Women in private equity 10 standouts talk mentorship, diversity and the future of PE - Vista Equity Partners
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March 2021 • buyoutsinsider.com
Women in private equity 10 standouts talk mentorship,
diversity and the future of PE
Cover story
standout
women in PE
We profile 10 who are seizing the day, but we
also ask why there are so few females at the dealmaking
table, and despite recent progress, what needs to be
changed to rectify the imbalance.
By Chris Witkowsky
K
March 2021 • buyoutsinsider.com
athleen Taylor, who spent Altas Partners in 2019 as chairperson,
years in the senior ranks at does not have a conventional family story,
Four Seasons Hotels, includ- and she has faced judgment for her de-
ing as chief executive officer, Women in private equity 10 standouts talk mentorship,
cisions. “We made the choices that were
is often asked what is the right for our family and our careers. What
diversity and the future of PE
hardest decision she ever had
to make as a business leader.
Cover story people struggle with today is a sense of
the ideal family; in reality, each family is
While most people usually expect an quite unique,” Taylor says.
answer involving a momentous business Taylor’s story is one shared by many
or political decision, Taylor says it was women in corporate America and private
more personal than that. family who pitched in to help when she equity. Taylor was able to raise a family
The most difficult decision Taylor and her husband were on the road. and pursue her career goals, but she was
made in her career was when she and her “We had a big happy family that was lucky in that the company she worked for
husband decided how they were going to more than willing to take the children had a progressive attitude toward work/
raise their young family. They were both whenever we needed them. In many re- life balance, she says.
busy professionals and Taylor’s career spects, it was fabulous for the kids: they The work/family flexibility Taylor
with a global hotel company required ex- learned to sleep just about anywhere; they worked to achieve helped her maintain
tensive travel. were raised and loved by a wide group of motivation and momentum through her
The couple decided to rely on a live- people who today they have extraordinar- career.
in caregiver to help raise the kids. They ily strong relationships with.” Sadly, this flexibility seems like a
also had the advantage of a large extended Taylor, who joined private equity firm far-off dream for many women in the
20 Buyouts • March 2021
Cover story
9.9%
business world, in financial services and
especially in private equity, outside of the
largest firms. This is especially true when
it comes to women dealmakers.
Firms not acknowledging the unique
challenges faced by their talented female
dealmakers, especially when and if they
decide to start a family, is part of the Percentage of partners in private equity
who are women (with 6.4 percent being
explanation for why many drop off the
managing partners), according to Preqin’s
partner track right around mid-career, 2020 Women in Alternatives report
numerous sources tell Buyouts.
19.7%
For deal leadership to ever become
more diverse, the industry will have to do
a better job of supporting women to grow
and stay on their career tracks even if they
decide to have families.
Partner track
Private equity has made strides in its ef-
forts to attract more women, with many
firms broadening their search for talent
30%
Percentage of junior
Percentage of all private equity employees
who are women, up from 18.8 percent in
2017, Preqin reports
beyond the traditional pool of investment employees who are women; with
women making up 25 percent of mid-
bankers. level staff and 11.9 percent of the most
1,250
Investment banks and business schools senior ranks, according to Preqin
are seeing more women, and overall the
outlook for increased diversity in finan-
cial services is bright.
The expectation is, with more women Number of deals studied in a report by Oliver
Gottschalg of HEC Paris, which found that deals led by a woman
moving into the industry early in their ca-
outperformed male-only deal teams by 12 percentage points on
reers, inevitably some will make the tran- an IRR basis. Deals led by diverse teams also have failure rates
sition into deal leadership. 8 percentage points lower than deals led only by men
“The industry as a whole has come a
long way over the last five years. The suc-
cess of women that are there today, the managing directors, partners, senior of women in deal leadership among big
role models they are, and the focus the managing directors, managing general shops. The firm has six women who have
firms have on this topic, I expect the pace partners and C-suite executives, Preqin the title of partner on deal teams across
of change would quicken over the next found. its private equity platform. A total of 20
five years,” says Rebecca Burack, partner One glaring gap that still exists in pri- women have led or co-led deals across the
at consultancy Bain & Co who leads the vate equity is at the deal partner level, platform with the title of either partner or
private equity practice in the Americas. including on investment committees. It principal, and even a few at the vice-pres-
Women make up 9.9 percent of part- is here where there is a dearth of female ident level, according to a spokesman for
ners in the private equity industry, and 6.4 voices. Even the biggest firms, which have the firm.
