Private Capital Summit US 2025

As Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Comptroller for Asset Management, Steven Meier oversees investments for the five New York City retirement systems.

Mr. Meier brings over 40 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, previously serving as Assistant Treasurer and Interim Chief Investment Officer for the Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden, overseeing the investments of Connecticut’s $40 billion public pension system. Previously, Meier spent 17 years at State Street and State Street Global Advisors, where he rose to Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Global Fixed Income, Currency, and Cash Management, overseeing over $900 billion in assets. In addition, he was a member of SSGA’s Investment Committee for over 10 years, with responsibility for more than $2.3 trillion in Global Investments. 

Prior to his time at State Street, he worked at Credit Suisse First Boston as Director, Global Head of Fixed Income & Money Market Electronic Trading and Senior Trader in their Global Financing Group. His experience also includes roles at Oppenheimer Capital, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, and Irving Trust Company.

Meier is a CFA Charter Holder and certified Financial Risk Manager. He holds an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business and a BBA from Hofstra University’s Zarb School of Business.

Mr. Casarella is a managing director and assistant portfolio manager in the Special Situations Group and helps lead investing efforts in the consumer, business and financial services industries.  Prior to joining Oaktree in 2012, he served as Deputy Chief Restructuring Officer at the United States Department of the Treasury.  Before that, Mr. Casarella was an investor in the Private Equity Group at Brookfield Asset Management.  He is a board member of Crossroads Building Supply, Attain Finance, Gitsit Solutions, Great American Group, Fabletics Inc., Healthcare Finance Direct, NexGen Financial, and WHP Global.  Mr. Casarella is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Bureau.  He began his career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs and an associate at Lazard.  Mr. Casarella holds an A.B. degree summa cum laude from Bowdoin College, an M.A. degree in economics from Oxford University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.  He is also a CFA charterholder.

Susan Scutt is an Operating Managing Director and part of the Private Equity Business Unit, based in New York. She is responsible for our Transformational Management Office (TMO) Center of Excellence and drives cost optimization / margin expansion programs across our global PE portfolio. Susan has over 20 years of transformative experience across consulting, corporate, and investment firms. She spent the last 11 years in Private Equity value creation, initially driving the transformation of a Vista Equity Partners-owned company, then joining the firm as Chief of Staff/VP Operations within their flagship fund. Susan later stood up the Portfolio Operations function at TCV and spent time driving value creation within Sun Capital Partners technology businesses. She holds an MBA from Oakland University and a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Kettering University.

Prior to joining Bain Capital, Shamafa was the Head of Investor Relations & Marketing at Crayhill Capital Management, a private credit manager focused on specialty finance and asset-based investments.  Prior to joining Crayhill, she was a member of the Global Business Development Group at Babson Capital Management (now Barings), where she held various positions, the last of which was on the Institutional Sales team where she was responsible for client relationships and capital raising. She also served as a product specialist for Babson’s alternative investments platform, developing and implementing marketing strategies for hedge funds. Prior to joining Babson, Shamafa was on the Global Capital Introductions team at UBS and prior to that was a part of the alternatives research team at UBS. She holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering Operations Research from Columbia University.

Marco Prono is a Managing Director and co-Head of J.P. Morgan Direct Lending practice. In this capacity Marco is focused on establishing and developing the firm’s direct lending platform globally.

Prior to his current role, Marco was a senior member in the Leveraged Finance Capital Markets team at J.P. Morgan in London. His primary sectors of focus included Industrials, Consumer & Retail, Transportation, Lodging and Leisure, where he was responsible for the underwriting and syndication of Euro and Sterling debt financings for European and cross-border clients. In addition, Marco had been leading the firm’s efforts in EMEA distressed, special situations and restructuring financing projects. Marco’s breadth of experience spans across North and South America, and Europe.

David Thompson is a part of PGIM Private Capital’s Direct Lending group, based in New York.  He leads the teams in the New York and London offices responsible for originating and underwriting middle-market Direct Lending investments, managing the portfolio, and supporting the firm’s fundraising efforts. Prior to joining PGIM Private Capital in 2022, David was a founding member of the Special Investments (BSI) business at Brookfield Asset Management and a senior member of the Investment Team. Previously, he worked at Garrison Investment Group, GSC Group, and Goldman Sachs. He graduated in 2000 with a BA Economics from University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Jurgensen is a Managing Director on the Ares Credit Secondaries investment team. Mary has been with Ares since 2014, spending the first 9 years in the primary direct lending business prior to joining the credit secondaries platform when it launched in 2023.

Ruulke Bagijn is Global Head of Carlyle AlpInvest, Carlyle’s private equity asset management platform specializing in primary and secondary fund investments, co-investments, and portfolio financings. As of June 30, 2025, AlpInvest manages $97 billion in assets and serves a global investor base, partnering with leading institutions worldwide to deliver private capital solutions.

She is a member of the Global Investment Committee, which oversees investments across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.

With more than 20 years of experience, Ruulke has served as co-CIO at PGGM and held senior roles at AXA IM and ABN AMRO. She is a CFA charterholder and holds an MSc in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam.