Sam Arnold
Partner and Portfolio Manager
Palo Duro Investment Partners
Sam is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Palo Duro, a long-only investment management firm based in Chicago. Prior to founding Palo Duro, he served as a Portfolio Manager and led the energy team for Citadel’s Global Equities platform in Chicago for four years. Before that, Sam spent six years as a Portfolio Manager for Brookfield’s global listed infrastructure funds, where he managed $5 billion on behalf of institutional investors.
He began his career at ExxonMobil, where he spent six years as an engineer in the upstream division, based in New Orleans and Houston. Between his time at Citadel and Palo Duro, Sam co-founded CarbonPath, an energy transition and carbon credit company focused on reducing fugitive methane emissions through the plugging of orphaned and marginal oil and gas wells. Earlier in his career, he also worked as an analyst at Credit Suisse and Magnetar Capital, specializing in the energy sector.
Sam earned his MBA from Tulane University in 2002 and his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998.
Adam Averite
Private Markets Director
Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana
Adam is currently a Private Markets Director at Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) overseeing its Alternative Assets portfolios. He brings a wealth of experience from previous roles at TRSL, Edmonson County Attorney’s Office, Louisiana State University and Crowe. He holds a JD in JD/DCL from LSU Law as well as being a CPA and CFA.
Deion Banta
Investment Manager
Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana
Deion is a pension fund manager overseeing investments in private equity, private credit, real assets, and real estate within a $14 billion private markets portfolio. He brings experience from previous roles at ING, Amegy Bank, and EY, and holds a B.S. in Finance from Louisiana State University. His expertise includes financial statement and credit analysis, financial modeling, research, and public speaking.
Brett Barth
Co-CEO
BBR Partners
Brett founded BBR Partners in 2000 and currently serves as Co-CEO, along with Evan Roth. Brett’s focus is establishing and executing the tone, culture and management structure of the Investment Research firm along with setting and achieving BBR’s short and long-term goals. Brett is also a member of BBR’s Executive Committee and serves as the Co-Chair of the Investment Committee. Prior to founding BBR, Brett was in the Equities Division of Goldman Sachs. Previously, he served in Goldman’s Equity Capital Markets groups in New York and Hong Kong. He began his career in Goldman Sachs’ Corporate Finance Department.
Robert Betts
Managing Director
Fidelity Investments
Robert is a Managing Director in the High Income and Alternatives division at Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, and other financial services for institutions, intermediaries, and individuals. In this role, Mr. Betts is responsible for originating and managing loans and developing relationships for Fidelity’s direct lending business, which focuses on credit investments in middle-market companies primarily owned by private equity firms.
Before joining Fidelity, Mr. Betts spent eight years at PNC Financial Services Group, where he served as Head of Originations for New England and Canada in the firm’s senior secured lending group. With more than 20 years of experience, he has structured investments across acquisitions, recapitalizations, and special situations.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Betts served four years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Scott Budner
CEO
Seabreeze Partners
Scott brings extensive experience to Seabreeze Partners, where he previously served as CEO through 2013 and has now returned after his role as Manager at SS&C Technologies, the world’s largest hedge fund and private equity administrator. At SS&C, he oversaw alternative investor services and managed hundreds of major client relationships.
Scott has deep expertise in fund operations, complex transactions, capital activity, fund structure and formation, and regulatory compliance. He has also consulted for hedge funds and RIAs on fund structuring, systems migration, and operational efficiency.
A frequent guest speaker, Scott has lectured at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business—his alma mater—and at industry conferences. He resides in Boca Raton, Florida, with his daughters, Sam and Sydney.
Sam Childs
Director, Client Relations
Astra Prime Wealth Management
Sam oversees Client Relations at Astra Prime Wealth Management, an RIA firm specializing in hedged equity portfolios and strategies. Prior to founding Astra Prime, Sam worked at Goldman Sachs in their Wealth Management Group in San Francisco. He holds a Bachelor’s in Financial Management and Computer Science from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.
