2026 Private Markets Outlook

Mr. Glovier is a seasoned private markets investor with more than 30 years of experience spanning private credit, private equity, and investment banking. He served as a Department Head and Investment Committee Member within the Credit business of Fortress Investment Group, where he led investments across a range of industries. Earlier in his career, he was part of the private markets investment team managing capital for Princeton University’s endowment, focusing on direct investments across venture capital and private equity. He began his career as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group and then worked in the investment banking leveraged finance and M&A departments at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Glovier holds an MBA as a Palmer Scholar from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics, cum laude, from Princeton University.

Brett Hickey has 25 years of private investing and investment banking experience and 20+ years of lower middle-market private investing experience. He has completed over 100 direct platform investments and 50 secondary/fund investments in the North American lower middle-market.  He is the Founder & CEO of Star Mountain Capital, LLC, a multi-billion dollar specialized private investment firm, making loans, private equity investments and secondary fund purchases across its Collaborative Ecosystem® in the lower middle-market. Driven by culture and stakeholder alignment, Star Mountain is routinely recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by Crain’s and Pensions & Investments. Mr. Hickey previously worked as an Investment Banker within the Financial Institutions Group at Citigroup Global Markets in New York City (formerly known as Salomon Smith Barney). He graduated with Distinction from McGill University in Canada with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and Accounting. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Owner, President / Manager executive training and management program. Board positions include Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, Foreign Policy Association, YMCA of Greenwich and Star Mountain Charitable Foundation, focused on job creation (including for veterans, women and athletes), economic development and health & wellness. He has been a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) since 2008 and is a member of Chief Executives Organization (CEO) and Forbes Business Council.

Mr. McCurdy is a Managing Director, Global Head of Investment Strategy within Ares Wealth Management Solutions, which oversees Ares’ client management activities in the global wealth channel. Prior to joining Ares in 2022, Mr. McCurdy was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Partners Group in Denver, where he focused on building and managing private markets custom separate accounts and evergreen funds. Previously, Mr. McCurdy was the Head of International Portfolio Solutions and Head of International Product Strategy at Goldman Sachs in Chicago, New York and London. In addition, Mr. McCurdy was a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial. Mr. McCurdy holds a B.A. from Hillsdale College in Finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Mr. Scaturro is a highly accomplished financial services executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience across banking, wealth management and global private client businesses. He has led large-scale, multi-billion-dollar platforms at premier institutions, including serving as Partner in Goldman Sachs’ Global Private Client business, where he oversaw the firm’s global wealth management activities. \ Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Trust, leading the firm through its acquisition by Bank of America, and as Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s Global Private Bank, where he managed a global network spanning dozens of countries and drove significant earnings growth. He began his career at Chase Manhattan Bank and also held senior leadership roles at Bankers Trust. Mr. Scaturro holds a Master of Engineering and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering from Columbia University.

Mr. Walton is a Partner and Head of Private Equity in the Ares Secondaries Group. Mr. Walton serves as a member of the Ares Secondaries Group’s Private Equity, Credit and Infrastructure Investment Committees, the Ares Private Equity Group’s Energy Opportunities and Extended Value Investment Committees, the Ares Infrastructure Group’s Climate Infrastructure Partners Investment Committee and the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee. Mr. Walton joined Ares in 2006 and previously served as a Co-Head of the Ares Private Equity Group. Mr. Walton holds a B.A. from Princeton University in Politics and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.