MSCI Private Assets Summit 2026

Director of IT & Data Analytics, Alfred I. duPont Charitble Trust

Joseph Andress is Director of IT & Data Analytics at the Alfred I. duPont Charitable Trust, where he leads technology strategy, data infrastructure, and analytics for the investment office. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, he advances the endowment’s data capabilities and implements platforms supporting portfolio reporting and investment decisions. He has designed modern cloud-based analytics and reporting environments connecting investment systems, data lakes, and dashboards. Bridging finance and technology, he develops AI-enabled tools, including internal chatbots and retrieval-augmented systems, to make investment data more accessible. His work supports the Trust’s mission to improve the lives and health of children through the legacy of Alfred I. duPont.

Founder, The Private Markets Forum

Marc Andrew is the founder of The Private Markets Forum: an events + insight platform designed to scale the infrastructure underlying alternative asset management and make private markets more accessible.

He's spent nearly two decades supporting economic growth and development - with experience across government, as an entrepreneur, and as an advisor to rapid-growth startups.

As Chief of Staff to the Finance Minister of British Columbia, Marc helped deliver three provincial budgets, a series of major investments in infrastructure and P3s, and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Since 2011 he's led the production of hundreds of senior institutional summits: gathering leaders in urban infrastructure, technology and digital transformation to modernise our institutions for an era of rapid change.

Executive Director, Head of Private Credit Product, MSCI

Karim Berichi is Head of Private Credit Product at MSCI.  Karim was most recently Americas’ Regional Head for Moody’s Analytics Predictive Analytics division and a member of its Product Management and Strategy leadership team.  At Moody’s, Karim was heavily involved in the Private Credit space, especially as it related to providing integrated risk assessment solutions to direct lenders and asset managers on their private credit portfolios.   Prior to joining Moody’s, Karim had a diversified career, holding leadership roles in banking, investment management, and risk analytics, including positions at BlackRock, Bloomberg and Stifel Nicolaus.

Edward Berman 

Head of Public Market and Portfolio Construction Analytics, Office of the Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management

Ed Berman is responsible for Public Markets and Portfolio Construction Analytics across the five New York City retirement systems the Bureau of Asset Management advises on. He joined the Office of the Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management in May 2022 as the Chief Risk Officer. In his current role, Ed leads an investment staff and supports oversight in Public Market investments, which comprise approximately 69% of the total $286 AUM (as of November 30, 2024). Additionally, he is responsible for analytical framework for portfolio construction across the entire portfolio with a focus on transitioning to a Total Portfolio approach. Within the Bureau, he also leads strategic asset allocation at the portfolio level.

During his tenure at the Bureau of Asset Management, Mr. Berman has focused on enhancing alpha generation at the total portfolio level through superior portfolio construction and risk management. He and his team have developed an asset-class and manager analytics suite for managing public market portfolios based on quantitative analysis.  This allowed to optimize the level of portfolio diversification, established a framework for passive, active, and systematic decision for external managers, created a risk-parity approach to manager sizing, and introduced a rigorous analytical process for manager oversight. The goal of his team is to achieve high alpha generation relative to management fees paid. Ed works closely with the CIO on development of Total Portfolio metrics across public and private assets, designed to support a non-siloed, holistic approach to portfolio management.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Berman was the lead of the global team of Investment Directors covering Multi-Asset and Quantitative strategies at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he focused on portfolio construction, alpha generation, and risk management.  Before joining J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Mr. Berman participated in the launch and served as the CRO of a start-up broker/dealer company C&Co/PrinceRidge Holdings LLC. His career also includes a range of roles at major investment banks and hedge funds. He began his career in the quantitative field, modeling fixed-income products at Bear Stearns.  

Mr. Berman holds a Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from Boston University and an MBA degree in Finance and Statistics from NYU’s Stern Business School.    

Bevin Brown 

Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Strategy & Management, Global Credit and Alternative Markets, Liberty Mutual Investments

Bevin Brown is Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Strategy & Management, Global Credit and Alternative Markets at Liberty Mutual Investments (LMI). In this role, she is focused on thought leadership, portfolio construction, and data driven analytics.

Bevin joined LMI in 2013 holding various roles across the private investment portfolio lifecycle, including running our legacy energy portfolio.

Prior to joining LMI, Bevin spent seven years at Denham Capital Management, a private equity firm focused on natural resources investments. She served in a number of roles spanning accounting, portfolio management, and capital markets initiatives. Bevin began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers within their audit practice serving clients within the financial services and asset management industry.

