Students Organize Fifth Annual Private Equity Conference

Having worked in private equity provided an edge for two Chicago GSB students who coordinated the fifth annual Beecken Petty O’Keefe Private Equity Conference on February 28.

Second-year students Tim Drekhoff and Scott VanHoy helped put together the event at Gleacher Center because they wanted to use their private equity experience to give something back to the GSB community. “I’d worked in private equity before, which puts me in somewhat of a minority among the GSB population,” Drekhoff said. “Based on the 390 people who signed up for this, there is a huge demand for knowledge of private equity and there are very few of us who’ve actually done it.”

VanHoy thought his three years of experience would help in planning the event, but he also hoped to work with others, including professors, in the field. “You get to know the professors during class. They’re very open,” he said. “But in this process they’re great in helping out and opening the door to getting to meet some pretty interesting people that you wouldn’t meet on an everyday basis. It’s always good to hear directly from people who’ve been very successful in the industry.” Networking is always a possibility at such events, but both VanHoy and Drekhoff, co-chairs of the Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital & Private Equity Group, had already secured jobs.

Panelist Ward McNally, ’04, a partner in Edgewater Growth Capital Partners who participated in the conference for the second year, said he appreciated hearing the subtle differences in strategy among panelists and speakers. “It’s good to hear specific differences. Everybody’s a little different in how they handle management or bring in people from the outside,” he said. Several senior associates at Edgewater are GSB alumni, and some speak at other GSB functions throughout the year. “It’s always great to come back and contribute what you know to the students,” McNally said. “We’re excited. We like coming back.”

Edgewater officials keep their eyes open for recruits, especially with the summer internship season approaching, McNally said. “We do a little bit of recruiting,” he said. “We like to pick from the folks that we know well and that have been well trained.”

—Phil Rockrohr