Why Makena
Makena Capital Management is a leading investment firm whose objective is the preservation and appreciation of long-term capital
Aligned Interests
Makena is an independently-owned, multigenerational firm with a single line of business and no subsidiaries. Broad equity ownership spans multiple generations of our employees, ensuring Makena is constructed for the long term, consistent with the capital which we manage. Broad equity ownership also assists in Makena’s ability to attract and retain talent. Partners, employees and members of Makena’s Board of Directors have significant personal investment in our vehicles directly alongside our clients’ capital. The commingled structure of our vehicles aligns interests with and across our clients while eliminating allocation conflicts; each client owns a pro rata portion of each investment we make. This structure also enables our investment team to focus on investing a single pool of capital.
Board of Directors
Dave Burke is a Managing Director and the former Chief Executive Officer of Makena Capital Management. A founder of the firm, Dave is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors as well as the Management and Investment Committees. Prior to being named Chief Executive Officer in January 2014, Dave headed Makena’s private equity activities. Prior to forming Makena in 2005, Dave was a Managing Director of the Stanford Management Company, overseeing the Stanford University endowment’s investments in private equity and venture capital. Prior to joining the Stanford Management Company, he ran the private equity investment program for The Investment Fund for Foundations. During the 1990s, Dave was an international capital markets lawyer in London and Paris with Linklaters, and practiced law with Bingham McCutchen in San Francisco.
Dave currently serves on the advisory and corporate boards of over a dozen private equity, venture capital, and direct investments in the U.S. and abroad. Dave serves on the Boards of Stanford University Athletics and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a Trustee of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation and Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton. Dave received a B.S. in Finance, Juris Doctor, and an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and is a guest lecturer on investment management topics at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Ambassador William Burns is the President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Ambassador Burns pursued a distinguished thirty-three year diplomatic career with the U.S. Foreign Service. He is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State, a position he held from 2011 until 2014. He also served as Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011, Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2001 to 2005, and Ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. Ambassador Burns speaks Russian, Arabic, and French. He has been the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and received the highest civilian honors from the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. In 2013, Foreign Policy named him “Diplomat of the Year”.
Ambassador Burns earned a bachelor’s degree in History from LaSalle University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, as a Marshall Scholar. He is a recipient of four honorary doctoral degrees and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Ambassador Burns earned a bachelor’s degree in History from LaSalle University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, as a Marshall Scholar. He is a recipient of four honorary doctoral degrees and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Eric Doppstadt, CFA, is Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of The Ford Foundation in New York, and has over 20 years’ experience in investment management. He is responsible for managing the Foundation’s $12 billion endowment, where he leads a team of fifteen professionals. Before assuming his current position in June 2009, he spent fifteen years in a number of alternative investment roles at the Foundation, including nine years managing the Foundation’s investments in venture capital, private equity, distressed investments, and hedge funds. Prior to joining the Foundation, he spent five years practicing corporate law with the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York.
He is a member of the World Economic Forum Committee on the Future of Long-Term Investing and a Director and member of the Finance & Investment Committee of Arch Capital Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL), a Bermuda-based company that provides specialty insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis through its wholly owned subsidiaries.
He received his undergraduate degree with Honors from The University of Chicago, studied international economics at Georgetown University on a fellowship from the Fund for American Studies, and received a law degree from NYU School of Law, where he was Articles Editor of the NYU Annual Survey of American Law. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute.
Dr. Jeffrey Jaensubhakij is the Group Chief Investment Officer of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation). He was appointed to this position on January 1, 2017. In 1998 he joined GIC as a Senior Economist covering the US economy and since then he has held asset allocation portfolio responsibilities as Co-Head of Asset Allocation Strategy in the Economics and Strategy Department. From 2003 to 2011 Dr. Jaensubhakij was Head of Total Return Equities and the US Equities teams based in GIC’s New York Office. In 2011, he was appointed President of Europe, responsible for coordinating GIC’s investment activities in Europe across public and private asset classes. He was then appointed President of Public Markets and Director of Public Equities in 2013 and Deputy Group Chief Investment Officer in 2016.
Dr. Jaensubhakij holds a B.A. in Economics from Cambridge University as well as a master’s and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.
