
Registration Now Open
SEPTEMBER 15-16TH, 2021
@Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
Your safety and wellbeing is our top priority as we host our first in-person event in nearly two years. We are implementing a number of COVID related measures to provide a healthy environment for our attendees. As part of our updated health and safety protocol, all event attendees will be required to provide proof of vaccination via an online screening system. In order for vaccination cards to be collected and verified by our 3rd party screening system, all online registrations must be finalized by Friday, September 3rd. Walk up registrations will not be permitted.
For more details on what we are implementing at this year’s conference, please read our updated protocol.
With the theme of “AAAIM Together,” we will once again reunite with our network of leading allocators, asset managers and industry experts. Because AAAIM works to maintain an intimate and family like environment, we plan to limit our registration to 350 attendees this year. AAAIM’s annual conference is the national platform for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) investment managers across the major asset classes of private equity, hedge funds, public equities, fixed income and real assets to meet, conduct business and learn from insightful leaders – and each other. This event gathers a broad range of investment professionals with common interests from public pension funds, other institutional limited partners, emerging managers and large investment firms.
SEPTEMBER 15
The ‘Emerging Leaders Initiative’ (ELI) – previously Young Professionals – is a half-day session focused on professional development. Complimentary for Full Conference ticket-holders.
SEPTEMBER 16
The main conference is a full-day of fast-paced and focused programming. Learn about domestic and global opportunities and network with speakers and attendees at the top of the industry.
AGENDA
*** Please check back for program updates as additional speakers are confirmed.
DAY 1
Wednesday, September 15th
Emerging Leaders Initiative
11:30am – 1:00pm PDT
Registration & Kick-off Luncheon
12:00pm – 12:10pm
Welcome Remarks
Emcee: Gordon C.C. Liao, Founding Board Member & ELI Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); Founder & Managing Partner, Promise Holdings LLC
12:10pm – 12:30pm
Fireside Chat
Interviewer: Ginger Lew Co-Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); CEO, Three Oaks Investments, LLC.
Interviewee: Jerry Yang, Co-Founder & Former CEO, Yahoo!
12:30pm – 12:40pm
Fireside Chat
Interviewer: Gordon C.C. Liao, Founding Board Member & ELI Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); Founder & Managing Partner, Promise Holdings LLC
Interviewee: Lanhee Chen, David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, Hoover Institution
12:40pm – 12:55pm
Fireside Chat
Interviewer: Jim Park, CEO, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM)
Interviewee: Pamela A. Gibbs, Director, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, SEC
12:55pm – 1:05pm
Networking Break & Transition
Emerging Leaders Initiative
Sponsored by WCAS & Palladium
1:05pm – 1:50pm PDT
Bamboo Ceiling Panel
- Moderator: Maryling Yu, Chief Marketing Officer, Backstop Solutions Group
- Paul Hayama, Partner, Avante Capital Partners
- June Kim, Global Equity Director, CalSTRS
- Greg Lau, General Partner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
1:50pm – 2:20pm
Keynote
Introduction: Chris Shen, Co-Founder, Revere
Keynote Presenter: Dr. Andrew Ng, General Partner, AI Fund
2:20pm – 2:30pm
Networking Break
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Fixed Income and Credit Strategies: Navigating Record Low Yields
- Moderator: Nathan Wong, Vice President & Investment Consultant, Global Manager Research Group, Callan Associates
- Edward Cong, Principal, Marathon Asset Management
- Christopher Preece, Macro Strategist & Investment Manager, Pictet Asset Management
- Dickson Suit, Partner, Ironwood Capital
- Jack Yang, Co-Founder & President, Sycamore Tree Capital Partners
Navigating the Unwritten Rules of Climbing the Corporate Ladder
- Moderator: Gordon C.C. Liao, Founding Board Member & ELI Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); Founder & Managing Partner, Promise Holdings LLC
- PJ Kim, Founder and Managing Partner, Lincoln Square Partners
- Dave Liu, CEO, Liucrative Endeavors
3:30pm – 3:45pm
Networking Break
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Breaking Through the Glass & Bamboo Ceilings
- Moderator: Deepa Patil Madhani, Head of Investor Relations, One Rock Capital Partners, LLC
- Sarah Chen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Beyond the Billion & The Billion Dollar Fund for Women
- Linda Choi, Chief Operating Officer, Kabouter Management
- Binna Kim, President and Co-Founder, Vested
DAY 1 cont.
4:45pm – 5:45pm
