2026 Agenda
Scaling smart: Ops, talent, and tech amid global uncertainty
Hear how Soho Square Capital is navigating the rapid shift in the private equity landscape by treating AI as a leadership and cultural priority rather than a technical one. Walid Fakhry will discuss the necessity of establishing internal authenticity by first adopting the digital journeys and risks expected of portfolio companies. He will share how a focus on mindset over software creates a "talent magnet" for high-performers and allows firms to scale AUM effectively by breaking the traditional link between firm growth and headcount expansion.
Keynote speaker:
Walid Fakhry, Co-Managing Partner, Soho Square
- Mastering the macro: Gain a strategic roadmap for maintaining operational stability despite global instability and increasing market volatility.
- Overcoming geopolitical headwinds: How are private equity firms navigating geopolitical tensions and tariff wars confidently now and for the remainder of 2026?
- How can operational leaders convert macro-economic uncertainty into a competitive advantage by aligning your operational decision-making with the current reality.
- How to ensure you have "fail-safe" due diligence processes that stand up to geopolitical shifts.
- Assessing value chain exposure: how can you drive efficiency and reduce risk by mastering operational exposure across your entire value chain.
Moderator:
Jon Whiteaker, Editor, The Drawdown
Speakers:
Hana Prochaska, Executive Director, Gen II
Zulfi Ali, Partner, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Zetland Capital
Simon Wells, Chief UK Economist, HSBC
- Global treasury strategy: master the logistics of managing a fragmented treasury stack across the US, Benelux, and beyond.
- Provider consolidation: weighing the specific risks and operational rewards of centralising your treasury with a single provider.
- Hedging resilience: identifying advanced risk-mitigation tactics to navigate currency and interest rate volatility.
- Fund finance evaluation: what are the KPIs fund managers must prioritise when selecting finance options today.
- The provider audit: what are the critical, high-impact questions you need to be asking your finance providers right now.
Moderator:
Matthias Plötz, Deputy Editor, The Drawdown
Speakers:
Andrew Frazer Smith, Managing Director, Bridge Fund Finance
Jack Sirett, Head of FX - Private Markets, Ebury
James Goldsmith, Vice President, Morgan Stanley
- Sustainable infrastructure: identifying the specific systems and structures that support rapid growth without increasing internal complexity.
- The LP audit: understand exactly what investors are looking for when assessing your firm’s operational readiness and ability to scale.
- How should you present your scaling potential to investors in a credible and measurable way to demonstrate operational maturity?
- Strategic prioritisation: pinpointing which operational functions deliver the highest ROI when scaled first.
- The talent vs tech debate: what is the optimal balance between human capital and automated systems for long-term expansion?
Moderator:
Matthew Baxter, Finance and Operations Director, AshGrove Capital
Speakers:
Christopher Edwards, Head of IMS Client Enablement, SEI
Jessica Stewart, Chief Operating Officer, Systemiq Capital
- Overleveraging: has the industry reached a dangerous level of overleveraging that threatens long-term stability?
- NAV financing: is there a definitive limit to NAV financing that GPs have now exceeded?
- Structural necessity: Is the current debt climate merely a necessary and natural evolution in response to global regulatory changes?
Moderator:
Catherine Kavanagh, Director, Relationship Management, Alter Domus
Speakers:
Richard Lang, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, LND Capital
Paul Bramley, Chief Financial Officer, Partner, and Board Director, Claret Capital Partners
- Exploring the growing financial and operational risks of automated cyber attacks.
- How firms can tackle cyber threats.
- Are current training systems on handling sensitive data sufficient given the rise of generative AI?
- Managing costs of cyber attacks.
Speakers:
Steve Darrington, Chairman, Mactavish
- Operational intelligence: benchmark your firm against industry leaders to identify which AI tools are delivering the highest operational ROI today.
- The build vs buy framework: How can you determine when bespoke internal AI development outweighs the convenience of off-the-shelf solutions.
- Data safeguarding: practical, high-impact mitigation strategies that protect your most sensitive data assets.
- Privacy-first innovation: overcoming the concerns and mitigating the risks around ethical data privacy standards when using AI.
