New Jersey Private Market Emerging Managers Symposium

As Director and Chief Investment Officer, Shoaib Khan is responsible for the overall operations of the New Jersey Division of Investment with assets of over $120 billion. The Division of Investment is responsible for the investment management of New Jersey’s Pension Fund, which supports the retirement plans of over 800,000 members in numerous pension systems. The Division of Investment also manages the State of New Jersey’s Cash Management Fund.

Mr. Khan joined the Division of Investment in January, 2021 as Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. In June 2021, he assumed the role of Acting Director and in June 2022, was sworn in as Director and Chief Investment Officer. Throughout his career, Mr. Khan has served in numerous senior management positions at both public and private investment institutions domestically and around the globe.

Prior to joining New Jersey Division of Investment, Mr. Khan served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Florida State Board of Administration. He has also previously served in the roles of Global Head of Portfolio Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a Switzerland-based private bank and Strategy Head at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management in New York. Mr. Khan holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Florida International University and received a Masters of Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a CPA.

Governor Philip D. Murphy Biography

After many years spent on Wall Street, Deepak Raj founded and is managing director of the New Jersey-based private investment firm Raj Associates with investments in real estate and public and private securities. His wide-ranging philanthropic service encompasses a wide range of issues affecting India and Indian-Americans. He serves as Chairman of the India Philanthropy Alliance and is a former Chairman of Pratham USA. He and his wife Neera established the Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies under the auspices of the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University in 2015.He is also co-Founder of Indian-American Impact which aims to harness the potential of the South Asian community in public service. 

Deepak held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch over a 24-year career including director of Global Equity Research. He was elected chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council in 2019. The Council formulates policies governing the investment of funds and supervises the $80 billion NJ Pension Fund.

A chartered financial analyst, Deepak graduated from IIT Kanpur with a BTech in electrical engineering and earned an MBA from Northeastern University. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Kanpur. He and Neera have two grown children and live in Princeton, New Jersey.

As Director and Chief Investment Officer, Shoaib Khan is responsible for the overall operations of the New Jersey Division of Investment with assets of over $120 billion. The Division of Investment is responsible for the investment management of New Jersey’s Pension Fund, which supports the retirement plans of over 800,000 members in numerous pension systems. The Division of Investment also manages the State of New Jersey’s Cash Management Fund.

Mr. Khan joined the Division of Investment in January, 2021 as Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. In June 2021, he assumed the role of Acting Director and in June 2022, was sworn in as Director and Chief Investment Officer. Throughout his career, Mr. Khan has served in numerous senior management positions at both public and private investment institutions domestically and around the globe.

Prior to joining New Jersey Division of Investment, Mr. Khan served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Florida State Board of Administration. He has also previously served in the roles of Global Head of Portfolio Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a Switzerland-based private bank and Strategy Head at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management in New York. Mr. Khan holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Florida International University and received a Masters of Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a CPA.

Lisa Walker is the Deputy Director and Deputy CIO for the Division of Investment for the State of New Jersey. She began this role in January of 2023.

Prior to joining the Division, Lisa has had a three-decade long career working in the private sector for firms including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. Most recently, Lisa Walker was a senior investor on BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund, a multi-asset strategy fund with assets under management during her tenure of up to $100 billion. She also previously managed the BlackRock Global Financial Services Fund and BGF World Financials Fund.  Lisa was a senior investor on the BlackRock Global SmallCap Fund, a small cap equity and fixed income analyst for Reams Asset Management, and a senior investors at Brandes Investment Partners. Lisa Walker has expertise investing across asset classes including public equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and derivatives, and across all geographies.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University and a master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

As Director and Chief Investment Officer, Shoaib Khan is responsible for the overall operations of the New Jersey Division of Investment with assets of over $120 billion. The Division of Investment is responsible for the investment management of New Jersey’s Pension Fund, which supports the retirement plans of over 800,000 members in numerous pension systems. The Division of Investment also manages the State of New Jersey’s Cash Management Fund.

Mr. Khan joined the Division of Investment in January, 2021 as Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. In June 2021, he assumed the role of Acting Director and in June 2022, was sworn in as Director and Chief Investment Officer. Throughout his career, Mr. Khan has served in numerous senior management positions at both public and private investment institutions domestically and around the globe.

Prior to joining New Jersey Division of Investment, Mr. Khan served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Florida State Board of Administration. He has also previously served in the roles of Global Head of Portfolio Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a Switzerland-based private bank and Strategy Head at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management in New York. Mr. Khan holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Florida International University and received a Masters of Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a CPA.