percent of managing partners, according led the way in improving their processes The firm also has open investment
to data provider Preqin’s 2020 Women in for more inclusive recruiting, continue to committee meetings, in which all invest-
Alternatives report. Women make up 19.7 have senior deal leadership dominated by ment professionals can participate, the
percent of total private equity employees, men. spokesman says.
which has grown from 18.8 percent in “Unless a woman founded the firm,
2017, Preqin found. it’s pretty rare to see a woman as a voting The importance of mentors
Overall, women make up 30 percent of member of the investment committee,” “Private equity is an apprenticeship busi-
junior employees, 25 percent of mid-level says Andrea Auerbach, global head of ness built on mentorship and relationship
staff – which includes senior associates, private equity at consultancy Cambridge cultivation. It takes years to progress
vice-presidents, managers, directors and Associates. from associate to partner, so we are fo-
principals – and 11.9 percent of employ- Some firms are working to correct this. cused on the development, promotion,
ees in the most senior ranks, including TPG may have the strongest presence and retention of our internal pipeline to
March 2021 • Buyouts 21
Cover story
ensure women and diverse firm members appears to be stronger than that of more
have equal opportunities to build mean- homogenous groups.
ingful careers – more than half of our In an analysis of 1,250 deals, a study
most recent associate class identifies as from Oliver Gottschalg, an associate pro-
a woman or ethnic minority,” says Anilu fessor at HEC Paris, found that those led
Vazquez-Ubarri, partner and chief hu- by a woman outperformed male-only deal
man resources officer at TPG. teams by 12 percentage points on an IRR
Elsewhere, Thoma Bravo has no wom- basis and by 0.52x in terms of multiples
en on the deal team at the partner level. of invested capital. Deals led by diverse
The firm is bringing in more women at teams also have failure rates 8 percentage
the associate level, with the expectation points lower than deals led only by men,
that the upper ranks on the deal team will the study found.
achieve more diversity in the future. The
firm’s most recent associate group was The whirlwind
made up of 50 percent women. “We made the choices Lauren Leichtman, co-founder and chair
“Our hiring strategy has always been at Levine Leichtman, is one of the pio-
focused on attracting and cultivating that were right for our neers of private equity. To retain talented
young talent and supporting their career women professionals, the firm supports
trajectory. Our collaborative, entrepre- family and our careers” women dealmakers who take maternity
neurial culture has driven high employee leave by offering flexible schedules and
retention rates across the firm. As such, KATHLEEN TAYLOR ensuring that they are able to stay on
the biggest entry point for investment Altas Partners their career tracks when they return from
talent at Thoma Bravo is at the associate leave.
level,” says Jennifer James, managing di- “At our firm, if a woman takes three or
rector, chief operating officer and head of four months off … the minute they come
investor relations and marketing. back they’re going to hit the ground run-
Blackstone Group has three part- ning,” she says. “It’s hard to get someone
ner-level women in private equity, along up and running and get them integrated
with a group of female managing direc- into your firm. You don’t want to lose that
tors on the deal team. To diversify the person to someone else.”
senior ranks on the deal team, the firm It’s important to keep in context that
has been developing its programs for en- maternity leave (or, more frequently these
gagement and retention. days, family leave), usually represents a
A few of the programs Blackstone es- period of a few months. Compared with a
tablished include active networks focused successful career of 30 years or so, that’s a
on women, minorities, LGBT+ and vet- drop in the bucket, Leichtman says.
erans. The firm also has mentorship pro- Dealmakers who become deal leads
grams, including workshops with the au- are generally acknowledged to be on the
thors of the book Athena Rising: How and leadership track at firms and potentially
Why Men Should Mentor Women. headed for the pinnacle at any firm, a seat
Vista Equity Partners has four women on the investment committee.