Noel Christopher
Managing Director of Strategy & Growth
The Fay Group
Noel is a real estate executive with over 25 years of experience scaling platforms in single-family rentals (SFR) and alternative investments. As Managing Director of Strategy & Growth at The Fay Group, a leading residential investment property services firm, Noel drives the advisory team and expansion in brokerage, construction, insurance, lending, title, and property management, leveraging deep institutional experience in the single-family rental and multifamily investment space.
Previously, as Chief Real Estate Officer at Evernest, he led their SFR Opco/Propco fund. As Senior Vice President at Renters Warehouse, he spearheaded M&A property management rollup and their Single Family Rental institutional advisory team, expanding to 42 markets with $250M+ in annual revenue. Earlier, Noel spent 17 years in Chicago in commercial real estate with Elmdale Partners and Inland Real Estate. A frequent Forbes contributor, Noel speaks at industry events, mentoring emerging investors.
Chip Dunn
Founder & CEO
Monomyth Group
Chip has over 30 years of experience in principal investing, M&A, and strategic advisory. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Early in his career, Chip worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, as well as M&A roles at Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, McDonald & Company Securities, and The Chicago Corporation. In 2015, he launched BDT & Company International in London, where he served as Managing Director and CEO. After retiring from the $12B+ BDT Capital Partners in 2017, Chip founded Monomyth Group to pioneer monomyth capital. Today, Chip is Chairman and lead investor in Anovion, Creditspring, and OpenScholar, as well as Chairman and control investor of Smallhold, and principal owner of STONE London and HAWQ Score. He also serves on the advisory board of the Yale Football Association.
Mara Baumgarten Force
Professor of Practice and Director of the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
Mara is the Director of the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning and the Seymour S. Goodman Professor of Business Administration at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business. She joined Tulane in 2017 and has taught courses including The Aaron Selber Jr. Course on Hedge Funds, Financial Management, Investments in Equities, and Financial Literacy. She also serves on the City of New Orleans Revenue Estimating Committee.
Before joining Tulane, Force spent 18 years at JPMorgan, where she was Managing Director and Head of Private Client Trust, leading 150 officers serving 13,000 clients and overseeing hedge fund investments and equity derivative structures.
She serves on the boards and Executive Committees of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Jewish Endowment Foundation, ADL, and Touro Infirmary. A Zin Fellow at Ben Gurion University (2015), she was also a Young Leadership Fellow with the National Committee on U.S./China Relations.
Bjorn Forfang
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Erigo Capital Partners
Bjorn Forfang has over 25 years of experience in global capital markets, including hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, banking, and management consulting. He is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Erigo Capital Partners, a financial advisory firm. Before launching Erigo, he was the Deputy CEO of the CFA Institute, a global association for investment management professionals. For 14 years, he was a Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank, where he held senior management roles in New York and London and served as the Global Head of Senior Relationship Management. Bjorn holds a JD with honors from University of Oslo and an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
Derek Fossier
President
Equitas Capital Advisors
Derek is an Investment Management Consultant with 16 years of industry experience. A New Orleans native, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Tulane University before pursuing an MBA at the A.B. Freeman School of Business, where he continues to serve as a professional advisor to the Tulane AI Trading Club. During his studies, he expanded his expertise in international finance through programs in Mexico, Paris, and Beijing.
Fossier began his career at Equitas Capital Advisors in 2008 as an analyst, conducting research in asset allocation, performance reporting, and manager searches and screens. Outside of his professional work, he has redeveloped 30 Louisiana housing units and advised more than a dozen local startups. He lives in downtown New Orleans with his wife and their three pugs.
Tripp Friedler
Founder
FreeGulliver
Tripp Friedler, Free Gulliver: Tripp is the Founder of FreeGulliver where he has helped families find the purpose of their wealth for over 25 years. A born entrepreneur, Tripp enjoys diving into all aspects of public and private markets, legacy and estate planning and any personal advice his clients may seek. He has served on numerous boards including Chairman of Newman School and President of the YLC. He is also the author of “The Tunnel: A Memoir” and “FreeGulliver: Six Swift Lessons in Life Planning”.