She earned a bachelor's in business administration from Stonehill College

Glenn Dombrowski

Director of Investment Operations, Indiana University Foundation

Glenn R. Dombrowski is Director of Investment Operations at the Indiana University Foundation, where he leads operational strategy to build a best-in-class investment office supporting a multi-asset endowment. He oversees investment reporting, vendor relationships, legal and compliance workflows, and the implementation of technology solutions to enhance governance and efficiency. Previously, Glenn served as Manager of Investment Administration and Reporting at the University of Rochester, where he managed portfolio analytics, risk systems, fund administrator transitions, and Investment Committee reporting.

Glenn holds a Master of Studies in Law and Certificate in Financial Compliance from the University of Southern California, an MBA in Finance from Loyola University Maryland, and a BS in Accounting from Canisius University. His expertise spans investment operations, risk management, financial reporting, and structured finance.

Ralph Eissler

Managing Director, Head of Private Assets Research & Development, MSCI

Ralph Eissler leads MSCI’s efforts to deliver data and analytics to support private-asset investors. He was previously head of private-market research at Neuberger Berman, where he developed the research function within the alternatives business line. Earlier in his career, as a private-equity attorney, he advised clients on complex fund structures. Ralph holds a J.D. and the German equivalent of a Ph.D. (“Dr. jur.”) in law, as well as an M.S. in economics, from the University of Konstanz. He also holds an L.L.M. from NYU School of Law. Ralph is a CFA charterholder and member of the New York bar..

Head of Private Assets, MSCI

Luke Flemmer is head of Private Assets at MSCI. In this role, he is responsible for building, scaling and overseeing our private assets business, leading commercial strategy and product development.

Previously, Luke served as managing director, head of digital strategy for alternative investments at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and was co-founder and CEO of Lab49, a global solutions provider of investment and risk technology to asset managers and investment banks.

When the ION Group acquired Lab49, Luke became co-head of ION’s Capital Markets division, delivering software and solutions to the group’s global financial services customer base.

Earlier in his career, Flemmer worked in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Head of Private Equity Investment Research, AlTi

Jeffrey is the Head of Private Equity Investment Research and covers Private Equity and Hedge Fund investments at AlTi.

Jeffrey worked at Alvarium prior to the transaction that created AlTi and, before that, he was a founding member of SF Wealth Management, an independent wealth management team at HighTower Advisors. Prior to HighTower, he was a Vice President on the U.S. Portfolio Management team at Guggenheim Partners and a member of the investment committee for Guggenheim Investment Advisors, an SEC registered investment advisor. Prior to Guggenheim, he was a portfolio manager and hedge fund analyst at Signet Capital Management, a firm specializing in hedge fund solutions.

Jeffrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Golf Management from Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Business Administration degree from George Mason University and is a CFA charter holder.

Kerri Gandin

Chief Operating Officer, Kyard USA

Kerri Gandin is the Chief Operating Officer of a Boston-based single family office that invests globally across asset classes. She brings over 20 years of experience across public accounting, endowment management, and family office leadership. Kerri began her career at Ernst & Young, building a strong foundation in accounting and controls, and spent more than a decade at the Dartmouth College Investment Office. She later helped establish and build the operational infrastructure for Grinnell College’s Investment Office as it launched its Boston office. At her current firm, Kerri was hired to design and implement the operational platform and team after the investment function transitioned in-house from an outsourced model.

Managing Director, Head of Americas Asset Owners, MSCI

Aamer is Head of Americas Asset Owners & Investment Consultants at MSCI, where he leads a seasoned team serving institutional investors across pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds. In addition to his client segment leadership, he plays an active role in shaping MSCI's Asset Owner strategy across the Americas. Over more than a decade at MSCI, he has advised and implemented risk management solutions for some of North America's most sophisticated asset owners, helping them translate complex analytics into actionable investment decisions.

Aamer holds a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from NYU Stern. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Beth Gilje

Founder, Union Park Consulting

Beth is the Founder of Union Park Consulting which is an investment operations consultancy firm that works with both asset allocators and asset managers.  Prior to Union Park Consulting, Beth worked at the Penn Office of Investments from 2015 to 2020 on the Operations Team as a Director.  Her role focused on technology, reporting, ODD and investment execution.  Prior to the Penn Office of Investments, Beth worked as a Senior Principal at Partners Capital Investment Group.  Beth holds a BS from Cornell University.

David King

Senior Investment Analytics Officer, South Carolina Retirement Systems Investment Commission

David King is a Senior Investment Analytics Officer at the South Carolina Retirement Systems Investment Commission, where he supports asset allocation, portfolio implementation and developing analytics for a $50B+ public pension plan. A voting member of the Commission’s Risk and Asset Allocation Committee, he focuses on portfolio exposure monitoring, rebalancing, liquidity management and private markets pacing across a diversified investment program.