who are called operating managing di- The biggest concern for many female
rectors, which are the equivalent of deal dealmakers taking maternity leave is los-
managing directors at other firms. Vista ing the deal pipeline that they spent years
has eight women on the partner track, building up.
according to a person with knowledge of “The path to being on the investment
the firm. committee requires you, as a private eq-
The push for more diverse investment uity professional, to be a really effective
teams goes beyond issues of equality: the decision maker on investment decisions,
performance of diverse investment teams and you need to have good deal judg-
22 Buyouts • March 2021
Cover story
KKR’s family leave
policy
ment and an effective voice,” says Lisa
Melchior, managing partner and founder KKR offers one of the most
of Vertu Capital. Melchior spent years robust family leave benefits
in the senior ranks at OMERS Private in the industry. Here’s a
Equity. sampling of its program:
At mid-career, “some women opt out.
And sometimes the men at their firms • Paid leave for primary
who don’t want to lose the woman, and caregivers from 12 to 18 weeks
worry about them opting out, offer them and for non-primary caregivers
roles that are not deal-lead roles, like from one to four weeks.
work in operations, and say, ‘Why not • Family building/support
do this instead,’ and at that critical stage, programs like unlimited
they take those roles. They’re probably IVF coverage and donor egg
not making it back on to the deal lead coverage through healthcare
track,” Melchior says. plan, infertility management and
Melchior’s own experience was a healthy pregnancy support, egg
whirlwind during the years when she was freezing, surrogacy, adoption
having children and raising a family and reimbursement benefits option,
maintaining a high-flying career of fre- emergency back-up child/
“Unless a woman quent global travel and long hours. elder care services and access
The life of a private equity mom is to digital mental well-being
founded the firm, manageable, says Melchior, who has resources.
it’s pretty rare to three children. But it requires sacrifice • Paid childcare travel program
and support. Add to these personal and for primary caregivers with
see a woman as a professional challenges the idea that the option of bringing their
many women feel the need to be twice as baby and childcare provider on
voting member of the productive as their male colleagues. essential business-related travel.
“I’m going to work twice as hard and • Paid breast-milk shipping
investment committees” be twice as good because I really want to during business travel.
be at the table … if you’re twice as good, • Up to four weeks of 100 percent
ANDREA AUERBACH they can’t deny you being at the table,” paid family caregiving leave for
Cambridge Associates Melchior says. employees who need time to
With that mindset, however, also care for a family member.
comes the belief that you have to be per-
fect. “Women take things much more
personally. We’re our own worst crit-
ics. You can imagine in an environment
where, for every deal I do, there’s 20 that ented women deal professionals to give
I lose, it’s tough, you have to get over them the flexibility they need to raise
that. You’re not going to make every families and maintain their careers.
shot.” “There are people who are savvy
Part of the problem lies with the idea, enough to understand that losing out on
still prevalent, that women who decide to half the talent in an industry is not a good
start families won’t be able to handle the idea,” says Tiffany Kosch, managing part-
rigors of leading deals. And to be sure, ner and founder of CenterGate Capital.
many women who decide to have chil- Kosch worked on deals at HIG Capital
dren choose to step off the partner path for eight years.
for roles with more flexibility. The question is, when does savvy be-
But the responsibility is on firms that come the norm and translate to more
have invested time and resources in tal- women at the deal table? n
March 2021 • Buyouts 23
Cover story
just starting out. I really love partnering in their growth and
development, being more than just a source of capital.”
Bowdoin joined Siguler Guff in 2009 as “a junior-most
analyst,” eventually rising to become a managing director.
The job puts her in constant touch with small buyout funds,
doing everything from sharing advice and best practices, and
introducing LPs to providing resources to portfolio companies,
including new customer relationships.
Siguler Guff has directed more of its capital to co-
investments, allowing it to take minority stakes in companies and
hold board seats. The result, Bowdoin says, is stronger bonds
with small buyout managers. “There is no better way to get to
know a general partner team than looking at a deal with them.”
