Paul Newsome, Partner Private Equity, is Head of Portfolio Management and a member of the Private Equity Investment Committee. He joined Unigestion in London in June 2002 as an investment professional covering European and US primaries, secondaries and direct co-investments. In 2005, he moved to the Jersey City office in the US to be responsible for North American investments, subsequently building the private equity team there. In 2009, he was appointed Global Head of Investments, responsible for the overall selection of fund investments, secondary investments and direct co-investments, and member of the Investment Committee, based in Geneva. He was appointed to his current position in 2019.

Mr Newsome began his career in 1995 as a Financial Analyst at Procter & Gamble. He then advised on public and private capital raising for technology companies at Quartz Capital and later was an investment officer at BancBoston Capital, making and managing venture capital investments in Europe.

Mr Newsome has a First Class Master's Degree in Engineering, Economics and Management from Oxford University, UK and is a Chartered Management Accountant.

Jacqueline Taiwo is Co-Founder and CEO of Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM), a global organisation supporting the retention and advancement of Black women working in asset management. A private equity lawyer and compliance professional with over ten years of legal experience, Jacqueline is passionate about building inclusive and diverse workplaces in the financial services industry. Her fire and enthusiasm for creating equitable spaces were lit by a multi-faceted career and educational track—from engineering to law to finance. Jacqueline saw many gaps in resources and networks available to black women, and founded BWAM to address these issues. She was named Advocate of the year in the 2021 Women in Finance Awards and was also listed by Real Deals in 2020 as one of 40 individuals making a notable impact on improving diversity and inclusion in private equity.

As CEO of BWAM, Jacqueline leads the organisation’s mission is to provide the tools and resources that enable Black women in the industry to thrive. BWAM’s 1000+ members are provided with opportunities to network, exchange knowledge and cultivate new relationships across the industry.

Jacqueline received her M.B.A at the Kellogg School of Management, J.D. at the Northwestern

School of Law., and B.S. from Columbia University. She is also the mother to Sariah and Naimah.

Merary is responsible for driving initiatives and policies that will make CVC and its portfolio companies more diverse and inclusive, and providing all employees the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Merary drives CVC’s DE&I strategy and oversees the implementation of initiatives to create a more inclusive culture including CVC’s mentoring programmes, global diversity and equality training, and enhanced parental leave benefits. Merary will also work closely with CVC’s portfolio companies to help develop their policies for attracting and hiring underrepresented talent in their individual markets.

Prior to this role Merary joined CVC in 2018 as Head of Human Resources for CVC Credit Partners. In her career, Merary has led HR functions for finance and technology organisations operating in 27 countries across North America, South America, Africa & Europe, supporting growth, and expansion.

Soraya is the Chief Executive Officer of CQS. She is a Senior Partner and serves as a Director on the CQS Board of Directors. She is also a member of the CQS Responsible Investment Governance Committee and the Asset Advisory Committee for Multi Asset Credit. Soraya joined CQS in 2013 and in her capacity as Global Head of Distribution has been responsible for growing assets and leading CQS' global sales team to build long-term partnerships with investors.

During her career, Soraya has had exposure to a broad range of fund strategies including global macro, equities, emerging markets, credit and convertibles. She began her career at HSBC Private Bank and then in 2000 moved to Permal Investment Management in London where she focused on distributing fund of hedge funds across the EMEA region. A fluent Arabic speaker, Soraya joined GLG Partners in 2004 as a Principal to build out their Middle Eastern presence. In 2008, Soraya joined Moore Europe Capital Management as Head of Marketing for the Emerging Macro Strategies. Here she successfully re-built the asset base during one of the more trying periods in the industry.

Soraya holds a BA in Economics and Public Administration from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Elsa Palanza is Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability & ESG at ICG, where she is responsible for establishing and embedding the firm’s sustainability strategy, including advancing the integration of ESG factors across the firm’s asset classes as well as broad stakeholder engagement.

Prior to assuming this role, Elsa was Global Head of Sustainability & ESG at Barclays, where she led strategy, policy, and engagement for the bank on sustainability and ESG matters, including climate change and environmental stewardship, social impact, human rights, and sustainable finance. Elsa served in several industry leadership positions, including Western Europe Representative on the UNEP FI Banking Board, Co-chair of the Financial Services Task Force Net Zero Working Group at the SMI, and Co-chair of the UK Finance Sustainability Committee, and has done extensive public speaking on ESG.

Elsa has over 20 years of experience as a strategic advisor for companies, foundations, and civil society organizations, forging comprehensive solutions to complex global challenges. She served for six years as Director of Commitments for the Clinton Global Initiative, a role that afforded her broad insight into best practices in sustainability, and was enlisted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create and launch a platform to advance progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Earlier in her career, Elsa worked for several years in Washington, D.C. delivering geopolitical and industry risk analysis to international energy companies, and lived in Istanbul, Turkey, leading business operations for an education company’s pilot program.

Elsa has a BA in international studies from Middlebury College and attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she concentrated on international security studies.