – 14:15
Tech & Gen AI stream
Chair:
No Data, No AI, No Value: Building the Foundations for Real Impact
• From hype to operational impact: where AI is already creating
measurable value
• Data as the new competitive moat
• Preparing portfolio companies for AI adoption through data
governance
Raj Kushwaha, MD, Value Creation Head & Chief Digital Officer,
Warburg Pincus
Fabio Ficano, MD, AI and Innovation Group, Ares Management
Alexandra Lutz, Managing Director, Value Creation, EQT
Stuart Sim, MD, Head of AI, Silver Lake Partners
Lloyd Hilton, Head of Hg Catalyst, Hg
Office of the CFO stream
Chair:
The New CFO Playbook for Growth and Value
• The evolving CFO: from financial steward to value creation driver
• CFOs as translators between operations, technology, and investors
• The war for finance talent in PE-backed businesses
Brian Chu, Partner and Head of Performance, Apollo
Anne Huemme, Portfolio CFO, Head of Portfolio Finance, Hg
Subhi Sherwell, MD Operations, TPG
Lakshman Charanjiva, Partner, Head of Portfolio Operations, BC Partners
Michael DeVeau, Chief Financial Officer, IFF / CVC PortCo
14:15 – 15:00
Tech & Gen AI stream
Chair:
Cloud as a Core Value Driver
• Assessing cloud maturity and tech infrastructure during due
diligence
• Leveraging cloud and AI to accelerate growth and portfolio
performanc
Thomas Charles David Jr, Technology Operating Partner, Thoma
Bravo
Kelly Breitenbecher, Chief Portfolio Technology Officer, Leonard
Green & Partners
Tyler Modell, Head of Technology and Security, Searchlight Capital
Jessica Ross, Operating Partner, Digital Strategy, Apax
Chris Satchell, Head of Portfolio Technology, CD&R
Office of the CFO stream
Chair:
Driving Measurable Impact Through Digital Change
• How CFOs in portfolio companies are accelerating digital change
• Automating processes and improving operational efficiency
across portfolios
Todd Novak, MD and Head of Portfolio Finance, MDP
Philippe El Khazen, Operating Partner, Valor Equity Partners
Rebeca Sanchez Sarmiento, Finance Operating Partner, Sixth Street
Jay Epstein, MD & CFO Advisor, Warburg Pincus
Bill Koefoed, Chief Financial Officer, OneStream / HG PortCo
15:00 – 15:30
Chair:
Networking break
15:30 – 16:15
Chair:
Developing Leaders to Unlock Portfolio Performance
• The talent gap: professionalization versus entrepreneurial culture
• Upskilling existing teams versus replacing leadership in portfolio companies
• Gen Z expectations: culture, purpose, and flexibility impact on productivity
John Kelleher, Managing Partner & Global Head of Operating Team, CVC
Tracey Byrne, Operating Partner, Apollo
Mark Gillett, MD & Head of Value Creation, Silver Lake
Lauren Heller, Managing Director, TPG
Marco Mendes, MD & Head of Portfolio Support Group, Advent International
16:15 – 16:45
Chair:
Fireside Chat — Leadership Resilience and the Power of Teams
Tony La Russa, Former Manager Chicago White Sox & Three-Time World Series Champion
16:45 – 17:00
Chair:
Closing Remarks
17:00 – 19:00