Bowdoin, 37, credits Siguler Guff with creating a
Sara Bowdoin collaborative, diverse environment for her and other female
Managing director investment professionals. “I’ve been fortunate. It’s not every
Siguler Guff woman’s experience in a male-dominated industry to have access
to expanding opportunities and roles.”
Bowdoin believes the PE industry is making progress:
“It was not uncommon for me to be the only woman “When I got started, it was not uncommon for me to be the
in the room” only woman in the room. While that still happens, it happens
less.” Further change will come from limited partners “making
For Sara Bowdoin, small is beautiful. Before her 12-year stint at diversity a condition of their capital,” she says. “Sometimes,”
Siguler Guff, she worked as an analyst in the mid-market team she notes, “it’s enough to simply ask the question.”
of an investment banking shop and later its acquirer, Lazard. A sign of progress, Bowdoin says, are the range of PE
The experience gave her a first taste of PE at the grassroots networks and organizations that are today available to female
level, operating on behalf of a large universe of small businesses. professionals. Interactions with other women in these venues
This, Bowdoin says, is what drew her to Siguler Guff, which are inspiring to her, as is the feedback she receives on topics like
invests in small buyout funds and their portfolios of hundreds of “how to be a successful working mother.”
small and low-mid-market companies. “Siguler Guff occupies Bowdoin holds a BA in Mathematics from Wake Forest
a unique spot in the market,” she says. “Our core focus is small University. Outside of work, her primary occupation is two
business, including small buyout managers that are themselves boys, aged five and seven.
“It’s not lost on me that I’m 31 years old and I have
four CEOs on a speed dial”
Shannon Bracken, 31, a vice-president at Vista Equity, found
her way into private equity by chance. Bracken, who studied
government at Dartmouth, was also a competitive lacrosse
player. The love of a high-paced, dynamic, competitive
environment led her to her first job at RBC Capital Markets.
After a few years at RBC and then CIBC, she pursued a
career in investment banking, settling into a job at Perella
Weinberg Partners bank as an M&A and restructuring analyst.
“I wanted something a little bit more dynamic,” she recalls.
“It was like a crash course in all things finance: I spent a lot of
Shannon Bracken nights banging my head against the wall trying to learn how
Vice-president financial statements work and all those types of things. I was
Vista Equity coming from a government major in college, so did not learn
any of that academically.”
24 Buyouts • March 2021
Cover story
importance of building strong relationships. It was through
a connection she met Goldman’s CIO, Sharmin Mossavar-
Rahmani, who introduced her to the idea of private equity.
“Although I had no particular investing experience, she really
encouraged me to get into this,” Daneshzadeh says.
Picking the consumer space to begin with came naturally; she
always loved building brands, didn’t want to be a generalist and
had prior experience as an operator for a consumer business.
“You have to be really passionate about what you do and have a
lot of grit [as an investor],” she explains.
Prelude Growth’s recent deals include better-for-you pasta
brand Banza and immunity-boosting shot maker So Good So
You. Both investments were driven by Daneshzadeh’s strong
Neda belief in the shift in consumer preference. “Millennials are
Daneshzadeh currently the single largest population and they are seeking
Partner brands focused on wellness and transparency,” she says.
Prelude Growth Partners For Daneshzadeh, diversity always follows the law of large
numbers. “If you have a class of 10 analysts coming in and nine
“As women get more senior, we start craving of those are men, you are going to fail,” she explains, putting
female company” the onus on PE leaders to ensure more women enter the
industry.
In 2017, Daneshzadeh became a rare find: a co-founder of a The challenge of omission shows up in the upper ranks.
private equity firm launched by two women. “As women get more senior, we start craving female company;
After spending over 12 years at L Catteron, she partnered particularly it’s the perspective, thought partnership and
with consumer industry veteran Alicia Santog from Johnson incremental thinking,” she says.
& Johnson to form Prelude Growth Partners, which The New York-based investor advises up-and-coming
invests in fast-growing consumer brands. Spinning out of women in the industry to build strong relationships with their
L Catteron, the largest consumer-focused private equity colleagues. “We may not all play golf, but we can find our own
group in the world, came with its perks. L Catterton made unique way to build connections.”
introductions to some of their relevant LPs. Daneshzadeh enjoys renovating, specifically interior design.