Mike Green is an experienced investor and operator who serves as the CEO at Tenex Capital Management, which he co-founded in 2009. Mike has a diverse background in private equity, distressed, and turnaround investing and business operations leadership. Prior to Tenex, he was a Founder and President of Cerberus Operations. While at Cerberus he was also a Managing Director, senior member of the Investment Team and a member of the Investment Committee until 2008.  Earlier in his career, Mike spent 12 years at General Electric ("GE"), where he worked in several operating departments. Mike is a proud “girl-dad,” six times over and enjoys boating, anything to do with hockey (playing and watching), and supporting his kids’ sports and arts activities.

Mike received a MSEE from Villanova University and a BSEE from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Adele Oliva has been a healthcare investor for over 20 years and founded 1315 Capital in 2014 to establish an investment firm focused on healthcare growth equity and buyouts. The firm has since raised multiple funds and has over $925 million under management. Adele was recruited to Quaker Partners in 2007 to expand their growth stage investing practice. Prior to Quaker, she was Co-Head of US Healthcare at Apax Partners, where she spent a decade in both Silicon Valley and Manhattan.

Prior to entering private equity as a Kauffman Fellow, Adele held roles at CoreStates and Baxter Healthcare.  

Adele received a BSc from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA from Cornell University, where she was awarded the Albert Fried Fellowship.

Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. Vista currently has over $96 billion in assets under management and oversees a portfolio of over 80 enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled companies that have more than 400 million users and employ over 100,000 people worldwide.

Smith serves on the Board of Directors for the Business Roundtable, the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, as a Member of the Cornell Engineering College Council, and is a Founding Member of the World Economic Forum EDISON Alliance, a cross-sector initiative to accelerate digital inclusion and eliminate connectivity deserts.

He is Chairman of Carnegie Hall, former Chair of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and a Founding Partner of the REFORM Alliance, focused on criminal justice reform.

Smith is the Founding Director and President of the Fund II Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the African American experience, human rights, environmental conservation, and a broad range of initiatives. In 2017, Smith signed the Giving Pledge, the first African American to do so.

In 2019, Smith announced he would cover the student loans of nearly 400 Morehouse College graduates in a commencement address. After his Morehouse pledge, Smith founded the Student Freedom Initiative to help relieve student debt for STEM students at all HBCUs, and personally committed $50 million, along with Fund II Foundation’s commitment of an additional $50 million.

Smith is a strong advocate for the 2% Solution – calling on corporations to commit 2% of their annual net income to empower minority communities. He also leads the Southern Communities Initiative with Rich Lesser (Boston Consulting Group) and Dan Schulman (PayPal), to advance racial equity in six Southern communities that are home to half of all Black people in America.

William (Bill) Connors currently serves as the Deputy Executive Director & Deputy CIO for the State of New Jersey, Division of Investment (DOI), leading the Alternatives group as well as the Fixed Income, Trading and Cash Management teams. Bill has been with the DOI since 2020, when he was brought in as the Head of Fixed Income. Throughout his three-decade career, Bill has demonstrated expertise in asset allocation, investment policy, risk management, portfolio construction and manager evaluation in alternative and traditional investments. In addition to his private sector experience, Bill gained valuable experience serving as a Board member on five public company Boards of Directors.

He holds a BA in mathematics from Drew University and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Columbia University – Columbia Business School.

Mr. Evans is the Principal Investment Officer of Private Equity and Private Credit for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds.  Mark Evans joined the Pension Funds Management division of the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office as a Principal Investment Officer in 2017. He has primary management and oversight responsibility for Connecticut’s private equity and private credit portfolios representing over $10 billion of exposure across multiple private capital strategies.

Mark has more than 25 years of private debt and equity investment experience as both a limited and general partner, including leading fund, direct, and co-investments.

He received a B.S. in Finance & Economics from Boston College and later graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, receiving an MBA with concentrations in Finance & Entrepreneurial Studies.

Kirk Sims heads TRS' Emerging Manager Program. Since being established in 2005, TRS has committed $5.9 billion to one of the largest programs of its kind. An additional $4.6 billion has been invested directly with EM Program graduates. Each graduate was selected as a result of consistent outperformance among a group of more than 218 EM managers.

Sims joined the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on March 1, 2019. Before joining Texas Teachers, he was a Senior Investment Officer for the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois. Sims had oversight and management responsibility of TRS’s Emerging Manager Program, a $750 million evergreen pool of capital designed to identify and invest in emerging investment managers across all asset classes.

