In a crowded fundraising market and with investor’s portfolio allocations under stress, this webinar will explore what institutional LPs look for when backing emerging fund managers or developing relationships with independent sponsors. For funds, what factors are LPs focused on that catch their attention and separate you from the crowd? And for independent sponsors, what makes an LP willing to create a relationship that goes beyond the dynamics of a single deal?
Moderated by Kelly Deponte
Panelist include:
Michelle Jacobi – Managing Director Gatewood Capital Partners LLC
Lisa Edgar is an Independent Venture Capital Advisor to both LPs and GPs
Cris Connor is a Portfolio Manager at Briar Hall, a single-family office in Chicago
Bio
Kelly DePonte is Managing Director of Kelly DePonte Advisory LLC, a boutique advisory and consulting firm focused on the institutional private investment markets, especially private equity. He has 32 years of experience in private alternative fund investment and fundraising. He has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA from Stanford University. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Investment Management Due Diligence Association, a Senior Advisor at Probitas Partners, a global private markets placement agent, and is Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Bennington Museum, an art and history museum in Bennington, Vermont.
Bio
Michelle Jacobi is a managing director responsible for Gatewood's fundraising and marketing initiatives, as well as assisting in business development and transaction origination. Prior to joining Gatewood, Michelle was with Cebile Capital, a global placement agent and secondaries advisory firm, where she led North American distribution and fundraising efforts. Prior to this, she worked at VCP Advisors, a boutique placement agent. Before joining VCP, Michelle worked in leveraged finance at Jefferies in New York and Mizuho Bank in London. Michelle graduated from the London School of Economics with an LLB in Law and with a MSc in Comparative Political Science.
Bio
Lisa Edgar is an Independent Venture Capital Advisor to both LPs and GPs. She was Co-Founder, Managing Director, and Member of the Investment Committee at Top Tier Capital Partners, a Venture Capital Fund of Funds that focuses on established and emerging funds, secondaries and co-investments. Leveraging decades of experience as an institutional investor, Lisa currently provides advice on investment plans, portfolio construction, investor communications, due diligence, team building, fundraising strategies, and investor retention. During her career, Lisa was based in San Francisco and London and continues to split her time between the US, UK, and Europe. Lisa is particularly interested in helping LPs and GPs build institutional quality investment platforms and supporting underrepresented individuals as they access the venture capital industry. Lisa joined Top Tier’s predecessor firm, Paul Capital, in 2003. Prior to that, she built her career at WR Hambrecht, Horsley Bridge Partners, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Lisa has a B.S in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Bio
Cris Conner is a Portfolio Manager at Briar Hall, a single-family office in Chicago. Briar Hall is focused on US lower middle market buyout, growth equity and venture capital. Prior to joining Briar Hall, Cris spent 5 years at RCP Advisors. He served in several roles at RCP eventually advising institutional investors on lower middle market private equity.
Cris earned a BBA in accounting from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Course Information
Trial webinar access
Trial webinar access is available until May 21, 2025.