Daneshzadeh, who has a Persian-British-American She lives with her husband and two daughters – nine and 12
background, started out as a banker, emphasizes the years old.
Close to two years into the role at Perella, she had a now, is it’s really the role where you become the point person
new goal – private equity. Her first interview was with Vista for the executives in the companies that you work with,” she
Equity. says.
She got the job at Vista in 2015 and remembers falling in “It’s not lost on me that I’m 31 years old and I have four
love with her role, as well as the move to the Lone Star state, CEOs on a speed dial on my phone that have 25 years
where Vista is headquartered. “I love the people, I love the of experience and are incredibly well respected and
operational focus, I felt like I was going to learn a lot,” she says. successful.”
“For me, it was also really important that I get out of New As deal captain, she has worked on the take-private of the
York and New England. I grew up in Connecticut, I went to fitness, beauty and wellness technology platform Mindbody and
Dartmouth, I went back to New York, and I couldn’t remember the acquisition of CRM platform Pipedrive.
another scenario where I had to make new friends in a new One piece of advice she gives young females starting their
ecosystem.” careers: “I’ve been very fortunate around the mentors that I’ve
At Vista, she is a deal captain, which gives her an opportunity had, and those have been male and female mentors, which I
to be involved in every aspect of the deal work from sourcing to think is incredibly important. You want to be getting advice
execution to portfolio support. from a diverse set of people... make sure you are accumulating
“It’s a very diverse role, each day is very different, but I think mentors who will give you different perspectives at different
the piece I like the most, and probably the most proud of right points in your career.”
March 2021 • Buyouts 25
Cover story
Daphne Dufresne She began her career as an associate director in Bank of
Managing partner Scotland’s structured finance group, focusing on European
GenNx360 Capital Partners MBOs. Her later enrollment in Kauffman Fellows led to a
posting at Weston Presidio, which hired Dufresne, made her
“We really have strong diversity across the board a principal, and taught her the PE business, “soup to nuts.”
... We don’t tout it, we just live it.” Dufresne added to her PE credentials by joining fund of
funds Parish Capital Advisors as venture partner in 2005.
Daphne Dufresne says her more than two-decade career On behalf of Robert Johnson/RLJ Companies and Carlyle
in private equity owes much to “a no-nonsense mom” Group, she next helped launch and build RLJ Equity
who expected big things from her daughters. A Haitian Partners. As a managing director, she oversaw several
immigrant, Dufresne’s mother put in mid-market investments, chairing
long hours on a Wall Street clerical Fleischmann’s Vinegar and Media
job but still found time to give her kids Source.
home-cooked meals and help with GenNx360 hired Dufresne in 2017,
homework. “Mom made sure we got
“Mom made sure we offering her “a larger platform to do
straight A’s,” Dufresne says. “But she got straight A’s. But bigger mid-market deals with world-
backed up her high expectations of us class operational leaders,” she says.
by working very hard herself.” she backed up her high Dufresne has led 10 deals for three
Dufresne says her mother also companies, including GenServe, a
taught lessons about saving: “She expectations of us by generator maintenance provider she
owned three suits which she wore in aims to “triple or quadruple in size
rotation.” When Dufresne as a young working very hard before we’re done.”
girl took a summer job at a Brooklyn She is also a partner with Portfolia
shoe store, her first purchase was “a herself” Rising America Fund, a VC investor
new suit for mom.” in companies run by entrepreneurs
The no-nonsense parenting paid of color and those who are LGBTQ.
off. In 1994 Dufresne earned a BS Dufresne, 48 and a mother of three,
in engineering from the University sees in GenNx360 one of the PE
of Pennsylvania and, in 1999, an industry’s most diverse managers. “We
MBA from Harvard Graduate really have strong diversity across the
School of Business. Looking to be board,” she says. “We have it all –
an entrepreneur or an investor, she white and black, Asians and Hispanics,
heard at school that “PE was sexy” and men and women of all types. We don’t
thought it might be a way to do both. tout it, we just live it.”
