Joan Solotar is global head of Blackstone Private Wealth and a member of the firm’s management committee.
Joan’s career tracks the fascinating evolution of Wall Street in the past thirty years. Joan worked on three notable IPOs: DLJ in 1995, Goldman Sachs in 1999, and Blackstone in 2007, and we discuss the strategic reasons behind them. She was tapped to lead the development of Blackstone’s private wealth group, which has since grown to $250 billion. We talk about the state of the industry she covered in the 1990s, the challenge of building a two-sided marketplace in private wealth, Blackstone’s management committee, how they prioritize, and the wisdom of building businesses organically.
Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Ms. Solotar was Head of Equity Research at Bank of America Securities and a highly ranked Institutional Investor All Star financial services analyst at Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Ms. Solotar is a member of the Board of Trustees of East Harlem Tutorial Program and East Harlem Scholars Academies. She wrote a Harvard Business Review article entitled, “Truths for Our Daughters,” and co-authored, “Truths from My Daughter.” Ms. Solotar received a BS in Management Information Systems from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA in Finance from New York University.
Please enjoy my conversation with Joan Solotar.
The Circulus Family Office Spring Summit is on May 15th in Hudson Yards.
Circulus Group is committed to building the largest family office network globally. We bring together industry leaders, subject matter experts, professionals and family members from the family office world to create an engaging and dynamic event that offers valuable insights, fosters enduring relationships, and inspires attendees.
This full-day event will feature over 65 single-family offices and panels that delve into the global macro picture, private credit, investing in art, and private equity. Our esteemed lineup includes Jim Tananbaum, a pioneer in AI investing; Roger Ferguson, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve; André Perold, a legendary HBS professor and CIO of HighVista; Rebecca Patterson, former chief investment strategist at Bridgewater; Francis Greenburger, an art collector and founder of Time Equities Inc.; Nancy Curtin, CIO at AlTi Tiedemann; and Randy Schwimmer, vice chairman and private credit expert at Churchill Asset Management, among many others.
Thursday, May 15th, 2025
New York, NY
8:00 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast
8:45 a.m. | Welcome: Joe Reilly, head of Circulus Group, and Vadim Avdeychik, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton.
9:00 a.m. | Navigating the Market: Hedge Fund Perspectives on the New Market Regime. James Li, President at Davidson Kempner, Jeff Bunder, CFO of Round Hill Music, and Anish Mathur, CIO of Astra Asset Management. Moderated by Gwyn Roberts, Head of Manager Relations at PivotalPath.
10:00 a.m. | Trade Wars, Tariffs, and Tail Risks: How Geopolitics Is Shaping the Global Economy: Nancy Curtin, CIO of Alti Tiedemann Global, Randy Schwimmer, Vice Chairman of Churchill Asset Management, and Peter Borish, CEO of Computer Trading Corporation, moderated by Elizabeth Trotta, Partner at Partners Capital.
11:00 a.m. | Fireside Chat with André Perold, CIO of HighVista Strategies interviewed by Joe Reilly, head of Circulus Group.
12:00 p.m. | Lunch
1:00 p.m. | Fireside Chat: Roger Ferguson, former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in conversation with Rebecca Patterson, former Chief Investment Strategist at Bridgewater.
2:00 p.m. | Accessing Private Market Strategies through Retail Fund Structures: Trends and Developments featuring Brian Laureano, CIO at FoxPath, Doug Brody, Head of Americas and EMEA at Family Capital Global Client Solutions at KKR, Amy Tran-Balbin Principal at Global Infrastructure Partners, moderated by Vadim Avdeychik, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton
3:00 p.m. | Keynote: Jim Tananbaum, Founder of Foresite Capital, on the Impact of AI on Health Care interviewed by Erik Christoffersen, Managing Director at AlTi Tiedemann Global.
4:00 p.m. | The Contemporary Art Collector: A Conversation with Francis Greenburger, founder of Time Equities Inc., and Art Omi with Julianna Obeid, Private Client Specialist at Alliant and Ron Fiamma, President of Treadwell.
5:00 p.m. | Networking and Cocktail Reception
Special thanks to our friends at Debevoise & Plimpton.
Register now to hear:
SPEAKERS
André Perold
André is a Co-Founder, Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of HighVista Strategies. He was previously the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at the Harvard Business School where he served in senior roles including Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the Finance Faculty. André’s research and teaching were in investment management and the capital markets, for which he won numerous awards. André is a Board Member of The Vanguard Group and RIT Capital Partners and has served on a number of investment committees of not-for-profit institutions including the Mass General Brigham. He received a BSc (Hons) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and an MS and PhD from Stanford University.
Jim Tananbaum
Jim is founder and CEO of Foresight Capital. One of the most exciting places AI is revolutionizing is drug discovery, and Jim is on the cutting edge. During the last three decades, Jim has been a thought partner for some of the most impactful and fastest-growth companies of their generations, including: 10x Genomics, Amerigroup, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. We are very happy to have him!
Roger Ferguson, Former Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve in conversation with Rebecca Patterson, economist and former chief strategist at Bridgewater.
Roger Ferguson
Mr. Ferguson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA (formerly TIAA-CREF) between 2008 and 2021. Prior to joining TIAA, Mr. Ferguson served as Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, a global insurance company, from 2006 to 2008. Mr. Ferguson served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System from 1999 to 2006. He represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations and Supervision, and Regulation. In addition, Mr. Ferguson led the Fed’s initial response on 9/11. From 1984 to 1997, Mr. Ferguson was an associate and partner at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Ferguson became the Steven A. Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in 2021. Mr. Ferguson received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Magna Cum Laude. He also earned his J.D., Cum Laude, and a Ph.D. in Economics, all from Harvard University.