Benjamin Gerber
Vice President
HarbourVest
Benjamin joined HarbourVest in 2020 and focuses on analyzing, structuring, and monitoring secondary private equity opportunities, including LP-led and GP-led transactions.
Benjamin joined the Firm from BMO Capital Markets, where he was an investment banking analyst in the Energy Coverage Group focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions.
Benjamin received a BS (cum laude) in Finance from Tulane University in 2019.
Oleg Gredil
Professor
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
Oleg conducts research on financial intermediaries, focusing primarily on private equity and hedge funds. His work has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Review of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Journal of Corporate Finance. His research has also been featured in NBER Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Private Equity Findings, the London Business School Roundtable on Private Equity Fundraising, and the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.
Canaan Heard
Founder and CEO
Heard Holding Company
Canaan grew up immersed in business, with a family background in manufacturing and real estate spanning generations. He earned his undergraduate degree from LSU before serving in the United States Marine Corps. Following his service, he completed a master’s in physiology at Tulane School of Medicine and conducted medical research while founding a company specializing in military and law enforcement training and security. Building on this experience, Canaan transitioned into sales and operations within his family’s enterprises and later earned an MBA from Tulane. He now leads the family businesses and Heard Holding Company, which focuses on mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, and asset management.
Amanda Heitz
Assistant Professor
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
Amanda is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Her research examines issues in banking, financial disclosure, and corporate social responsibility. Her work has been presented at major international conferences, recognized with multiple research awards, and published in leading academic journals. Amanda earned her Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Minnesota. She also holds a B.S. in Finance, an M.S. in Statistics, and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics all from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Rankin Hobbs
Senior Associate
LongueVue Capital
Rankin is a Senior Associate at LongueVue Capital, where he is actively involved in deal evaluation, transaction execution, and providing operational and financial support to portfolio companies.
Prior to joining LVC full-time, Rankin worked in KPMG’s Mergers & Acquisition Tax group, where he focused on transaction structuring and corporate reorganizations. He also interned at LongueVue Capital prior to joining full-time. Rankin graduated Cum Laude from Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business with a Master’s in Accounting and a BSM in Finance and Legal Studies, and he is pursuing CPA licensure in Louisiana.
Outside of work, Rankin loves trying new restaurants and listening to live music. As an active member of LVC’s Fun Committee, he enjoys planning (and attending) events with his friends, family, and colleagues. Rankin has a passion for traveling, especially if it involves going to the mountains for hiking or skiing.
Lucy Holland
Assistant Vice President
iCapital
Lucy serves as an Assistant Vice President in Fund Origination at iCapital. Prior to joining iCapital, Lucy worked as an Associate at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. She holds a Master's degree in Finance from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and a Bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina.
Jake Kriegsfeld
Managing Director
Tulane Investment Management Office
Jake oversees public investments, including global equity and hedge fund strategies for the Tulane Investment Management Office. He is a Tulane alum and joined the Endowment in June 2013 after completing an internship the prior summer. He graduated summa cum laude from Tulane's A. B. Freeman School of Business with a BSM in Finance and as a member of the William Wallace Peery Society, which recognizes 15 graduating seniors for academic excellence. He also earned a minor in Spanish and completed an international business program in Madrid, Spain. Jake is a CFA charterholder.
Cameron Nifoussi
Analyst
Select Equity Group
Cameron joined Select Equity Group in 2024 following her graduation from Tulane University, where she received a B.S.M. in Finance. A member of the Private Wealth team at Select Equity, she focuses on private wealth opportunities for SEG’s array of traditional hedge fund strategies as well as its private market funds. She has experience working with various bank platforms and private wealth management channels investing in alternative assets. Additionally, she sits on the Junior Board of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization which provides opportunities for athletes with physical disabilities. Prior to joining Select Equity, she spent the summer between her junior and senior years at Tulane working at Millennium Management on the Private Wealth and Institutional Client Development teams. She now resides in Downtown Manhattan and enjoys running and spending time with her friends and family in her free time.