Dr. Robert L. Joss is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Makena Capital Management. Dr. Joss was Dean of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University from 1999 to 2009. Prior to working at Stanford University, Dr. Joss was the Chief Executive Officer of Australia’s Westpac Banking Corporation, one of Australia’s largest banks. Prior to Westpac, Dr. Joss spent 22 years with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, holding a variety of positions, and served as Vice Chairman for his last 7 years. Before joining Wells Fargo, he worked in Washington, D.C., first as a White House fellow and then for the Treasury Department as Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy. Dr. Joss is currently a director of CM Capital and Social Finance, Inc, and he was formerly a director of Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co, Westpac Banking Corp, Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd., and Bechtel Group.
Dr. Joss was a Sloan fellow in 1965-66, earned an M.B.A. in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1970 from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He also holds a B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington.
William J. Kneisel is a retired investment banker with over 30 years of experience at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated. After taking responsibility for the firm’s U.S. underwriting activities in 1978, he successively became head of U.S. debt origination, European investment banking and worldwide equity capital markets. On two occasions (in 1978 and 1992) during Morgan Stanley’s transition from a private investment bank to a global securities firm, Mr. Kneisel organized the development and adoption of a comprehensive business-wide strategic plan. Mr. Kneisel has been actively involved in fundraising for colleges and schools including Dartmouth College, Middlebury College, The Taft School, Hopkins School, and Harvard Business School. Most recently, Mr. Kneisel served as President of the Hopkins School Committee of Trustees.
Mr. Kneisel graduated from Harvard Business School in 1974, magna cum laude and as a George F. Baker Scholar. He earned his B.A. at Dartmouth College.
Michael McCaffery is the Managing Partner of Makena Capital Management. A founder of the firm, he is also a member of the Management and Investment Committees. Prior to forming Makena Capital Management in 2005, Mike was the President and CEO of the Stanford Management Company overseeing the Stanford University endowment, which he joined in 2000. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of the investment bank Robertson Stephens and Company. Mike joined Robertson Stephens as Director of Investment Banking in 1988. Prior to Robertson Stephens, Mike was with Morgan Stanley and Company.
Mike was named to the board of directors of NVIDIA Corp. in March 2015 and is a director of C3. He also serves as a trustee of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust. Mike is a member of the advisory boards of several fund managers and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Mike graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University, and as a Rhodes Scholar attended Merton College at Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. Honors and an M.A. Mike has an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice is the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and professor of political science at Stanford University. From January 2005 to 2009, she served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States. Prior to assuming that position, she served as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (the National Security Advisor) from January 2001 to 2005. Dr. Rice joined the Stanford University faculty as a professor of political science in 1981 and served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999. She was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution from 1991 to 1993 and returned to the Hoover Institution after serving as provost until 2001.
Dr. Rice earned her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981 and her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974.
Mr. Ng served as Group Chief Investment Officer of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) from 2007 until 2013. From 1983 to 1987, he was the founding Chairman of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX), now incorporated into the Singapore Exchange. He has been the Founder/Chairman of the Wealth Management Institute since 2003. In 2013, the CFA Institute conferred on him the Thomas L. Hansberger Award for Leadership in the global investment profession. Mr. Ng has been a member of the Strategic Committee of Agency France Tresor since 2001 for which the Government of France conferred on him the award of “La Croix de Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur” in 2004.
Mr. Ng graduated in Physics from the University of Singapore (1970) and in Management as a Sloan Fellow from Stanford University (1980).
Investment Team
Lara Banks is a Managing Director and a member of Makena's Management and Investment Committees. Lara is responsible for portfolio management and manager selection for Makena's Traditional and Sustainable Natural Resources portfolios. In addition to her duties overseeing natural resources investments, Lara leads the firm's sustainability efforts as they relate to investment diligence and oversight. Prior to joining Makena, Lara was an associate at GE Energy Financial Services, a financial division investing across the capital structure of energy assets. At GE, Lara analyzed investments in domestic and foreign oil and gas fields. Prior to GE, Lara was a power markets analyst at DC Energy, a proprietary energy trading firm. Lara earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics and Government, magna cum laude, from Cornell University.