Prior, Sims worked at Prudential Retirement where he was responsible for a manager of manager’s retirement platform as well as an open architecture investment platform.  He also has a background in asset management and has held various positions with both large and small asset managers.

Sims is a CFA charter holder and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.  He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University in Washington, DC.

Lisa Walker is the Deputy Director and Deputy CIO for the Division of Investment for the State of New Jersey. She began this role in January of 2023.

Prior to joining the Division, Lisa has had a three-decade long career working in the private sector for firms including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. Most recently, Lisa Walker was a senior investor on BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund, a multi-asset strategy fund with assets under management during her tenure of up to $100 billion. She also previously managed the BlackRock Global Financial Services Fund and BGF World Financials Fund.  Lisa was a senior investor on the BlackRock Global SmallCap Fund, a small cap equity and fixed income analyst for Reams Asset Management, and a senior investors at Brandes Investment Partners. Lisa Walker has expertise investing across asset classes including public equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and derivatives, and across all geographies.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University and a master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Mendez is a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of Crayhill Capital Management. Prior to founding Crayhill in July 2015, Mr. Mendez was a Portfolio Manager in the Fixed Income Group of Magnetar Capital, where he focused on illiquid, structured credit and asset-based investment opportunities. Prior to Magnetar, from June 2010 until February 2012, Mr. Mendez was a Managing Director and Head of the Structured Finance Group at Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P., where he structured new issue origination and asset-based finance solutions for specialty finance companies and banks. Prior to joining Sandler O'Neill, Mr. Mendez was Co-Founder and Principal of ICP Securities, LLC, where he oversaw a capital markets business focused on structured credit in new issue origination, sales and proprietary trading for asset-backed securities and structured products in New York and London.

Mr. Mendez received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Latin American Studies from the United States Naval Academy. He also holds a graduate certificate in Program Management from the University of Washington.

Veronica is a Senior Vice President on the Investment Research team with over 19 years of industry experience working with private capital managers. She is responsible for sourcing, researching, and evaluating managers and investment opportunities with a focus on private credit strategies. Veronica also supports the Portfolio Advisory teams on existing and potential private credit investments in Europe. 

Prior to joining Aksia in 2022, Veronica provided specialist structuring, debt placement and restructuring advice to private equity funds, portfolio companies and corporate clients across Europe. Veronica joined Aksia from Talbot Leyborne Partners LLP, where she was a Managing Partner. Prior to that, she was a Managing Director at Capital Markets Initiative LLP and previously worked for several years in European Financial Sponsor Coverage and Leveraged Finance at both Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, based in London. 

Veronica graduated with distinction from ITBA – Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires with a BS and an MSc in Industrial Engineering and holds an MBA with distinction from London Business School.

Brad Johnson currently serves as the Head of Private Credit for the State of New Jersey, Division of Investment (DOI). Brad has been with the DOI since the first quarter of 2023, bringing to the DOI over 20 years of asset allocation, investment policy, risk management, portfolio construction and manager evaluation in alternative and traditional investments. Brad’s previous positions include portfolio manager positions for several global investment management firms where he was responsible for multi-strategy portfolios of alternative and traditional asset classes. Earlier in his career, Brad was a leverage finance investment banker.

Brad holds a BA in from Rollins College and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University of California, Irvine.

Elizabeth Bell is a Principal on Hamilton Lane’s Real Assets team, where she is responsible for investing in primary, secondary, and co-investment opportunities in real estate. 

Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2022, Elizabeth was a Managing Director with Jaguar Growth Partners where she was responsible for leading Latin American real estate private equity investments.  Previously, Elizabeth was an Investment Manager at Aberdeen Asset Management on the Property Multi-Manager team and was a Vice President at Equity International, responsible for investing in emerging markets real estate companies.  Earlier in her career, Elizabeth was an Associate at real estate private equity firm, JER Partners, and an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank. 

Elizabeth received her AB from Princeton University, where she was captain of the women’s soccer team, and earned her MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in finance and real estate. Elizabeth currently sits on the Board of Directors for Colombian Healthcare Properties and the Philadelphia Women in Real Estate (WIRE) Chapter.

Kevin Higgins is Head of Real Estate at New Jersey Division of Investment where he is responsible for developing strategy and managing the private real estate in the state pension system.

Mr. Higgins has experience that spans a full spectrum of real estate equity and debt investments, and he has served on numerous Investment Advisory Committees.  In the wake of the global financial crisis he established his own consulting practice to create and recover value. Previously, Mr. Higgins held investment management and restructuring positions at Swiss Re Asset Management, MBL Life, AIG Real Estate Investments, Lehman Brothers and TIAA-CREF.