ELI Reception
6:00pm – 8:00pm
VIP Dinner (Invite-Only)
6:45pm – 7:00pm
Conversation with Henry Jones
Interviewer: Brenda Chia, Board Co-chair, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM)
Interviewee: Henry Jones, President, CalPERS Board of Administration
7:00pm – 7:15pm
St. Jude’s Presentation
Christine Ackermann, Northern California Executive Director, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
7:15pm – 7:30pm
ELI Champion Award Presentation
Presenter: Gordon C.C. Liao, Founding Board Member & ELI Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); Founder & Managing Partner, Promise Holdings LLC
Awardee: Deepa Patil Madhani, Head of Investor Relations, One Rock Capital Partners, LLC
8:15pm – 10:00pm
Welcome Dessert Reception
DAY 2
Thursday, September 16th
7:30am – 8:30am PDT
Registration & Breakfast
8:30am – 8:45am
Welcome Remarks
8:45am – 9:35am
Institutional Investor Panel
- Moderator: Clayton Jue, President & CEO, Leading Edge Investment Advisors
- David Chiang, Chief Investment Officer, Pritzker Family Foundations
- Marcie Frost, Chief Executive Officer, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
- Thomas Lee, Executive Director & Chief Investment Officer, New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS)
- Cassandra Lichnock, Chief Executive Officer, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)
9:40am – 9:55am
Fireside Chat
Interviewer: Bennett Kim, Managing Director, Big Rock Senior Housing
Interviewee: Suzanne Wong, Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Palladium Equity Partners
9:55am – 10:00am
Transition
10:00am – 10:45am
Breakout Sessions #1 – Asset Class Spotlight
Allocations to Emerging Managers | Hedge Funds | Real Estate |
Moderator: Johnny Wu, CEO, Quartzy Capital Advisors, LLC
| Moderator: William Park, Head of Equity Risk, ExodusPoint
| Moderator: Joshua Hanna, P.C., Partner, Real Estate, Kirkland & Ellis |
10:45am – 11:15am
Networking Break
11:15am – 12:00pm
Breakout Sessions #2 – Asset Class Spotlight
Venture Capital Private Equity Public Markets Moderator: Anthony Lee, Managing Director, Altos Ventures Aakar Vachhani, Partner, Fairview Capital Moderator: David Fann, Partner, Vice Chairman, Aksia TorreyCove Partners Moderator: Tony Lee, Senior Vice President, Bivium Capital
Pete Chung, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital
Samantha Wang, Co-Founder and General Partner, RPS Ventures
Mourad Yesayan, Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group
Scott Chan, CFA, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Deborah Gallegos, CTP, FPAC, Managing Director, Palladium Equity Partners
Tony W. Lee, Managing Partner, One Rock Capital Partners, LLC
Cesar Gonzales, Director, Manager Development and Client Portfolio Manager, Xponance
Kent Johnson, Vice President, Sit Investment Associates, Inc.
David Murphy, Global Equity Portfolio Manager, California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
12:00pm – 1:45pm
Luncheon
12:30pm – 12:50pm
Fireside Chat
Interviewee: Hans Tung, Managing Partner, GGV Capital
12:50pm – 1:00pm
Luncheon Remarks
Attorney General Rob Bonta, State of California
1:00pm – 1:15pm
Award Presentation to Stop AAPI Hate
Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action
1:45pm – 2:00pm
Networking Break
2:00pm – 2:45pm
Breakout Sessions #3 – Allocator Spotlight
Family Office | Corporate Investors | Endowments & Foundations |
Moderator: Valerie Wong Fountain, CFA, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
| Moderator: Brenda Chia, Board Co-chair, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM)
| Interviewer: Letitia Yang, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, D.E. Shaw & Co. |
2:45pm – 3:00pm
Networking Break & Transition
3:00pm – 4:00pm
2021 and Beyond Outlook
- Moderator: Marcelia Freeman, Investor Relations & Product Management, Clearlake Capital Group
- Jai Das, President, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Sapphire Ventures
- Soo Kim, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Standard General
- Yup Kim, Head of Investments, Private Equity, CalPERS
- Sona Menon, Outsourced CIO & Head of North American Pension Practice, Cambridge Associates
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Closing Reception
VENUE
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco | 757 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco is a luxury events venue and 5-star hotel located in the heart of downtown’s SoMa (South of Market) district. Attendees will enjoy sophisticated meeting spaces with interconnecting terraces that offer captivating vistas of the city.
ACCOMMODATION
A discounted room block has been set up for conference attendees at
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco.
The special group rate of $399/night is available September 14 – 17.
Reserve your hotel room ASAP.
SPEAKERS