David has been with RSIC for over 15 years, beginning his career in operations before moving into investment analytics and portfolio oversight roles. He is also involved in manager sourcing initiatives, helping identify and evaluate new GP relationships.

In addition to his professional role, David serves as a trustee of the Cinelli Family Foundation, supporting initiatives in education and cancer.

Mason Lender

Head of the MSCI Diligence Platform, MSCI

Mason Lender is the Head of the MSCI Diligence Platform, where he leads AI product strategy and development, go-to-market execution, and client engagement.

Prior to joining MSCI, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of Vantager, a private markets technology platform designed to streamline investment diligence for institutional investors. Vantager was acquired by MSCI in 2026. Mason holds a bachelor's degree in Statistics & Data Science from Yale University.

Ashley Lester

Chief Research Officer, MSCI

Ashley Lester leads the development of MSCI’s research across the company’s wide range of product lines and clients. He was previously the founding head of systematic investments at Schroders, where he led a team managing over USD 30 billion in equity-factor and sustainability strategies. Before Schroders, Ashley served as MSCI’s head of fixed-income and multi-asset-class research. He holds a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Economics (with first-class honors and the university medal) from the University of Sydney.

Mary Mei

Managing Director, Global Investments, Stanford Management Company

Mary Mei is a managing director at Stanford Management Company, where she oversees investments across global markets on behalf of Stanford University’s endowment. The endowment supports the academic mission of the University, including funding student financial aid, backing a world-class faculty, and advancing pioneering research. Mary also teaches a seminar in investment management, introducing undergraduate students to the theory and practice of institutional investing.  

Prior to joining SMC in 2014, Mary worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. in its Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group, focusing on manager selection and secondary private equity and co-investment transactions, as well as at TPG Capital, where she evaluated and executed global private equity buyout transactions. Mary earned a BA from Dartmouth College, summa cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard University.

Kirk Oldford

Executive Director, Asset Owner Client Coverage, MSCI

Kirk Oldford leads the MSCI Asset Owner Analytics Consulting team at MSCI. Kirk joined MSCI in 2014 and has functioned and has worked across coverage segments including Asset Owners, Funds of Funds, and Hedge Funds.

Prior to MSCI, Kirk worked as a Hedge Fund Analyst at Guidance capital. He holds a MBA with a concentration in Analytical Finance from the University of Chicago and a BBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Managing Director, Private Assets, MSCI

Ben Page-Fort is a Managing Director at MSCI, where he serves as Head of Americas Private Assets and Global Total Plan Product Manager.

He joined the firm in 2024 to lead the integration of Burgiss and Caissa into what is now Private Capital Solutions. In his current role, Ben oversees the strategic direction and execution of the Total Plan (legacy Caissa) platform within Private Assets solutions, driving innovation, integration, and operational excellence across the platform.

With more than 15 years of experience delivering technology solutions across front, middle, and back-office functions, Ben has a proven track record of advancing investment and operational outcomes for buy-side institutions. Prior to joining MSCI, he was part of the corporate strategy team at SimCorp. Earlier in his career, he led Nasdaq’s Asset Owner Solutions business and held roles at Algorithmics, now part of SS&C.

Ben received his bachelor's degree and master's in business administration from the University of Connecticut.

Executive Vice President, Private Equity, Bain & Company

Brenda Rainey is a Managing Director at Bain & Company and a leader in the firm’s global Private Equity practice. She advises alternative asset managers on ambition and strategy, operating model evolution, capital raising, and the scaling of private market platforms. She also works with institutional investors to define investment objectives, set asset allocation and portfolio construction, and design governance and decision-making models that enable consistent performance across cycles.

She is a lead author of Bain’s annual Global Private Equity Report and a frequent commentator on trends shaping private capital. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS from Cornell University.

Executive Director, Private Assets, MSCI

Courtney Scharff is Head of Private Capital Indexes and Taxonomies at MSCI, where she leads strategy and execution for private markets benchmarks and classification frameworks across private capital and real assets. With over 20 years of experience across financial services, fintech, and data, she has held senior commercial and product leadership roles at Wilshire Indexes, Qontigo, Bloomberg, and FTSE Russell, building global teams and driving transformational growth throughout her career. Courtney is recognized for her expertise in indexing, institutional sales, and go-to-market strategy, with a track record of launching innovative products. A sought-after leader and mentor, she is passionate about advancing the next generation of talent and bringing transparency and rigor to private markets investing.

