2026 New York Endowment & Foundation Investment Office Roundtable

Christopher Dlutowski

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Christopher J. Dlutowski has represented investors, managers, and other market participants in a wide array of investment matters for over 25 years.

Christopher represents institutional investors—including public and private pension plans, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, foundations, and funds of funds—in their investments in private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, secondary, continuation, hedge, hybrid, and other private funds, funds of funds, managed accounts, co-investments, and direct investments, with a special focus on customized investment products, including funds of one, captive funds, and strategic partnerships, in all asset classes.

Christopher also advises institutional investors governance, compliance, risk, and dispute resolution issues.

Brian Digney

Research and Content Director, SBAI

Brian Digney joined the SBAI in March 2023 in the role of Research and Content Director. He is responsible for content development and co-ordination of the ongoing and future working groups on a wide variety of topics, including valuation of private assets, ESG & carbon footprinting, governance, insurance linked strategies, digital assets, asset management regulation and compliance as well as new topics to be determined in the future.

Prior to joining the SBAI, Brian was the Head of Due Diligence & Governance Oversight at Innocap Global Investment Management (Ireland) Ltd (2018-2023) in Dublin, a subsidiary of Innocap Investment Management Inc., a US$50bn hedge fund platform. He acted as Designated Person for Operational Risk Management, a regulated role by the Central Bank of Ireland. He also sat on Innocap’s Irish Risk Oversight and Valuation Committees. In 2017, Brian joined Albourne Partners in London as a Senior Operational Due Diligence Analyst. From 2015 to 2017 he was employed as an Operational Due Diligence Analyst at Mercer Sentinel in London. From 2010 to 2015 he held various Associate level roles at Decura LLP, Morgan Stanley and Citi.

Brian holds an LLB Hons in Law with Criminology and an M.Sc. in Management and Corporate Governance from University of Ulster. Brian is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Ralph Eissler

MD & Head of Private Assets Research & Development, MSCI

Ralph Eissler leads MSCI’s efforts to deliver data and analytics to support private-asset investors. He was previously head of private-market research at Neuberger Berman, where he developed the research function within the alternatives business line. Earlier in his career, as a private-equity attorney, he advised clients on complex fund structures.

Ralph holds a J.D. and the German equivalent of a Ph.D. (“Dr. jur.”) in law, as well as an M.S. in economics, from the University of Konstanz. He also holds an L.L.M. from NYU School of Law. Ralph is a CFA charter holder and member of the New York bar.

Joshua Kestler

President, Innocap Investment Management

As President, Josh is responsible for Dedicated Managed Account platform operations and onboarding, product development, business development, marketing, client coverage and ESG and impact solutions. Josh focuses on continuing to evolve and enhance our industry-leading offering and to deliver an exceptional client experience enabling Innocap to transform the industry.

Josh was previously Head of HedgeMark and was responsible for overall management of the HedgeMark business. He was responsible for strategically developing the HedgeMark DMA platform and helped build it from an idea into the largest DMA platform in the industry. Josh has more than 21 years of experience in the hedge fund industry and 18 years of managed account experience.

Prior to joining HedgeMark, Josh spent 8 years at Deutsche Bank serving in various senior roles including Head of Managed Account Platform Operations for Deutsche Bank’s X-Markets Hedge Fund Platform in the U.S. and Chief Administrative Officer of DB Advisors Hedge Fund Group. He began his career as an associate in the Investment Management Group of New York law firm, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.

Josh has authored numerous articles on the subject of dedicated managed accounts and has been a featured speaker at many managed account industry events. He is the Co-Founder and Co-President of Trial Blazers for Kids and a board member of Cannonball Kids Cancer, both of which are foundations focused on pediatric cancer research.

Josh received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA, summa cum laude, from Rutgers College.

Christine Ayako Schleppegrell

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Christine Ayako Schleppegrell counsels asset managers on legal, regulatory, and compliance matters, focusing on advisers to private funds (private equity, hedge, venture capital, infrastructure, real estate, credit) and separately managed accounts. She spent several years in private practice and more recently at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in leadership roles in the Division of Investment Management. While at the SEC, Christine led the Private Funds Branch during a time of landmark rulemaking impacting private fund advisers, she draws on this experience to advise on current and pending regulations and to guide clients through enforcement and examination proceedings.

Christine’s practice focuses on the interpretation and application of federal securities laws, primarily the Advisers Act, Investment Company Act, Exchange Act, and Securities Act. She serves as a resource for SEC-registered advisers, exempt reporting advisers, and unregistered advisers, ranging from global asset managers with diverse product offerings to startup advisers launching their first funds. Christine provides strategic advice on fund and adviser structuring and deal-related regulatory issues that arise in connection with corporate purchases and mergers and acquisitions. She also specialises in counseling on marketing rule compliance and performance advertising as well as extraterritorial matters, including participating affiliate arrangements.