Investor Relations, Marketing & Communications Forum New York 2024

Eva Carman is resident in Ropes & Gray’s New York Office and Co-Head of the firm’s Securities and Futures Enforcement Group. She is a Chambers & Partners Ranked Practitioner for Nationwide, Securities: Regulation: Enforcement.

Eva has 25 years of experience representing investment advisers in connection with Securities & Exchange Commission examinations, investigations and litigated actions, focusing on representing private equity and real estate investment funds. Eva’s experience stems from involvement in over 25 PE and real estate exams and from acting as lead counsel on a number of key enforcement investigations in this area, giving her unique first hand insight into SEC’s focus and approach with regard to these advisers.

This experience combined with her deep understanding of these industries enables her to give her clients practical, timely guidance on how best to prepare for and achieve successful outcomes for both exams and enforcement investigations. Her practice is nationwide having handled recent cases in five of the SEC’s regional offices and its home office. Her current year successes include a rare mid-enforcement investigation dismissal of a fees and expenses matter. Her experience and reputation make her a sought after speaker by securities industry groups where she regularly presents on developments in securities enforcement and hot topics related to effective defense of regulatory inquiries.

Tom Angell is the practice leader of Withum’s Financial Services Group based out of the Firm’s New York office. With over 30 years of experience specializing in private equity and venture capital funds, he services a diverse client base including credit funds, hedge funds, fund of funds, investment advisors and regulated funds. Assisting emerging managers and well-established funds both onshore and offshore, Tom provides guidance on the structuring of funds and their management companies, taking into account both domestic and cross-border issues.

Widely viewed as a thought leader in the financial services industry, Tom is frequently requested to speak at industry conferences, most notably Buyouts Insider’s PartnerConnect and Emerging Manager Forum and PEI’s CFO/COO Forum. He has authored many articles, some of which are extensively on issues impacting the private equity and venture capital industries, and has been quoted in leading industry publications such as Private Funds Management (PFM) magazine and The PE Hub Network. Some of his top editorials include “Fund Forecast: Healthy for Emerging Managers,” “Compliance: President Trump’s Next Move” and “SEC’s Reporting Modernization Rules Mark a New Era.” Tom also co-authored “Fees and Expenses 2016 A PFM Benchmarking Survey” and is a co-author of a Withum’s Emerging Manager Desk Reference Manual, a leading publication on the issues associated with launching a new fund.

Tom is a certified public accountant and a member of the New York and New Jersey Societies of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A Rutgers College alum holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Tom also holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Information Systems from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

Tom serves as Treasurer to New Jersey’s Drumthwacket Foundation and has delivered the commencement address to the Rutgers Business School MBA in accounting graduates.

Kevin Higgins is an Alternative Investment Portfolio Manager at New Jersey Division of Investment where he is responsible for the private real estate and infrastructure sectors.

Mr. Higgins has over 20 years of experience building investment teams, developing investment strategy, executing timely investments, and constructing diversified portfolios. His track record spans a full spectrum of real estate-related debt and equity investments as well as real assets. He has particular expertise in asset workout, portfolio restructuring and corporate reorganization. Formerly, he established his own consulting practice to create and recover value in the wake of the global financial crisis. During his investment career he has worked at Swiss Re Asset Management, MBL Life, AIG Real Estate Investments, Lehman Brothers and TIAA-CREF.

Mr. Higgins holds an MBA from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from Manhattan College. He is a member of the CFA Society New York, Pension Real Estate Association, Institutional Limited Partners Association, and the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Higgins teaches on the Adjunct Faculty at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Real Estate at Rutgers Business School.

Katherine Taylor is a Director for THL Credit’s Direct Lending and Tradable Credit platforms. Her responsibilities include business development, product development, strategic relationships and fund marketing. She is responsible for the development and management of institutional investor, private investor, co-investor, strategic capital and lender finance relationships across THL Credit’s platform. Prior to joining THL Credit, Ms. Taylor was a Vice President and head of fundraising and investor relations at Graycliff Partners, the former private equity team of HSBC in the United States and Latin America. Ms. Taylor received her B.A. in International Studies and M.B.A. from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.