The economy has changed. Talent is still scarce. Demand may be ebbing. Capital is more expensive, and technology remains a puzzling Rubik’s Cube of complexity. But for CEOs and CFOs of PE-backed companies, dislocation and uncertainty can often be profits in disguise.
The challenge is toughing out the storm: keeping up with fast-changing investor expectations and pressures, accelerated timelines and increasingly uncertain routes to the exit. In 2023, you must sharpen your focus and truly master what matters to reach a profitable exit point.
Chief Executive Group’s annual PE-Backed Leadership Summit is an event like no other, as the only program specifically designed for busy operators of PE-backed businesses, with a focus on sharing the practical expertise of active practitioners, rather than academic theory and research.
Executive Chair, CCMP Capital Advisors; Lead Director, The Home Depot
The leader behind the legendary turnarounds at Burger King and Continental Airlines opens his playbook for transformation amid crisis in this can’t-be-missed session. He’s seen it all—bring him your toughest operational questions.
Managing Director and Head of Global Research, Carlyle
Where is the economy going and what will the best-run PE-backed companies be doing to find their way through the bumpy days ahead? Caryle’s top research guru will share insights and ideas with a hyper-specific focus on the PE company.
We understand the unique pressures you face as an executive of a PE portfolio company. Give yourself and your team an edge for the volatile year to come with an agenda that emphasizes the areas that matter most for the PE operator. Join your peers and private equity experts to discuss:
How investor expectations are changing—and how to navigate
Where the economy is going and what that will mean specifically for PE-backed companies
How to get the talent you need to thrive—without overpaying
Strategies to contain costs without constraining growth and sacrificing scale
Tactics to strengthen your organization at speed, with techniques to make the most of this uncertain time
9:00 – 9:30 am
9:30 – 9:40 am
9:40 – 10:25 am
Jason Thomas, Managing Director and Head of Global Research, Carlyle
Every CEO is having a tough time figuring out how to navigate the current economic climate, where things seem to be good and bad and both all at the same time, with little visibility about what comes next. But for PE portco CEOs, the situation is far more intense and complicated, and everything about the disruptions of the current moment are amplified.
Jason Thomas, a former White House advisor and now managing director and head of global research at Carlyle, will help PE portco CEOs and CFOs sort through it all, through the very specific, strategic lens of the high-level PE executive. He’ll help you see the emerging patterns, trends and market conditions most likely to shape the trajectory of your organization in the months to come, as well as develop the strategies you’ll need to win.
10:25 – 11:10 am
For PE Portco leaders, there’s no more essential, even existential, skill than maintaining a great relationship with your investors and board. But as we dive into yet another wild year of change and uncertainty, investor expectations are changing fast—and they’re not always aligned with on-the-ground realities. So how do they see the world and what do they want to see from their operating executives? How are their metrics and timelines shifting—and are you developing the right playbook for 2023-24? What can you do to make sure you’re on top of your game when it comes to truth-telling, trust-building, under-promising and over-delivering?
A panel of private equity firm executives will share their unvarnished, candid thoughts from fundraising to exit strategies, what they want to see (need to see) from their portco CEOs and CFOs, and their experience on what a winning partnership with their portfolio leaders will look like in the unpredictable year to come.
11:10 – 11:30 am
10:25 – 11:10 am
Economic gales demand new, smarter strategies and a deeper focus on profitability and cost containment, but still, that won’t eliminate the unending demands for timely, predictable growth. Getting there requires the right kind of investment in people, cost cutting, short-term technology investments and needle-shifting acquisitions.
We’ll sit down with a pair of CEOs with long experience successfully running PE-backed companies to hear their thoughts on moving through the current moment—growth strategies, cost controls, creating value, growing revenue, increasing profits, hiring and adding automation—and how they get the most out of their relationships with their PE firms to get the job done no matter what the weather.
12:15 – 1:30 pm
In these working lunch sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to sit down with your peers and subject matter experts for interactive discussions to delve into some of your most complicated strategic issues that have the opportunity to provide the biggest payoff when you get them right.
Peer Roundtable Topics include:
1:30 – 2:15 pm
Nasdaq and Alvarez and Marsal
In today’s volatile market environment, determining the right exit strategy can be challenging. Do you have a clear view of the current IPO market, global landscape and trends to take advantage of various exit options successfully? Two experts will help you evaluate the rationale for various strategies including direct listing, sponsor to sponsor, SPACs, and more to maximize valuations. Plus, they’ll share growth strategies to help you build your value before you execute an exit—from add-on acquisitions and entering new geographies or complimentary markets to cost reductions and balance sheet leverage.
1:30 – 2:15 pm
Ted Bililies, Managing Director and Chief Talent Officer, AlixPartners
Recession or not, inflation or not, Great Resignation or not, every business continues to suffer from the same basic shortages of people, putting a collar on growth and opportunity. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Ted Bililies, one of the most experienced experts in the field of leadership and culture development in the world of PE globally, will help you understand how to strengthen your culture to serve the different expectations of four generations in the workplace today.
Based on his extensive, ongoing work inside PE-backed companies in every industry, Bililies will reveal some of the emerging secrets needed to build a future-proofed workplace culture that gives you the tools to bring out the best in your employees, retain your high-potential employees and thrive in the years ahead.
3:00 – 3:20 pm
3:20 – 4:05 pm
Brad Soper, Partner, Simon-Kutcher & Partners
There’s nothing more central to winning in this current moment than mastering the core competency of pricing strategy, and this session will help you get better at it—fast. Even if you’ve been raising prices—not just once, but multiple times—over the last 18 months, it’s possible you’re behind the curve, or at least missing big opportunities to profit.
No matter where you are with this essential project the experts from renowned consultancy Simon-Kucher will have practical, pragmatic strategies and tactics that you can put to work right away.
4:05 – 5:00 pm
Greg Brenneman, Executive Chair, CCMP Capital Advisors; Lead Director, The Home Depot; Former CEO, Burger King, Continental Airlines, PwC Consulting
For most executives, leading the successful turnaround of a huge, multi-billion-dollar household brand is a singular, career-capping moment. Greg Brenneman has done it multiple times: at Continental Airlines, Burger King and PwC Consulting—each in a matter of months, not years.
Little surprise he’s found a successful home in the world of private equity, as executive chair of $3 billion AUM CCMP Capital Advisors, assessing, buying, shaping and refloating dozens of companies. This blend of investor-operator insight makes him an in-demand director, on the board of Home Depot since 2000 where he now serves as lead director. He’s also a director at oilfield supplier Baker Hughes and at The Baylor College of Medicine.
In this exclusive, highly-interactive session, Brenneman will detail the five-step turnaround process he’s honed over decades to help you effect more change, escape company complacency and supercharge value generation by identifying and focusing attention on what actually matters in your operation.
5:00 – 6:00 pm
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