Rebecca Patterson
Rebecca is a frequent economic commentator and was most recently Chief Investment Strategist at Bridgewater Associates, where she was on the Executive Committee and was a frequent author of Bridgewater’s Daily Observations. Previously, she was CIO of Bessemer Trust, overseeing $85 billion in client assets. Before joining Bessemer, she worked globally for JP Morgan, where she was Chief Investment Strategist and ran the private bank’s global currency and commodity trading desk. Rebecca is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is Chair of the board of the Council for Economic Education. She holds an MBA from New York University, an MA in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a BS in Journalism from the University of Florida.
Francis Greenburger
Francis is an American real estate developer, literary agent, author, philanthropist, activist, and founder of Time Equities Inc., Art Omi, Inc., and the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice.
Greenburger is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Time Equities Inc. Founded in 1966, Time Equities Inc. (TEI) has been in the real estate investment, development, and asset & property management business for more than 50 years. TEI currently holds approximately 43 million square feet of residential, industrial, office, and retail property across its portfolio. He is the founder and chairman of Art Omi, a sculpture and architecture park and arts center founded in 1992, which also provides residencies for visual artists, writers, dancers, musicians, and architects from all over the world. Greenburger himself is an art collector (his office is a virtual gallery) and he owns over 1,000 contemporary paintings and sculptures. He was awarded the insignia of chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government because of his commitment to the arts and his founding of the Omi International Arts Center
Nancy Curtin
Nancy is Head of Investments and Chief Investment Officer at AlTi Tiedemann Global. Nancy’s early experience includes senior investment roles as Managing Director at Schroders in venture capital and Head of global equities for the mutual fund business, as well as Head of Emerging Markets and a member of Global Asset Allocation for Baring Asset Management, where she also built a private equity business. She also led investments in a large single-family office, focused on private equity and real estate, building a private equity presence in Germany. Nancy is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Princeton University and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Peter Borish
Peter is Chairman and CEO of Computer Trading Corporation (CTC), an investment and advisory firm whose largest consulting client is CIBC. Borish formerly worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was a founding partner and second-in-command at Tudor Investment Corporation, was Chairman of OneChicago, LLC, and was Chairman of the non-profits Foundation for the Study of Cycles and The Institute for Financial Markets. Borish earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1981. He also earned an M.A. in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan in 1982.
Randy Schwimmer
Randy is Vice Chairman of Churchill, where he oversees the Investor Solutions Group and is focused on managing and growing the firm’s relationships with leading global institutional investors, family offices, and private wealth platforms. Previously, he served as Co-Head of Senior Lending, responsible for senior lending origination and capital markets. Randy also serves on the firm’s Executive Committee and Senior Lending Investment Committee.
Randy is also the Founder and Publisher of The Lead Left, Churchill’s weekly newsletter reviewing deals and trends in the capital markets. He also produces Private Capital Call, a monthly podcast.
Before that, he was a Managing Director and the Head of Leveraged Finance Syndication for BNP Paribas. Randy spent 15 years at JP Morgan Chase in corporate banking and loan syndications, where he originated, structured, and syndicated leveraged loans.
Randy graduated, cum laude, from Trinity College with a B.A. in English and received an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Chicago, where he is a member of the Humanities Advisory Council.
James Li
Mr. Li is a Partner and President of Davidson Kempner. Mr. Li joined Davidson Kempner in September or 2018 as the Head of Capital Markets. Mr. Li became a Partner in January 2024 and President in January 2025. Mr. Li co-manages the Client Partnership & Business Development and oversees the Firm’s Capital Markets, Strategy and Treasury Teams. Mr. Li serves on the Risk Committees for the Davidson Kempner Opportunities Funds and Income Funds. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Li worked at Goldman Sachs, most recently as a Managing Director in the Securities Division. Mr. Li received a B.S. in Engineering Management Systems from Columbia University in 2006.
Anish Mathur
Anish Mathur is the Founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Astra Asset Management UK Limited. Mr. Mathur is a member of the Investment Management Team. Prior to Astra, Anish spent 7 years at Deutsche Bank as Head of Winchester Capital Principal Finance, where he was responsible for one of the largest cash and synthetic asset backed securities portfolios globally comprising a multi-billion-dollar pool of ABS assets including US and European RMBS, CMBS, CLOs and CDOs in both cash and synthetic form. Prior to Winchester Capital, Mr. Mathur spent 7 years providing consulting services to several Fortune 500 companies over various financial and strategic matters including capital efficacy, P&L maximization and post M&A optimization methodology. Mr. Mathur holds an MBA from Oxford University and was BTech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Jeff Bunder
Jeff is Global CFO at Round Hill Music and has close to 40 years of private equity experience, having held key leadership positions over his 30 years at EY, including capping his long career at the firm as Global Private Equity Leader. He was one of the founding members of the Transaction Advisory Services practice and has worked on hundreds of transactions throughout his career. Jeff previously served as a Partner & CFO at Lindsay Goldberg, a middle-market private equity firm based in New York City, where he served on the valuation and investment committees and supported numerous portfolio companies in their post-acquisition periods. Most recently, he was at Edgelight Capital where Jeff was Partner & CFO of the Telecom-focused investment platform. Jeff has extensive experience in executing both private equity and strategic transactions, as well as supporting acquired companies in achieving their operational and growth objectives.
Recent Podcasts:
Mark Strauch, founding partner and president of Alpine Investors.
Paul Carbone, Co-founder and vice chairman of Pritzker Private Capital.
Jason Mudrick, Founder and chief investment officer of Mudrick Capital.
Matt Fleissig, Co-founder and CEO of Pathstone
Coming up
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