Craig Blanchard is a Managing Director and a member of Makena's Management and Investment Committees. Craig oversees investments and portfolio construction as a member of Makena’s Real Estate team. Prior to joining Makena, Craig was a Managing Director at the Stanford Management Company, where he oversaw the real estate portfolio and served on the investment committee. Prior to Stanford, Craig was a principal at the Townsend Group and Head of Special Situations Investing, where he led a significant component of Townsend’s real estate business. Craig began his career with capital deployment and asset management roles at Broadreach Capital Partners, a Palo Alto-based real estate private equity firm, and at AMB Properties Corporation, a global logistics REIT. He earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A., with highest honors, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Joe Dekker, a Managing Director and senior member of the Makena investment team, is responsible for design, implementation, and management of internal and external multi-asset class portfolios. Joe serves as the portfolio manager for many of our Outsourced CIO (OCIO) clients. He is a member of Makena’s Investment Committee and leads portfolio strategy, portfolio construction, and risk management for the firm’s vehicles. Since joining Makena, Joe has led portfolio integration and manager selection for fixed income and credit investments across Makena’s vehicles, and has supported the portfolio management of our flagship endowment vehicle, the Makena Endowment Portfolio. Prior to the formation of Makena Capital Management, Joe was an associate at the Stanford Management Company, where he directly supported the chief investment officer in a variety of investment and risk analytics roles. Joe holds a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where he graduated with honors, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. Joe is a CFA Charterholder.
Peter Dolan, a Managing Director, oversees investments on Makena’s Private Equity team, including venture capital. Peter also serves on the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Makena, Peter served as a Managing Director at the Harvard Management Company, where he oversaw the private equity and venture capital portfolio. Prior to joining the Harvard Management Company in 1995, he worked as a consultant at Cambridge Associates and as a private equity analyst at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Peter served as a board member of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company for a ten-year period ending June 2012. Peter holds an M.B.A. from the Darden School at the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.
Jackson Garton, a Managing Director, oversees Makena’s Listed Equity team. He is responsible for portfolio management and manager selection for investments in Makena’s listed equity asset classes, including long-only equity and long/short equity. Jackson is a member of Makena’s Investment Committee and takes a leading role determining asset allocation and risk management across the firm’s vehicles. Jackson also serves on the advisory boards of several of our public equity managers.
Jackson earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar and the winner of the Alexander A. Robichek Award for Outstanding Achievement in Finance. Prior to his M.B.A., Jackson was an associate at Makena supporting asset allocation, following his role as an analyst supporting the CIO and liquid asset class teams. Jackson holds a B.S. degree in Mathematical and Computational Science from Stanford University. Jackson is a CFA Charterholder.
Bill Getty, a Managing Director, oversees Makena’s Absolute Return team and is responsible for portfolio management and manager selection for absolute return investments across Makena’s vehicles. He is also involved in underwriting select listed equity managers and is a member of Makena’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Makena, Bill was an associate in the Absolute Return Investment Group at Hall Capital Partners, an investment firm based in San Francisco. At Hall Capital, Bill performed research and analysis on a wide range of traditional and alternative investment strategies across equity and debt markets. Prior to this role, Bill was an analyst supporting client portfolio management. Bill earned an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with a concentration in Analytical Finance. While earning his M.B.A., Bill spent a summer working for Huntington Partners, a value-oriented equity investment firm located in Chicago. Bill holds a B.A. in History, with Distinction, from Colby College.
Kia Ghorashi, a Managing Director, is responsible for supporting portfolio management and manager selection for Makena's listed equity and venture capital investments. He is also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to Makena, Kia was an associate at RiceHadleyGates LLC, a strategy consulting firm founded by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Kia received a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in International Relations from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Larry Kochard is the Chief Investment Officer at Makena Capital Management. He is also a Managing Director and Management Committee member. Larry was previously the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) for eight years. As CEO, Larry provided leadership for all aspects of UVIMCO’s operations and served as UVIMCO’s primary representative to the university, related foundations, and the public. As CIO, Larry was responsible for the investment management of UVIMCO’s Long Term Pool, overseeing the asset allocation, portfolio management, risk management and manager selection activities of the investment staff. Prior to joining UVIMCO, Larry served as CIO at Georgetown University. From 2001 to 2004, he was Managing Director of Equity and Hedge Fund Investments for the Virginia Retirement System. From 1997 to 2004, he taught in the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, first as an adjunct and later as a full-time assistant professor. He spent the early part of his career in debt capital markets at Goldman Sachs and corporate finance at Fannie Mae and DuPont. Larry received his B.A. in Economics from the College of William & Mary, an M.B.A. degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Rochester, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia. He is a CFA Charterholder. He is on the board of directors of Janus Henderson Group, Inc. and Virginia Environmental Endowment, and serves as Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Virginia Retirement System. Larry was the 2015 winner of the Rodney H. Adams Award for Endowment Management from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), which recognizes outstanding contributions to university endowment and investment management. Larry is a longtime moderator of the premier endowment and foundation industry conference, NMS, and is the author of several industry publications, including Foundation and Endowment Investing: Philosophies and Strategies of Top Investors and Institutions. More recently, Larry wrote the foreword of and was profiled in Inside the World’s Top Institutional Offices: Conversations With 80 Institutional Investors.