26 Buyouts • March 2021
Cover story
Sarah Sommer McCulloch, both managing directors at Insight at that time.
Partner In 2009, Levin and McCulloch decided to spin out from
Level Equity Insight and start their own growth equity firm. They asked
Sommer to come along and join them on the new adventure.
“When we started the firm, I was young, it was a huge
“Every single day the job is different”
step, it was a huge risk to take because we left an established
platform and we didn’t have a fund,” Sommer says. “But I
Sarah Sommer knows the value of a good mentor. knew that if I went and worked with Ben, he would invest in
Sommer graduated from the Wharton School, where me and help me grow in all the areas.”
she studied finance. Soon after, in 2004, she landed a job at At Level, Sommer has worked on Wombat, a security
Insight Partners. awareness and training software
“I didn’t even know what growth provider later acquired by Proofpoint,
equity was until I took an internship at and on Onit, an enterprise legal
Insight between my junior and senior management software, later acquired
year, and then I just fell in love with by K1 Investment Management. She
the business,” Sommer recalls. “It’s also led the acquisition of Criteria, an
actually the same thing that I found HR software company acquired by
exciting then is what I find exciting Sumeru Equity Partners.
now, which is every single day the job “The variety, the Looking back, Sommer recognizes
is different. the importance of working with
“The variety, the adrenaline and adrenaline and people who you like and trust. “We
excitement of having to constantly had an ability to take the blows
be thinking, and thinking hard, and excitement of having to together but also celebrate the wins
learning – I loved that as an intern and together,” she remembers, with
I love it now, 16 years later,” Sommer constantly be thinking, Sinatra-like phrasing.
adds. The experience of choosing the
Starting as an analyst at Insight,
and thinking hard, and unknown resonates with entrepreneurs
Sommer worked her way up to a senior learning – I loved that that Level Equity speaks to, Sommer
associate, transitioning from cold says. “No matter how big our business
calling CEOs to deal execution during as an intern and I love gets, or how many deals we do, or how
her six-year tenure at the firm. many exits we have, we all still feel like
During her time at Insight, Sommer it now” underdogs,” she says. “I think it makes
met a few mentors who believed in you better at what you do and people
her potential: Ben Levin and George can relate to that.”
March 2021 • Buyouts 27
Cover story
med when she started college, before pivoting to economics.
“Every step was a bit of a fluke, but I ended up at Goldman
Sachs after college.” Fortuitous timing: Sunder joined
Goldman’s financial institutions group amid the Global
Financial Crisis from 2007 to 2009, which “shapes your world
view obviously,” Sunder says. “Nothing since then has ever been
quite as stressful.”
Sunder first dabbled in PE as an associate at TPG Capital,
before attending HBS and ultimately landing at Blackstone in
Anushka Sunder 2013. She initially split her time between tech and healthcare,
Managing director but recently has specialized in pharma services and anything
Blackstone tech-enabled. “For me, it’s fun to have a lot of deep domain
experience. I love the science part of the job,” Sunder says.
Helping lead Blackstone’s 2020 investment in Precision
“I love the science part of the job” Medicine Group was one of the most exciting deals she’s worked
on. “Their full team is really focused on adding new cutting-
If you ask Sunder, she’ll tell you there isn’t one path or style edge technologies. It’s a platform for additional M&A and
that everyone needs to follow in private equity. “My personality levered to some of the most exciting macro trends in biopharma
is probably more lighthearted than many people in finance clinical development.”
and it works for me. You don’t have to conform to a particular Sunder in 2020 was also involved in the firm’s investment
stereotype of what you think people ought to be.” in HealthEdge and its two add-ons. She is also co-chair of the
She adds: “Being curious is really important. It requires Blackstone Women’s Initiative task force and on the Blackstone
thinking for yourself, being bold and having your own Charitable Foundation Leadership Council. Blackstone, over
convictions that don’t necessarily need to match other peoples.” the last six years, has more than doubled the number of women
Now a managing director on the healthcare team at in its analyst class to 45 percent.