Howard Nifoussi
Partner, U.S. Wealth Management
Apollo Global Management
Howard is a Partner and Head of U.S. Wealth Management on Apollo's Client & Product Solutions team, joining the firm in 2021. He is responsible for expanding the firm's Global Wealth distribution platform in the United States, managing relationships with U.S. Wirehouses and Private Banks to provide individual investors with access to Apollo's various investment strategies. With a career in financial services spanning over two decades, he previously served as a Managing Director in the Americas Client Business at Goldman Sachs Asset Management from 2009 to 2021 and a Director at Citi Alternative Investments from 2000 to 2009. Nifoussi holds a B.A. from the University of Delaware and is a board member of the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County (NJ).
Peter Ricchiuti
Senior Professor of Practice and William B. Burkenroad Jr. Clinical Professorship in Equity Research
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
Peter Ricchiuti is the business professor you wished you had back in college!
His humor and insight have earned him numerous teaching awards at Tulane University, where he created and runs the nationally acclaimed Burkenroad Reports student stock research program.
A native of Boston, Peter graduated from Babson College and began his career with the investment firm of Kidder Peabody. He later managed Louisiana’s $3 billion investment portfolio while serving as the assistant state treasurer.
A nationally recognized speaker, Peter has addressed more than 1,400 groups in 47 states and several countries. He has been featured in Barron’s, Kiplinger’s, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He also hosts a popular weekly business show on National Public Radio in New Orleans called “Out To Lunch.”
Peter is a husband, a dad and a huge baseball fan who has attended games at all 30 current major league ballparks (including many at Fenway Park, home of his beloved Red Sox). He also practices each Saturday morning on Tulane’s campus (the “Field of Dreams”) with the “old guys” baseball team. How old? Their second baseman is 85! He is also a fan of Americana/Blues music and enjoys traveling to otherworldly places such as the Mississippi Delta, the Salton Sea and Plaquemines Parish here in Louisiana.
Jacques Soenens
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
Great Gable Investments
Jacques is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Great Gable Investments, LLC. With over 25 years of experience researching and investing across public and private markets, he has managed capital for institutional, family office, and high-net-worth investors through multiple economic cycles. Before founding Great Gable in 2005, Jacques co-founded Osmium Partners, LLC in San Francisco and previously worked as a research analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) and Prudential Securities in New York.
David Thomas
Founder & CEO
Equitas Capital Advisors and Equitas Partners
David is the founder and CEO of Equitas Capital Advisors, LLC, and Equitas Partners, LLC, serving as an outside Chief Investment Officer for family offices, foundations, universities, hospitals, and corporations.
Active in investment consulting since 1979, David founded the Louisiana consulting group for UBS PaineWebber and later the Senior Financial Consulting Group at Prudential Securities before launching Equitas Capital Advisors in 2002. He also created the award-winning Equitas Evergreen Fund (Bloomberg: EQUEVGR US Equity).
A contributing writer for Forbes Online, David’s work has appeared in Pension World, Directors and Boards, and other publications. He holds the CIMA designation from IMCA and a BBA from Belmont University.
David lectures at Tulane University and lives in Metairie with his wife, Lucy.
David Thompson
Professor
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
After a 30-year career in equity capital markets and the energy sector, David Thompson (B.A. Tulane ’86, M.B.A. NYU Stern ’94) joined the Freeman faculty in 2018. He began his career at Bear Stearns in New York, later leading institutional sales and deal syndication for Raymond James’s European capital markets group before returning to Louisiana to join Johnson Rice as a senior member of its capital markets team.