Scott Chan
CFA, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)

Marcie Frost
Chief Executive Officer, CalPERS

June Kim
Global Equity Director, CalSTRS

Thomas Lee
Executive Director & Chief Investment Officer, NYSTRS

Cassandra Lichnock
Chief Executive Officer, CalSTRS

Kirk Sims
Director, Head of Emerging Manager Program TRSTexas

Christine Ackermann
Northern California Executive Director, ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Vishnu Amble
Global Strategic Investments, Saudi Aramco

Rob Bonta
Attorney General, State of California

Evelyn Chen
Portfolio Manager, Grand Alliance Asset Management

Lanhee Chen
David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, Hoover Institution

Sarah Chen
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Beyond the Billion & The Billion Dollar Fund for Women

Clark Cheng
CFA, FRM, CAIA, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Merrimac Corp

Cindy Chi
Partner, Indus Capital

Brenda Chia
AAAIM Co-Chair, Director Paladin Capital Group

David Chiang
Chief Investment Officer, Pritzker Family Foundations

Cynthia Choi
Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action

Linda Choi
Chief Operating Officer, Kabouter Management

YB Choi
Partner, Vulcan Capital

Pete Chung
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital

Edward Cong
Principal, Marathon Asset Management

Jai Das
President, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Sapphire Ventures

David Fann
Partner, Vice Chairman, Aksia TorreyCove Partners

Marcelia Freeman
Investor Relations & Product Management, Clearlake Capital Group

Deborah Gallegos
CTP, FPAC, Managing Director, Palladium Equity Partners

Tarrell Gamble
Chair of the Actuarial Committee, Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee, ACERA

Susanne Gealy
Senior Director for Investments, CommonSpirit Health

Pamela A. Gibbs
Director, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, SEC

Cesar Gonzales
Director, Manager Development and Client Portfolio Manager, Xponance

Theresia Gouw
Founding Partner, Acrew Capital

Renae Griffin
Executive Director, GCM Grosvenor

Joshua Hanna
P.C., Partner, Real Estate, Kirkland & Ellis

Paul Hayama
Partner, Avante Capital Partners

Kent Johnson
Vice President, Sit Investment Associates, Inc.

Henry Jones
President, CalPERS Board of Administration

Clayton Jue
President & CEO, Leading Edge Investment Advisors, LLC

Sonny Kaisi
Co-Chief Executive Officer

Bennett Kim
Managing Partner, Big Rock Partners Senior Housing

Binna Kim
President and Co-Founder, Vested

PJ Kim
Founder and Managing Partner, Lincoln Square Partners

Soo Kim
Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer

Yup Kim
Head of Investments, Private Equity, CalPERS

David Lam
General Partner

Greg Lau
General Partner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

Anthony Lee
Managing Director, Altos Ventures

Tony Lee
Senior Vice President, Bivium Capital

Tony W. Lee
Managing Partner, One Rock Capital Partners, LLC

Ginger Lew
Co-Founder, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM); CEO, Three Oaks Investments, LLC

Gordon C.C. Liao
AAAIM ELI Committee Chari, Founder & Managing Partner, Promise Holdings LLC

Peter Lin
Director, Pension and Investments, Kaiser Permanente

David Liu
CEO, Liucrative Endeavors

Greg Maddox
Head of Global Manager Research, Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Sona Menon
Head of North American Pension Practice, Cambridge Associates