Blackstone, Sunder grew up wanting to be a doctor. She had Sunder enjoys playing tennis, running, yoga and reading –
done research at the National Institutes of Health and was pre- and is “a terrible cook but working on getting better.”
“You have to be your own biggest cheerleader
and critic”
Being a triathlete has given Walsh valuable lessons when it
comes to being a dealmaker.
“When you are doing an 80-mile bike ride there’s nobody
to tell you to keep going,” says Walsh on a videocall, with
medals dangling behind her. “You have to be your own biggest
cheerleader and critic at the same time.”
Walsh, who joined Aquiline as an investor in 2019, spends
most of her time pursuing deal opportunities in the insurance
and wealth management sectors.
Christina Walsh Most recently, she led the firm’s December investment in
Investment professional SageView Advisory Group, a retirement planning and wealth
Aquiline Capital Partners management advisor. She sits on the company’s board and
views herself as an extension of the team.
28 Buyouts • March 2021Cover story
ultimately joined TPG Capital in 2009 as a generalist associate.
“My first month at TPG, the Affordable Care Act was
getting hashed out, and because I had done healthcare
previously, [Todd Sisitsky, TPG Capital’s co-head of healthcare]
pulled me into a conference room where we worked for the next
month trying to figure out what was going to happen. So, from
Day 1, I was pretty involved with the healthcare team,” she says.
Now a principal on TPG’s healthcare team, Wood’s
highlights include co-leading the team’s April 2020 investment
in LifeStance Health, the country’s largest behavioral health
services provider, commanding a $1.2 billion deal value. She is
also a board member on six portfolio companies and serves as co-
chair of TPG’s San Francisco Women’s Affinity group.
While there is still a long way to go, Wood is encouraged
Katherine by the growing number of women at her level in PE, having
Wood even sold a TPG portfolio company, Adare Pharmaceuticals,
Principal to a woman she met at Harvard Business School – Thomas H
TPG Lee’s Megan Preiner – who reached out to Wood and ultimately
bought the business last year alongside Frazier Healthcare
“The people I’ve worked with have really Partners. At the same time, she says: “I think it’s really
supported me” important to involve men in the conversation,” which can help
reveal blind spots and lead to valuable mentorship relationships.
Growing up in Dallas with two physician parents, Wood landed Mentorship has been pivotal for Wood, who says “there is
at Stanford University to study molecular and cell biology, no chance” she would have even gotten to the starting line and
earning a BS with Honors while playing on the varsity field landed a job at TPG if it hadn’t been for her associate mentor.
hockey team. Wood studied diseases and participated in public For Wood, one silver-lining of the quarantine year was the
health HIV programs in South Africa. time it gave her to be with her first child, a boy born in 2019.
“Maybe it was just one too many hours in the cold lab room,” “That was a good transition, I had at least prepared for the all-
Wood jokes. Or perhaps it was her experience managing a free nighters,” says Wood, who connected with many women peers
clinic with Stanford med students on the weekends that inspired in her PE network to hear their experiences as new moms.
her to pivot to the business side of healthcare. She is grateful for what she has: “I’ve spent much of my life
Wood, 36, got her start in finance at Goldman Sachs there [TPG]. I’ve had health issues, family tragedies and the
before ever taking a business class or summer internship. She people I’ve worked with have really supported me through it all.”
For Walsh, the challenges of private equity can be It was at Evercore that she first met the Aquiline private
compounded by the differences of perception and interaction investment team as an advisor on the $490 million Simply
between women and men: “We think, talk, process and Business deal.
communicate differently.” Taking the plunge, she started talking to people at Aquiline
But Walsh thinks this distinction in the old boys’ club is an to check if they were hiring. “I really saw the opportunity at
opportunity for women. that time, but the timing wasn’t right,” she says.
“There are instances where we have better listening skills Instead, after almost three years at Evercore she joined
and can bring a very different perspective to an investment,” Focus Financial Partners.
she says. “I was doing M&A and strategy there; I got to see how
She entered private equity to figure out how deals worked. the sausage is made,” she jokes. She eventually made it to her
“I started my career in various management roles, but I realized current gig at Aquiline.