Michael McCaffery is the Managing Partner of Makena Capital Management. A founder of the firm, he is also a member of the Management and Investment Committees. Prior to forming Makena Capital Management in 2005, Mike was the President and CEO of the Stanford Management Company overseeing the Stanford University endowment, which he joined in 2000. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of the investment bank Robertson Stephens and Company. Mike joined Robertson Stephens as Director of Investment Banking in 1988. Prior to Robertson Stephens, Mike was with Morgan Stanley and Company.
Mike was named to the board of directors of NVIDIA Corp. in March 2015 and is a director of C3. He also serves as a trustee of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust. Mike is a member of the advisory boards of several fund managers and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Mike graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University, and as a Rhodes Scholar attended Merton College at Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. Honors and an M.A. Mike has an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Andrew Myers is a member of Makena’s Private Equity team, responsible for supporting portfolio management and manager selection for Makena’s private equity investments, including venture capital. Andrew earned his M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Prior to his M.B.A., Andrew was an associate on Makena’s Private Equity team, following his role as an analyst supporting the private asset class teams. Andrew earned a B.A. in Economics from Eugene Lang College.
Luke Proskine is a Managing Director and a member of the Management and Investment Committees. As a senior member of the Makena investment team, Luke is responsible for leading portfolio strategy, heading the group that designs, implements, and manages internal and external multi-asset class portfolios. Luke serves as the CIO for a number of Makena’s OCIO clients. For these clients, Luke leads all aspects of portfolio construction and execution, including the development of investment policy statements. Luke has extensive experience working with UHNW families and serves as a board member for a prominent Chicago family office. Prior to his appointment to lead the portfolio strategy team, Luke served as Makena’s Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Chief Investment Officer. Since joining Makena at its inception in 2005, Luke has held multiple senior roles in private equity and portfolio management.
Prior to the formation of Makena, Luke worked as a Senior Investment Manager at the Stanford Management Company, where he was responsible for portfolio management and risk analysis as well as private equity and real assets investing for the Stanford Endowment. Prior to joining Stanford Management Company, Luke worked for the Thomas Weisel Partners Investment Banking Group, where he was involved in a variety of corporate finance and M&A transactions. Luke holds a B.S. in Economics, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University, and an M.B.A. with a major in Finance, with honors, from the Wharton School.
Jack Quinlan is responsible for the design, implementation, and management of internal and external multi-asset class portfolios. As a member of the portfolio strategy team, Jack engages in strategy and risk management efforts across Makena’s vehicles. Jack supports manager selection for fixed income and credit investments as well as portfolio management of our flagship endowment vehicle, and is responsible for Makena’s tail protection and foreign exchange hedging portfolios. Jack holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Gonzaga University.
Brian Rodde is a Managing Director on the Private Equity team and a member of Makena's Management and Investment Committees. Brian is responsible for portfolio management and manager selection across our buyout and venture capital strategies. He also serves as the portfolio manager for Makena's private equity funds. While at Makena, Brian has led portfolio construction and manager selection activities in the Private Equity, Venture Capital, Real Estate, and Natural Resources portfolios. Given his breadth of experience across the private assets, Brian is often called on to advise Makena's global clients on the integration of private asset strategies into client portfolios. Prior to joining Makena, Brian was an associate at SVB Capital, where he evaluated private equity partnership investment opportunities. Brian earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. While earning his M.B.A., Brian spent a summer working in real estate private equity with Cherokee Investment Partners in Raleigh, NC and Highcross in Newbury, UK. Brian earned a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.
