ALTSSV Mountain View | September 6-7, 2023

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Nicole Musicco, Chief Investment Officer, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)

Nicole Musicco was named chief investment officer in February 2022. She oversees an investment office of nearly 400 employees and manages investment portfolios of roughly $500 billion, including the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund and affiliate funds. As chief investment officer, Nicole oversees total fund investment and operational strategies. She collaborates with the managing investment directors and their teams to implement asset allocation and investment strategies. She also oversees our Investment Office’s business management needs, including strategic planning, financial reporting, expense management, and talent management. Prior to joining CalPERS, Nicole was a partner at RedBird Capital Partners where she led the firm’s Canadian investment business. She also previously managed the private markets investment program at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO). Nicole’s experience includes 16 years with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan where she led the public equity investment team and oversaw the private equity fund and co-investment program. She was responsible for opening the fund’s Asia Pacific office in Hong Kong and helped build its presence in Asia. Nicole graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Kinesiology from Western University in London, Ontario, and a bachelor of arts in Honors Business Administration and MBA from Western’s Ivey School of Business.

Robert Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vista Equity Partners

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, and as a Member of the Cornell Engineering College Council, where Smith’s leadership was honored by naming the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Smith is also 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.

Smith’s business achievements and global philanthropic works have been recognized by numerous entities. Among them, Smith was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and was named as one of Forbes’ 100 Greatest Living Business Minds and a TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2020.

Steve Davis, Chief Investment Officer, Sacramento County Employees Retirement System

Steve Davis has served as the Chief Investment Officer at SCERS since October 2016 and is responsible for the oversight and implementation of SCERS’ investment program.  

Steve has been with SCERS since 2010, and previously was a co-portfolio manager at Wedbush Morgan Securities and a senior research analyst at Concord Investment Counsel.  Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California, and also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations.

Prabhu Palani, Chief Investment Officer, City of San Jose Retirement System

Prabhu is a veteran of the investment industry who brings over 20 years of investment experience with global investment leaders including Barclays Global Investors, Franklin Templeton Investments, and Mellon Capital Management. He was Managing Director and Senior Investment Strategist at Mellon Capital Management where he helped build the firm's quantitative equity capabilities. Previously he was an SVP and Portfolio Manager at Franklin Templeton Investments managing structured equity portfolios. He has also held fixed income portfolio management positions at BGI and NatWest Bank. He is also a former Trustee of the Federated City Employees Retirement System where he served on the Investment Committee for 6 months. He is a member of the Board of Regents of Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose and a volunteer with the City of Fremont Police Department.

Larry Kochard, Chief Investment Officer, Makena Capital Management

Larry Kochard is the Chief Investment Officer at Makena Capital Management and a member of Makena’s Executive Larry was previously the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) for seven 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.

Scott Kupor, Managing Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

Scott Kupor is an investing partner focused on growth-stage companies building in the bio and healthcare industries, manages the firm's investor relations team, and is responsible for the firm's growth initiatives. Scott was the first employee at Andreessen Horowitz and managed the firm's growth from $300 million in AUM to more than $30 billion. Prior to joining the firm, Scott worked as vice president and general manager of software-as-a-service at Hewlett Packard. Before that, he held numerous executive management positions at Opsware, including senior vice president of global field operations, vice president of financial planning and vice president of corporate development. Prior to Opsware, Scott represented software companies in both financing and mergers and acquisitions transactions at Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers. Scott is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It, and serves on the boards of Cedar, Headway, Foursquare, Labster, Ultima, and SnapLogic. He also served as chairman of the board for the National Venture Capital Association. Scott graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy with honors and distinction. He also holds a law degree with distinction from Stanford University and is a member of the State Bar of California.