Women of Influence: Cross asset class

Dalia Aga-Shaw
British International Investment 

As head of financial services funds at UK development finance institution and impact investor British International Investment, Dalia Aga-Shaw has developed a track record of delivering financial and impact returns through direct and fund investments spanning multiple geographies. This expertise has enabled her to play a “game-changing role in private markets”, says one of her supporters. Her recent achievements include establishing an investment vehicle that backs high-growth small and medium enterprises in West Africa, with plans to scale this model across other emerging markets. Outside of BII, Aga-Shaw co-founded 3 Sisters Ventures Collective, a gender-smart angel network. 

Anna Barath
Bite Investments

Anna Barath is head of fund investments at software-as-a-service firm Bite Investments, where she has a global mandate across private markets, including private equity, private debt, venture capital, infrastructure and real estate. In addition to leading on fund sourcing, selection, due diligence and monitoring, Barath has been making inroads when it comes to the democratization of private markets, creating tailored products for the wealth management market. She also played a key role in developing Bite’s responsible investment policy and supported the build out of the firm’s investor management and solutions software platform, Bite Stream. 

Kerrine Koh
Hamilton Lane

As head of Singapore and Southeast Asia at Hamilton Lane and a managing director in the firm’s client solutions group, Kerrine Koh is responsible for business development and coverage of client relationships in the region. She took on the role last year following a 12-year stint at BlackRock, where she served as head of alternatives distribution for Southeast Asia. Koh is an advocate for women in the financial sector and beyond – she is a champion of the Financial Women’s Association of Singapore and volunteers as a trainer for a women’s financial literacy program. 

Lea Lazaric Calvert
Evercore

Lea Lazaric Calvert, senior managing director and head of the European private capital advisory team at Evercore, has led on some of the most high-profile GP-led secondaries transactions in the region. Described by one advocate as the “GP whisperer”, she has played a pioneering role in the development of new structures in the GP-led space, including fund recapitalizations and single-asset deals, among others. Lazaric Calvert also works with LPs on strategic sales and has been pivotal in growing Evercore’s private capital advisory business – the firm has been named Secondaries Adviser of the Year in Europe in affiliate title Private Equity International’s Annual Awards for the last three years in a row.  

Alisa Mall
Dell Family Office

As chief investment officer for the Dell Family Office, Alisa Mall brings a multifaceted skill set to the table. She started out as an attorney for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where she specialised in real estate, and later moved into endowment management, focusing on the real estate and natural resources portfolios at Carnegie Corporation of New York. Mall then built expertise in the life sciences venture space at Foresite Capital before joining DFO last year. She draws on this varied expertise in her current role, where she is responsible for developing and executing DFO’s investment strategy, including implementing asset allocation, codifying processes, recommending investments and overseeing the investment team.

Chinwe Odimba-Chapman
Clifford Chance

Chinwe Odimba-Chapman, an employment partner at Clifford Chance, was named global people and talent partner in 2021 after years of dedication to driving forward the firm’s DE&I initiatives. These efforts included founding the law firm’s ethnicity network for advancing race equality and celebrating heritage. In her day-to-day role, Odimba-Chapman advises private markets clients on the employment aspects of highly complex and sensitive matters, both in house and for portfolio companies. A passionate advocate for social mobility, Odimba-Chapman has been appointed to the UK government’s diversity taskforce on social mobility and is a member of the City of London Socio-economic Diversity Taskforce Advisory Board.

Mansi Patel
MetLife Investment Management

As managing director and head of US infrastructure debt at MetLife Investment Management, Mansi Patel is responsible for transaction sourcing, origination, underwriting and portfolio management across core infrastructure sectors. She recently led the sourcing and co-underwriting of a $200 million deal to finance the decommissioning of the last two coal-fired plants in New Jersey, resulting in an overall carbon emissions reduction of 3.9 million tonnes. The two plants, which were majority-owned by Starwood Energy Group, ceased generating coal energy at the end of May 2022, nearly 30 months ahead of schedule. Patel is also the current president of MetLife Investment Management’s DE&I council. 

Victoria Shigehira Sharpe
HSBC Asset Management

Victoria Shigehira Sharpe is an industry veteran with a 40-year career in private markets working across Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific. She spent 16 years heading the Asia-Pacific real estate arm of global investment management firm PGIM, before building and leading German asset manager DWS’s Asia-Pacific real estate business. She joined HSBC Asset Management as head and CIO of real estate, Asia-Pacific, in 2021 before being promoted to global head of real assets last year. In her current position, she is responsible for the strategic development and management of the real assets business, which spans direct real estate, direct energy transition infrastructure and listed real assets.  

Madeleine Sinclair
Blue Owl Capital

Since joining Blue Owl Capital as head of North American distribution in January 2022, Madeleine Sinclair has spearheaded the firm’s expansion into the US and Canadian private wealth space, and seen private wealth AUM grow by more than $7.7 billion. Sinclair has been pivotal in shaping the asset manager’s private wealth strategy, deepening ties with distribution platforms such as iCapital, building out the Canadian business into key markets and nearly tripling the sales force in the US. Before Blue Owl, Sinclair spent almost two decades at BlackRock, where she was head of iShares Canada. 

Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri
TPG 

As partner, chief human resources officer and a member of TPG’s board of directors, Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri plays a critical role in the firm’s growth. As well as overseeing the firm’s HR, compensation and communications functions, she has been integral to diversity and inclusion efforts and serves as co-chair of TPG’s DE&I council. Recognizing the structural issues that have historically limited underrepresented groups in raising and investing capital, Vazquez-Ubarri co-led the incubation of TPG NEXT, an initiative focused on backing emerging and diverse managers. The fund secured a $500 million anchor commitment from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System earlier this year.