Breanna Stein focuses on portfolio strategy, supporting the design, implementation, and management of multi-asset class portfolios across Makena’s vehicles, with an additional concentration on the firm’s select Outsourced CIO (OCIO) clients. Previously, Bre worked on the Natural Resources team, where she was responsible for supporting portfolio management and manager selection for Makena’s Traditional and Sustainable Natural Resources portfolios. Bre plays a leading role in the firm's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, supporting sustainability efforts as they relate to investment diligence and oversight.
Breanna rejoined Makena after earning her M.B.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to her M.B.A., Breanna was an associate on Makena’s Listed Equity team, while supporting the CIO, various asset class teams, and the team overseeing asset allocation. Breanna received a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Finance from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with Honors, in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Jonathan Van Gorp is responsible for portfolio management and partner selection for Makena’s U.S. and global real estate investments. Prior to joining Makena, Jonathan was a Vice President at Paxion Capital, a family office, where he oversaw the real estate portfolio. Prior to Paxion, Jonathan was a Director at the Stanford Management Company, overseeing domestic and international real estate investments. Jonathan began his career at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group. Jonathan received a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Georgia.
David Young, a Managing Director and Investment Committee member, is responsible for leading portfolio management and manager selection for Makena's private equity and venture capital investments. Prior to joining Makena, David was a Director at Bregal Investments, which manages a series of private equity investment vehicles sponsored by one of Europe's leading families. Working from Bregal's New York office, David helped build and oversee a €3.0 billion global private equity portfolio of fund commitments, secondary investments and direct co-investments. Previously, David was a Vice President at Merrill Lynch Private Equity Partners in New York. While earning his M.B.A., David spent a summer in private equity with General Atlantic Partners. David began his career in equity research at Robertson Stephens. David holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business and an M.P.P. from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received B.A. degrees in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Utah.
Client Strategy and Operations Teams:
Nic Amaroli leads the team responsible for marketing and client service, within Makena’s Client Strategy Group. Prior to joining Makena in 2013, Nic was an investment analyst at Peninsula Capital Management, a long/short equity fund, where he was responsible for security selection and supported portfolio management. Nic earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Davis.
Jonathan Chan is the Director of Finance at Makena, responsible for the oversight of operational processes across all of the Makena vehicles. Prior to joining Makena, Jonathan was the Controller at Parador Asset Management, a long/short Canadian hedge fund. Before joining Parador, Jonathan was the Finance Manager at Pantera Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund. Jonathan received a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Irvine.
Andre Cuerington, a Managing Director in Makena’s Client Strategy Group, is responsible for advising Makena’s institutional clients on the integration of alternative investments into portfolios with diverse goals and structures. Before joining Makena in 2016, Andre was a Senior Vice President in Business Development at the TCW Group in Los Angeles. Before TCW, Andre helped start the business development team at Waterfall Asset Management, a credit-focused hedge fund headquartered in New York. Prior to Waterfall, Andre was a Vice President with PineBridge Investments in Los Angeles, where he focused on business development with Western U.S. public pension funds. Before PineBridge, Andre spent six years at Western Asset Management as a client service executive focused on large institutional clients. He began his investment career at Callan Associates, where he managed the Quantitative Consulting team, which primarily focused on asset/liability studies. Andre served for 13 years in the United States Army and held various leadership roles. He earned a B.S. in Operations Research from the United States Military Academy, an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an M.S. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.
Rossella Curci leads the Makena team responsible for client service functions and processes, within Makena’s Client Strategy Group. Prior to joining Makena, Rossella was part of the Investor and Fund Management team at CCMP Capital Advisors (formerly JPMorgan Partners). Prior to CCMP, she was a Vice President at JPMorgan Partners, where her responsibilities included fund management and portfolio valuation. Prior to JPMorgan, she was a manager at KPMG LLP in both the valuation services and assurance practices. Rossella received a B.S. in Business Administration from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a CPA.
Alison Davis, a Senior Associate on Makena’s Client Strategy team, works closely on both investment and operational matters with several of the firm’s family office and Endowment and Foundation (E&F) clients, both domestic and international. She also supports the firm’s fundraising and investor communications efforts. Prior to joining Makena in 2016, Alison worked at NEPC in Boston as an investment analyst in the E&F practice. Alison earned a B.A in Political Economy from Williams College.