David Murphy
Global Equity Portfolio Manager, CalSTRS

Dr. Andrew Ng
General Partner, AI Fund

Anita Ng
Managing Director, Private Investments, Cambridge Associates

Faran Nouri
Managing Director, Lam Capital

Christopher Preece
Macro Strategist & Investment Manager, Pictet Asset Management

Thomas Quinn
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio

Vincent Pan
Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action

Jim Park
CEO, Association of Asian American Investment Managers

William Park
Head of Equity Risk, ExodusPoint

Deepa Patil
Head of Investor Relations, One Rock Capital Partners, LLC

Heidi Poon, CFA, CAIA
Managing Director, Head of Asian Private Equity, Growth Equity & Venture Capital, Aksia TorreyCove Partners

Chris Shen
Co-Founder, Revere

Susan Soh
Chief of Capital Formation and Investor Relations, GrowthCurve Capital

Dickson Suit
Partner, Ironwood Capital

Hans Tung
Managing Partner, GGV Capital

Aakar Vachhani
Partner, Fairview Capital

Samantha Wang
Co-Founder and General Partner, RPS Ventures

Nathan Wong
Vice President and Investment Consultant, Callan's Global Manager Research

Suzanne Wong
Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Palladium Equity Partners

Valerie Wong
Fountain, CFA, Managing Director, Head of Signature Access and Single Family Office Advisory, Morgan Stanley

Johnny Wu
CEO, Quartzy Capital Advisors, LLC

Jack Yang
Co-Founder & President, Sycamore Tree Capital Partners

Jerry Yang
Co-Founder & Former CEO, Yahoo!

Letitia Yang
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, D.E. Shaw & Co.

Mourad Yesayan
Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group

Gillian Yu
Managing Director, Private Wealth Advisor, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management

Maryling Yu
Chief Marketing Officer, Backstop Solutions Group

Lanhee Yung
Founding Partner, Sage Hall Partners
SPONSORS

AAAIM is proud to announce our charity partner, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats, and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Because the majority of St. Jude funding comes from generous donors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most – saving kids regardless of their financial situation.

-REGISTER-
All online registrations are due by Sept. 3rd in order to collect vaccination records on time. Walk up registrations will not be permitted.
Refund Policy
To request a refund, please email info@aaaim.org with the subject “refund.” Your total ticket amount will be refunded minus a $50 processing fee.
Dear AAAIM National Conference 2021 Attendee:
Your safety and wellbeing is our top priority. We continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and are committed to following local, State, and CDC policy as well as implementing additional measures to provide a healthy environment for our attendees. As you may have seen last week, San Francisco is the leading the way for COVID public safety, and became the the first major US city to mandate proof of full vaccinations for certain indoor activities. We are thrilled to be hosting our conference in a location with some of the highest vaccination rates and most disciplined requirements. Please read on for our updated protocol:
- All event attendees must provide proof of vaccination within 72 hours of event check-in.
- Proof of full vaccination will be required to enter the event space. AAAIM attendees will be the only group in the conference space so you will not be interacting with other outside groups.
- A proof of vaccination will be collected in advance through a third party vendor (instructions forthcoming). Day-of registration will not be permitted for the conference unless you are fully vaccinated.
- All attendees must wear masks before and during the event check-in process. We will have masks available.
- At this time, per San Francisco regulations, attendees will also be required to wear a mask indoors unless they are eating/drinking, regardless of vaccination status.
- We will make accommodations for outdoor seating during all meals for attendees who do not wish to eat inside. General Session content will be live streamed to the outdoor area for those who wish to remain primarily outdoors.
- All attendees must practice proper hygiene. Hand sanitizer will be made available.
- All event vendors will follow strict COVID-19 protocols. We are working closely with the Four Seasons to ensure adherence to rigorous cleaning and hygiene practices. Learn more about Four Seasons’ policies here: https://www.fourseasons.com/leadwithcare/.
Additional updates and instructions will be distributed closer to the event. Thank you for taking the time to review this important information, and we look forward to seeing you in San Francisco.
Thank you,
Jim Park, CEO