Moderator:
Lyndon Arnold, Head of Technology, Triton Partners
Speakers:
Alan Chu, Chief Financial Officer, Partner, Beechbrook Capital
Evgenia Clark, Global Data Lead, BC Partners
Liam McHugh, Managing Director, CSC
Oliver Maxwell, Head of Client Lifecycle and Regulatory Solutions, S&P Global
Stream A: Data governance by design - optimising ownership and team structure | Stream B: Internalisation vs outsourcing - balancing internal control with external expertise |
Moderator: Tanya Kaushal, Reporter, The Drawdown Speakers: Alex Rozmiret, Financial Controller, Clipway Leanne England, Chief Financial Officer, ETF Partners Rob Hayward, Chief Technology Officer, Hollyport Capital Sam Metland, Head of Product and Propositions, Aztec Group
|
Moderator: Vince Cao, Independent Chief Operating Officer/Chief Commercial Officer Speakers: Ankit Verma, Finance Director, Exponent Andrew Dillon, Head of Commercial (Europe and Middle East), Vistra Fund Solutions Tom Seymour Mead, Chief Financial Officer, Signal |
Day two
- Strategies for aligning operational output with executive leadership priorities to ensure the firm moves as one.
- How to implement frameworks for clear decision-making and rapid escalation paths to remove operational bottlenecks.
- How to build a culture of shared accountability and mutual trust across the entire leadership suite.
- Front-to-back integration: strengthen the link between origination and operational teams to ensure seamless deal execution and post-closing management.
- High-pressure leadership: discover proven strategies for maintaining team motivation and resilience during intense market cycles.
- Build a winning team: lever non-financial drivers - including purpose, autonomy, and recognition - to attract and retain top-tier operational talent.
Moderator:
Jon Whiteaker, Editor, The Drawdown
Speakers:
Rebecca Boscott, Head of Responsible Investing, Hanover Investors Management
Charlotte Pettit, Head of Operations, Just Climate
Simon Hirtzel, General Partner and Chief Operating Officer, IQ Capital
Kieran Wilcock, Chief Financial Officer, HSBC Innovation Banking
- Best practices for aligning LP expectations with the ground-level operational realities of your portfolio companies.
- How can you establish a high-performance collaboration model between deal teams and portfolio teams to drive immediate impact after a close.
- From deals to operations: identifying what is working and what is causing friction during the move.
- How to implement reporting structures that eliminate ambiguity and create a culture of total accountability across the portfolio.
- Adaptive leadership: How do leadership priorities change as your fund scales or as market conditions shift?
Moderator:
Khuram Bajwa, Partner, OneTen Associates
Speakers:
- Frédéric Brodach, Managing Director, RSI Capital
- Steven Dunne, Senior Partner, Frog Capital
- How have LP expectations changed and how have operations adapted to meet these demands?
- How do you tackle conflict between demands and realistic financial circumstances, especially during economic instability?
- How can you integrate investor relations more deeply into your firm’s financial ambitions to drive long-term stability.
Moderator:
Tanya Kaushal, Reporter, The Drawdown
Speakers:
Jonathan Pugh-Smith, Partner and General Fund Counsel, Bregal Unternehmerkapital (BU)
Akbar Sheriff, Chief Client Success Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Aztec Group
1- Bridging the skill gap: How to hire the right talent despite increased need for specialised skills
Facilitators: Gustav Højmark-Jensen, Head of Platforms, Nordic Alpha Partners and Debojit Mukherjee, Chief Operating Officer, Agilitas
2- Gen Z culture: What new talent require from culture to improve productivity
Facilitators: Vince Cao, Independent Chief Operating Officer/Chief Compliance Officer and Tanya Kaushal, Reporter, The Drawdown
3- Need for speed: Adapting training processes to meet faster hiring demands
Facilitator: Martina Redmond, Chief Financial Officer, Terlos LLP
4- Leadership: Accommodating and preparing younger talent for senior roles
Facilitators: Raj Shah, Chief Financial Officer and Operating Partner, Claret Capital Partners and Khuram Bajwa, Partner, OneTen Associates