Dan Drury is responsible for overseeing all tax operations of the firm, including tax strategy, planning, tax structuring, manager placement, and compliance. He assists global clients to ensure the most efficient tax structuring for investment in the Makena funds. Prior to joining Makena, Dan was the VP of Tax for Advantage Capital Partners for seven years, where he led all tax aspects of the firm, including tax planning, M&A, projections, and compliance, as well as many matters of the investment funds and underlying investors. Dan began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he concentrated in tax consulting and compliance for investment management and alternative asset clients. Dan earned an M.A. in Accountancy and a B.S. from the College of Business at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and is an active CPA.
Derek Lapcevic is the Director of Performance Reporting at Makena, where he leads the team responsible for portfolio reporting, data integrity and trade operations. Prior to joining Makena, Derek was an Operations Manager at CITCO Fund Services where he was responsible for the portfolio valuation, profit and loss reporting and middle office operations of CITCO San Francisco’s hedge fund clients. Derek earned a B.S. from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Katie Lawson is a Senior Associate on the Client Operations team within Makena’s Client Strategy Group. Katie joined Makena in 2011 and supports investor communication, reporting, and events, and manages Makena’s client data systems. Katie holds a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations from Loyola University of Chicago.
Joseph Magher is a Managing Director at Makena and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Joseph leads Makena’s business development efforts and strategic client relationship management with a focus on family office partnerships and Endowment and Foundation (E&F) clients. He has successfully led the development and growth of our E&F and Outsourced CIO (OCIO) practice internally over the last ten years. Makena now partners with over 50 E&F clients, including more than 10 relationships in a fully outsourced capacity. Joseph also plays a senior leadership and management role within our Client Strategy Group, which employs more than 20 professionals at the firm.
Joseph has over 20 years of investment experience. Prior to joining Makena in 2009, he worked at Morgan Stanley as a Vice President, advising institutions on their hedge fund portfolios as well as advising hedge funds on capital raising and strategic business matters. Previously, Joseph worked at Credit Suisse First Boston in Private Wealth Management advising high net worth families and foundations on alternative investments. He began his career at a Salomon Smith Barney affiliate in Buenos Aires, Argentina covering local pension funds and Latin America focused investment funds for four years. Joseph received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Bill McGrath is Makena’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. He also serves as a Managing Director and Management Committee member. Before joining Makena, Bill was the EVP & General Counsel at Vulcan Inc., the family investment office of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Prior to Vulcan, Bill held senior legal positions at several Silicon Valley-based technology companies and worked for two national law firms. Bill received a B.A. in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.
John Merrill, a Managing Director in Makena’s Client Strategy Group, leads business development efforts and strategic relationship management with Endowment and Foundation (E&F) clients, among other types of institutional investors and financial institutions. He advises on holistic portfolio solutions, strategy-specific mandates with a focus on alternative investments, and OCIO relationships. John leads Makena’s New York office. Prior to joining Makena, John was a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee at The Investment Fund for Foundations (“TIFF”), where he led the OCIO practice for over a decade. Additionally, he managed the client acquisition efforts and the servicing of existing client relationships. As a member of TIFF’s Investment Committee, John participated in asset allocation decisions and the selection and monitoring of external managers. Before joining TIFF, John was a Vice President in the Investment Services Group of Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette, then Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. Prior to business school, John spent five years in the Capital Markets Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers and fulfilled a two-year commitment with Teach For America in Los Angeles. John holds a B.A. in History, with honors, from Hamilton College, and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management.
William Miller is the Chief Operating Officer and a Managing Director of Makena Capital Management. Bill also serves on the firm’s Investment and Management Committees. Prior to joining Makena in 2006, Bill was the President and CEO of Valchemy, a financial services technology company he led from initial funding in 2002 until it was acquired by IBM. Before Valchemy, Bill was President and COO of iMediation, S.A. Bill spent the first third of his career at Intel and its investment arm, Intel Capital, where his team was responsible for a majority of Intel’s North American equity investments and technology licensing. In his twelve years at Intel, Bill was a senior finance executive for two business groups and served as a general manager, a marketing executive, and a manufacturing engineer.