Mr. Higgins holds an MBA from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from Manhattan College. He is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) where he serves on the Institutional Investor Council, the CFA Society New York, and the Institutional Limited Partners Association. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Real Estate at Rutgers Business School and teaches on the adjunct faculties at New York University and Rutgers as well as for NCREIF Academy.

Mina Pacheco Nazemi is the Head of the Diversified Alternative Equity team and serves on both the investment committee. She is also responsible for originating, underwriting and monitoring GP relationships, direct/co-investments, and continuation vehicle opportunities for private equity and real assets. Mina has worked in the industry since 1998 with experience as a General Partner and Limited Partner investor in private markets and focused on underwriting direct/co-investment opportunities.

Prior to joining the firm in 2017, Mina held several leadership and investment positions including Co-Founder and Partner at Aldea Capital Partners and Partner and Investment Committee Member at GCM Grosvenor Customized Fund Investment Group (formerly Credit Suisse CFIG). She is an alumna of Sponsors for Education Opportunity (SEO) and Robert Toigo Foundation. She also is a board member of the Pan American Development Fund and serves on the investment committee for the City of Hope and Cal State Los Angeles.  Additionally, Mina is a current Finance Fellow for The Aspen Institute. 

Mina holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University and her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Michelle Davidson is a Partner of Aksia, Co-Head of the Americas Advisory Team, and sits on the firm’s Private Equity Investment Committee.  She has over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of private markets investment and focuses on strategic program development, strategy allocation and portfolio construction.  Prior to Aksia’s acquisition of TorreyCove Capital Partners, Michelle was a co-founder of TorreyCove and managed the firm’s client advisory activities, and previously was a Managing Director at PCG Asset Management.  She has been strategically involved in the construction of several large pension’s initial private equity programs, including both partnership and direct investments, and sat on the inaugural Private Equity Steering Committee for the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. 

Michelle graduated with honors with a BSBA and distinction in Finance and holds a Master’s degree from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a CPA (inactive) and holds the CAIA designation, and she serves on the Advisory Board of the Robert Toigo Foundation.  In 2021, Michelle was recognized as a Knowledge Broker by Chief Investment Officer.

Ms. Johns joined the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Investment in 2023 as the Head of Private Equity.  Prior to New Jersey she was a member of the Private Equity team at the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System and is an experienced private markets investor and leader in the U.S. public pension and broader institutional investor community.

Ms. Johns has over 20 years of experience investing and managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios of institutional alternative investment assets. She has deep expertise in private equity and a highly developed personal network with established top performing private equity fund managers and next generation managers. Ms. Johns has a demonstrated long-term track record for selecting and managing strong performing private equity fund portfolios. She is committed to supporting discourse and initiatives focused on the thoughtful advancement of private markets investing and creating pathways to inclusion for underrepresented talent in private equity.

Industry recognition includes Institutional Investor’s Global List of Top 50 Women in Investment Management, Trusted Insight’s list of Top Public Pension Investors Directors, and PEWIN's Member of the Year highlighting Ms. Johns’ work in transforming the private equity industry with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Ms. Johns is Board Chair of the Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN), and a member of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council, Academy for Institutional Investors Editorial Committee, AIF Women’s Leadership Steering Committee and the SEO Alternative Investments Limited Partner Advisory Council. 

Ms. Johns has both a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Indiana University Bloomington and a B.S. in Computer Info Systems from Stevenson University. She graduated from Loyola University Maryland with a Master's in Finance while working full time as an Associate at Camden Private Capital, a private equity fund of funds.

As Director and Chief Investment Officer, Shoaib Khan is responsible for the overall operations of the New Jersey Division of Investment with assets of over $120 billion. The Division of Investment is responsible for the investment management of New Jersey’s Pension Fund, which supports the retirement plans of over 800,000 members in numerous pension systems. The Division of Investment also manages the State of New Jersey’s Cash Management Fund.

Mr. Khan joined the Division of Investment in January, 2021 as Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. In June 2021, he assumed the role of Acting Director and in June 2022, was sworn in as Director and Chief Investment Officer. Throughout his career, Mr. Khan has served in numerous senior management positions at both public and private investment institutions domestically and around the globe.

Prior to joining New Jersey Division of Investment, Mr. Khan served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Florida State Board of Administration. He has also previously served in the roles of Global Head of Portfolio Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a Switzerland-based private bank and Strategy Head at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management in New York. Mr. Khan holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Florida International University and received a Masters of Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a CPA.