I was craving the analytical perspective,” she says. Keeping up with her triathlete past, Walsh still loves to run
Walsh at the age of 29 received her MBA from The and bike.
Wharton School before joining Evercore, first as a summer She also recently added a new member to her home – a
associate before ultimately being promoted to senior Cavapoo puppy. “That’s taking up a good amount of non-deal
associate. time,” she chuckles.
March 2021 • Buyouts 29Cover story
Michelle Lung
Senior Principal at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, where she is a senior
principal for private markets, focusing on buyouts fund
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
investments in the North American market. The fund, valued
“I had a desire for intellectually rewarding work” at C$205 billion ($162 billion) as of June 30, 2020, provides
benefits to 329,000 active and retired teachers.
Michelle Lung was born and raised in Toronto, the child Lung describes Ontario Teachers’ global funds strategy as
of first-generation immigrants who instilled in her a strong “multi-faceted,” which she finds intellectually stimulating and
work ethic and focus on education. “I have always been eager challenging.
to succeed and keen to learn,” she says. She also works on cross-asset class investments, which she
She took that desire to the finds highly rewarding.
University of Toronto, where she “It truly embodies the collaborative
received her bachelor’s degree culture we encourage as an
in Business Administration. organization,” she says.
From there, she worked at Lung encourages women interested
PricewaterhouseCoopers, eventually in the private equity industry to
joining the Valuations group within network and build connections across
the Deals & Consulting unit. That the industry as early as possible,
was when she developed an interest in surround themselves with great
private equity. mentors, and look for organizations
“I had a desire for intellectually “I believe that focused on diversity and inclusion.
rewarding work and an ability But she also thinks there is more the
to influence and be accountable company initiatives industry can do.
for the decisions that I would be “It is one of the more demanding
making,” Lung says. “I also liked the focused on mentoring industries when it comes to achieving
ability to measure and evaluate my work-life balance,” she says. “I
performance.”
and retention... are believe that company initiatives
Moreover, she describes PE important to attract focused on mentoring and retention,
as comprised of “highly creative, career mobility across groups and
intellectually curious and talented more young women into geographies, and increased flexibility
individuals.” are important to attract more young
Since 2014, Lung has worked this field” women into this field.”
30 Buyouts • March 2021Cover story
Lauren Young California to work for the Carlyle Group, helping to open a
Managing director California office. After three years with Carlyle, she left for
Advent International Harvard Business School to get her MBA. After that, she
started with Advent, where she is now a managing director.
“I’m a bit of a deal junkie and enjoy every step of “I’m a bit of a deal junkie and enjoy every step of the
the process” process and the excitement and pace of it all,” she says.
From Carlyle to Advent, Young’s entire career has been
Lauren Young’s path through life has been a bit unexpected. in tech investing. Deals she has been involved with include
She grew up in New Jersey, the child of two scientists. Her investments Definitive Healthcare, CCC Information
father was a chemical engineer and her mother an organic Services and Tekion. “The deals are just so competitive that
chemist who discovered a drug. Young it really necessitates prioritizing deals
says her mother was “incredible to you want to win,” she says. “How you
have as my role model growing up.” allocate your time is something I’m
“I think my mom always had visions always working on.”
of me going into science or medicine,
“It took a village for me Young also steers Advent’s “women
but I ended up going the business inclusion network,” also called WIN,
to get where I am today. which includes social and education
path and studied economics,” Young
explains. “I fell in love with dissecting I feel a responsibility programming as well as mentorship.
companies and digging into markets.” She says she has seen progress in
After getting her bachelor’s to recruit, seek out and gender equality in the industry, but
degree at Davidson College in North feels there is a “supply issue,” as many
Carolina, Young entered the finance develop women in my women do not want to enter the field
industry at a Charlotte, North or stay in for the long haul.
Carolina-based investment bank called career path” “It took a village for me to get
McColl Partners, which has since been where I am today,” she says. “I feel a
acquired by Deloitte. responsibility to recruit, seek out and
From there, she moved to develop women in my career path.” n
March 2021 • Buyouts 31You can also read