Bill serves on the board of Western Technology Investment, a registered venture debt investment firm. He holds a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Frank Perez is responsible for managing Makena’s operational due diligence (ODD) function. Frank brings over 15 years of alternative investment due diligence experience to his role with Makena. Prior to joining Makena in 2015, Frank was engaged in the ODD efforts at Saguenay Strathmore Capital, Morgan Stanley and UBP, where he focused on private equity, real estate and hedge fund investments. Earlier in his career, Frank held risk management roles within the capital markets divisions of several global investment banking institutions, where he was responsible for conducting due diligence on hedge fund counterparties. Frank graduated with a B.A. in Economics and English from Rutgers University.
Adam Seymour, a Managing Director based in Makena’s London office, is responsible for efforts in both investment and client strategy. Within the Client Strategy Group, Adam leads Makena’s presence in the EMEA region, maintaining existing relationships and identifying new investments. On the investment side, Adam spans the marketable securities space, focused on sourcing and underwriting absolute return, equity, and credit managers. Prior to Makena, Adam was Head of Absolute Return at the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), responsible for manager selection and portfolio construction. As a senior member of the Fund Investments Department, Adam helped formulate strategic and tactical asset allocation, while chairing the department’s investment committee. Prior to QIA, Adam worked at HSBC and Morgan Stanley as an equity sell-side analyst covering European integrated oil and gas companies. Adam started his career at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies where he published numerous monographs on crude oil and oil product markets, including “The Oil Price and Non-OPEC Supplies” (1990), and was editor of The Oxford Energy Forum. Adam is a CFA Charterholder and holds an M.S. in Development Economics from London University.
Matt Shortal, a Managing Director, is responsible for advising Makena clients on the integration and implementation of alternative strategies. Prior to joining Makena, Matt worked as a Director at Janus Henderson Investors, covering the San Francisco region. In this role, he consulted directly with financial professionals on all Janus Henderson Investor-related strategies and the Janus Henderson Labs curriculum. Prior to joining Janus Henderson Investors in 2010, Matt was a financial advisor at Lehman Brothers as well as Barclays. Before beginning a career in financial services, he was a Marine Corps officer and naval aviator. Matt continues to serve in the Marine Corps reserves as a colonel. He is the Commanding Officer of Marine Aviation Training Support Group 42. Colonel Shortal is a graduate of the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Air War College. He finished his last flying tour on active duty as a U.S. Navy Blue Angel pilot. He holds a B.S. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and passed the CPA exam.
Pascale Thomas is the Deputy General Counsel and Deputy CCO at Makena, where she, together with the General Counsel, is responsible for managing Makena’s legal affairs and compliance program. Prior to joining Makena, Pascale served as a Managing Director and Assistant General Counsel at Z Capital Group, LLC, a Chicago-based alternative asset management firm. Prior to joining Z Capital, Pascale was an associate in the Investment Funds, Advisers & Derivatives group at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. Pascale received a B.S. in Psychology from Duke University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Vanessa Tollefson oversees the Client Operations team with Makena’s Client Strategy Group. She is responsible for investor communication and reporting while supporting business development efforts. Prior to joining Makena, Vanessa was the Director of Compliance, Regulatory and Investor Reporting at Coastland Capital. Vanessa holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California.
Mike Tremmel is Makena’s Chief Financial Officer, as well as a Managing Director and Management Committee member. As CFO, Mike is responsible for the oversight of the financial operations of the firm, managing all operational processes for the Makena investment strategies, including financial policies, audits, risk controls and service provider relationships. Prior to joining Makena in 2009, Mike was the Chief Financial Officer at Pantera Capital Management, a global macro hedge fund in San Francisco, where he oversaw the operational, trading, accounting, and tax functions. Before joining Pantera, Mike was Senior Audit Manager with Ernst and Young, where he served for six years in San Francisco and the Cayman Islands. Mike received a Bachelor of Management degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Lethbridge, Canada, and is a CPA in California (inactive) and British Columbia, Canada.
Sarah Walker is responsible for advising Makena’s Endowment and Foundation (E&F) clients in the integration and implementation of alternative asset strategies into existing portfolios. Previously, Sarah was an associate in Makena’s Client Service group, where she was responsible for the firm’s early client relations efforts. Previously, Sarah worked as a consultant in the Investor Relations group at Hall Capital Partners, an investment firm based in San Francisco. Sarah began her career as an Investor Relations Associate at Pantera Capital Management, where she was solely responsible for managing all marketing and investor relations activities. Sarah earned her M.B.A. from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Sarah holds a B.A. degree in History, with honors, from Yale University.