At Johnson Rice, Thompson helped place more than 60 equity offerings valued at over $20 billion, advised the firm’s in-house fund on macroeconomic and policy issues, and served on its private equity screening committee. Following Hurricane Katrina, he was appointed to the Industrial Development Board of New Orleans, where he chaired the Cost-Benefit Analysis Committee under the Go-Zone bond program and continues to advise on investment and economic development initiatives.
At Freeman, Thompson teaches Venture Capital and Private Equity and the Business Capstone, inspiring students through experiential learning. He also serves on the Faculty Innovation Council of the Tulane Innovation Institute and developed a student-led due diligence course for the Tulane Venture Fund.
Gareth Turner
Partner, Private Equity
Apollo
Gareth is Partner, Private Equity at Apollo, where he oversees the Firm’s investments in the metals and mining Industry. He has served on the board of directors of Arconic, Vallourec, Warrior Met Coal, Constellium, Monier and Noranda Aluminum. Prior to joining Apollo in 2005, Gareth was with Goldman Sachs in London as a Managing Director in their Industrial and Natural Resources investment banking group and served as Global Head of Metals and Mining and Co-Head of Global Chemicals. Gareth has a broad range of experience in capital markets and M&A transactions and was active in the Private Equity group (PIA) of Goldman Sachs, having been a key advisor to this division. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Gareth was with Lehman Brothers and before that, worked for Salomon Brothers and RBC Dominion Securities.
Gareth holds an MBA with Distinction from the University of Western Ontario and a BA from the University of Toronto.
Nicola Volpi
Partner
Permira
Nic Volpi joined Permira’s New York office in 2004 and relocated to Menlo Park in 2011. A member of the Financing Group, he focuses on investment opportunities in the Services and Technology sectors and has worked on transactions including Ancestry, Curriculum Associates, Duff & Phelps / Kroll, Intelsat, Magento, Renaissance Learning, Sushiro, TeamViewer, and Tricor. Nic also serves as Investment Lead for Permira’s social impact partnership with Food for Soul, a charity partner of the Permira Foundation. Prior to Permira, he spent four years at Brera Capital Partners on middle-market buyouts and gained additional experience at Index Securities in Geneva and in Merrill Lynch’s Financial Institutions Group in New York. Nic holds a degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Dillon Weisberg
Private Equity Senior Investment Analyst
Abbot Capital Management
Dillon Weisberg joined Abbott Capital Management in 2023 and focuses on the analysis and due diligence of prospective private equity investments. He is currently a Senior Analyst on the investment team, and has experience in analyzing primary, secondary, and co-investment opportunities. Dillon joined the Firm following his graduation from Tulane University, where he received a B.S.M. in Finance.
Robard Williams
Strategy Consultant & Former Americas Chief Credit Officer
Moody’s Investors Service
Robard is a seasoned research and strategy leader with more than two decades of experience analyzing macroeconomic, regulatory, and sector-specific developments across financial services and capital markets. He previously served as Managing Director of Business Strategy at Moody’s Analytics and as Chief Credit Officer for the Americas at Moody’s Investors Service, where he led cross-sector research initiatives and advised on emerging risks including private credit, fintech, and systemic financial vulnerabilities. Earlier in his career, Robard was a Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, contributing to global regulatory policy and systemic risk frameworks. He currently advises startups and mid-sized businesses on growth, market differentiation, and strategic planning.
Myke Yest
Senior Professor of Practice, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Peter F. Ricchiuti Professorship in Finance
A.B. Freeman School of Business Tulane University
Myke joined Tulane’s Freeman School of Business in 2002 as an adjunct professor, and over the past 21 years he has served in capacities including the director of Freeman’s partnership with the CFA Institute and as co-director of the Altman Program in International Studies and Business. He has won numerous awards for his teaching. He also has developed innovative experiential learning courses for Freeman students, including the Freeman Reports Program and the Aaron Selber Courses in Alternative Investments. Myke holds a BBA in Finance and Banking from Stetson University, an MBA from the University of South Florida and a PhD in Finance from Tulane.
