8th Private Equity San Francisco Forum San Francisco | October 7-8, 2025 Request Agenda

Rich Lawson, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Partner, HGGC

Mr. Lawson is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of HGGC. Mr. Lawson has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its formation and directs the firm’s strategy and investment decisions, governance and investor relations. Since HGGC’s inception, Mr. Lawson has overseen over 700 completed transactions representing more than $80 billion in aggregate transaction value. Mr. Lawson also serves as a director, chairman emeritus or trustee on several philanthropic and cultural institutions including the Capital Impact Foundation, San Francisco Zoo, Wasatch Adaptive Sports and the Forever Young Foundation. Mr. Lawson received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. from Amherst College.

Rishi Kapoor, Vice Chairman, Chief Investment Officer, Investcorp

Rishi Kapoor is Investcorp’s Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer (CIO). He has been with the firm for over 30 years, having served as Investcorp’s Co-Chief Executive Officer from 2015 to 2024, and as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2015. Rishi joined Investcorp in 1992 from Citigroup.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Rishi is a member of Duke University’s Middle East Regional Advisory Board, the Oxford Energy Policy Club, and His Majesty King Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative. Additionally, he sits on the Board of Directors for the National Bank of Bahrain, where he chairs the Risk & Compliance Committee.

Rishi is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences and has been recognized by Forbes Middle East as one of the top 10 Indian executives in the region. Top CEO Middle East also named him one of the top CEOs in the GCC in 2018. 

Yann Robard, Managing Partner, Dawson Partners (“Dawson”)

Yann Robard is Managing Partner of Dawson. Established in 2015, Dawson (formerly Whitehorse Liquidity Partners) is a leading global alternative asset manager focused on providing innovative structured solutions to the private markets. Dawson has US$20 billion of assets under management and over 200 employees. Since inception, the Firm has deployed over US$25 billion across more than 240 transactions. Prior to Dawson, Yann spent a cumulative 13 years at CPP Investment Board (“CPPIB”). Yann joined CPPIB in 2001 at the inception of its private equity investment program. He was Managing Director, Head of Secondaries and Co-Investments in 2015 when he left CPPIB to establish Dawson. Yann holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) Charterholder.

Adam Vigna, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Sagard

Adam Vigna is co-founder & Chief Investment Officer of Sagard since 2016. As the firm’s CIO, Adam is actively involved in all investment decisions made across the platform and is responsible for Sagard’s overall investment activities, including investment strategy, governance, and portfolio construction. Adam also serves as Chief Investment Officer of Sagard Credit Partners. Adam is a member of the Management Committee and is currently a director of Peak Achievement Athletics. He is based in Toronto, Canada.
Prior to Sagard, Adam spent nearly a decade at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) where he was Managing Director and Global Head of CPPIB’s Principal Credit Investments Group (“PCI”) with approximately CA$20B of AUM. While at CPPIB, Adam was one of the founding members of CPPIB’s Principal Credit Investment Group and led CPPIB’s acquisition of Antares Capital in 2015. Adam holds a B.Comm. (Honours) degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.