Vice President, Relationship Management, MSCI

Charlie Smith, CFA is a Vice President at MSCI, where he serves as a Client Consultant for a wide range of asset owners across North America. In this capacity, Charlie seeks to be a trusted advisor for his clients as they navigate the data, technology and automation challenges and opportunities in front of them. He joined Burgiss in 2022 and has covered Total Plan Manager (legacy Caissa) clients from that point onwards, including through an acquisition of Burgiss by MSCI in 2024. 

Prior to joining Burgiss, Charlie held multiple Client Coverage roles at S&P Global spanning a variety of client types across the capital markets ecosystem. Charlie began his career as a Researcher for Professor Ken Elzinga at the University of Virgina and holds a BS in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Executive Director, Head of Platform and Infrastructure, MSCI

Aman works at MSCI as Head of Platform and Infrastructure for Private Assets. He is responsible for shaping and scaling MSCI’s next generation of private asset solutions. His scope covers AI product strategy, GTM, client engagement, and driving innovative use of data and technology to meet the evolving needs of institutional clients. Prior to leading MSCI's innovation efforts, Aman sat on the executive leadership team of Canoe Intelligence where he was Vice President of Data Strategy. He was responsible for building their LLM suite of products to extract data, executing on their broader commercial data strategy, and launching their international efforts. Aman began his career at JPMorgan across Institutional Sales, followed by Digital Innovation and Strategic Investments, where he led strategy for both private markets and carbon markets.

Chief Investment Officer - Family & Foundation Investments, The Larry H. Miller Company

Mr. Stone is the Chief Investment Officer of the Family & Foundation Investments team at the Larry H. Miller Company. Prior to joining the LHM Company, Mr. Stone was Director of Portfolio Strategy at Ensign Peak Advisors. Previously, he worked for the investment office at Cornell University as Associate Director. Prior to that, he was an equity analyst with Bear Stearns Asset Management and began his career working for Goldman Sachs as a restricted stock analyst.

Mr. Stone received an MBA from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree from Southern Utah University, where he studied finance. In addition to his role at the LHM Company, Mr. Stone currently serves on the investment committees for my529, Utah Symphony/Utah Opera, and Southern Utah University. Mr. Stone is a CFA charterholder and a former adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah.

Executive Director, Product Management, MSCI

Diana Vira is an Executive Director in Product Management for Private Assets at MSCI. She joined the firm through the acquisition of Burgiss, where she previously served as Global Head of Client Service. In her current role, she sets the strategic direction for the Private i platform and leads the Fund of Funds segment within Private Assets, advancing data, analytics, and platform capabilities to address the structural, operational, and reporting complexities of fund of funds strategies across private markets.

Diana holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Master of Business Administration in Risk Management & Finance from Saint Peter’s University.

Chief Investment Officer, Arizona State Retirement System

Michael Viteri is the Chief Investment Officer for the Arizona State Retirement System which manages investment portfolios (Public Equity, Private Equity, Public Fixed Income, Private Credit, and Real Estate) with a market value of $63 billion.

From June 2008 through May 2021, Michael served as the Senior Investment Officer for Oregon State Treasury (OST) which manages investment portfolios for various state agencies with a combined market value of $119 billion, including the $86 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF). Michael joined OST in 2008 and created the internally managed equity program requiring the acquisition and integration of infrastructure governing portfolio management, order management, trading, settlement, and risk management. Michael directed the management of several internally managed domestic, international, and emerging market portfolios and managed multiple external global equity asset managers with total equity assets exceeding $29 billion. He also supervised the investment oversight of the $2.5 billion Oregon Savings Growth Plan (457 plan) and served as the de-facto CIO for the $2 billion Common School Fund Endowment.

Michael served as the Public Equity Portfolio Manager for the $28 billion Arizona State Retirement System from June 2000 through June 2008. From 1998 through 2000 Michael served as a Portfolio Manager at Fan Asset Management in Mountain View, California.

Michael also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Finance and Thunderbird School of Global Management for 13 years, from 2004 through 2017, where he created and implemented course curriculum for three MBA capstone finance courses while teaching over 27 graduate classes.

Michael currently serves as a board member on the FTSE/Russell Index Client Advisory Board, and the MSCI Client Advisory Board. Michael also serves as a non-Executive Director for the China Merchant China Direct Investment Limited Hong Kong closed end fund.

Vice President, Research & Development, MSCI

Patrick’s research covers a broad range of topics across private market strategies, including performance, cash flow management and risk. He previously worked in commodity research at IHS Markit, and before that, as a research affiliate at MIT studying firm behavior. He holds a master’s degree from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, both in economics.