Debt is dead. Long live debt- Session 1

Richard Vague is Secretary of Banking and Securities for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is the author of A Brief History of Doom, a chronicle of major world financial crises, The Next Economic Disaster, a book with a new approach for predicting and preventing financial crises, and the upcoming Illustrated Business History of the United States, to be released in early 2021.

Vague is the founder of the economic data service Tychos (tychosgroup.org), which specializes in analyzing private debt trends.

Previously, he was managing partner of Gabriel Investments, and early stage venture capital company. Vague was also co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Energy Plus, an electricity and natural gas supply company operating in states throughout the U.S. that was sold to NRG Energy in 2011, and also co-founder and CEO of two banks – First USA, a consumer-oriented bank which grew to be the largest Visa issuer in the industry and which was sold to Bank One in 1997, and Juniper, a bank that was the fastest growing credit card issuer in its era, which was sold to Barclays PLC in 2004.

Richard currently serves on the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees and the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees, and on a number of business boards. He is chair of FringeArts Philadelphia, chair of the University of Pennsylvania Press, and chair of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Abramson Cancer Center.  He also serves on the Governing Board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He founded the email newsletter service Delanceyplace.com, which focuses on non-fiction literature. 

Gabriel de Alba is an international investor who has recapitalized, restructured and built businesses in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Emerging Markets.

Mr. de Alba has spent 19 years as Managing Director & Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group, which raised over $4.5 Billion across 7 investment funds. He acted as Chairman, Board Member and CEO of multiple Catalyst portfolio companies.

Mr. de Alba also led stakeholder groups in distressed and special situations in both credit and equity. In 2018, he was named Global Private Equity Growth Dealmaker of the Year by the Global M&A Network. His experience includes investing in 7 economic and credit crises dating back to the 1994 Tequila Crisis.

Mr. de Alba has acted as Chairman, Board Member and CEO of multiple companies including Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, Cabovisao/ Cable Satisfaction, Therapure Biopharma, Evolve Biologics, GENEBA Properties, Frontera Energy, Satelites Mexicanos and Worldcolor. He has led stakeholder groups in unlocking value including at Hudson Bay/ Saks Fifth Avenue, IMAX Corporation and SFX Entertainment. Mr. de Alba is currently the Co-Chairman of Cirque du Soleil, where he orchestrated the company’s recapitalization and is now leading the strategic turnaround.

Mr. de Alba holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern School of Business, an MBA from Columbia University, and completed Graduate Studies in Mathematics and Computer Science at Harvard University.

Moderator

Justin Partington is responsible for leading IQ-EQ’s global offering for alternative asset managers, encompassing central administration, accounting, AIFM and depositary services.

Following his degree in commerce from Queen’s University Canada, he trained as an accountant with Deloitte. Justin has international experience in the alternative fund services sector, including senior postings in Canada, the UK, the Cayman Islands and Guernsey. He is an expert in the operation, delivery and marketing of fund and investment administration in the alternative asset space. Through his extensive experience serving on operating company and fund boards, he has gained a unique know-how in serving his clients and anticipating their needs.

He also sits as an Independent Director on the boards of several real estate and private equity funds. Justin is a CFA charterholder and a CPA chartered accountant.

As a widely respected figure within the alternative fund sector, Justin is often invited to speak at conferences across Europe. He regularly publishes articles on topics including risk management, AIF depositary, AIFMD and wider fund industry trends.

• The debate will last about 66 minutes, from open to close, including all introductions and conclusions
• The moderator will open the debate with a welcome and introduction, followed by an explanation of the format
• Each debate will begin with the first question by the moderator. There will be no opening statement by speaker
• The moderator will address the questions/statements to the speakers
• The speakers will answer all 6 questions
• Speakers' responses to moderator questions will be limited to about two minutes (or less) each
• The moderator  may prompt a follow-up discussion on any of these questions or statements and the speakers will be allowed 30 second to rebuff
• The moderator and production staff will keep speakers informed of their elapsed time

• The use of props or visuals of will not be necessary
• Speakers will have three mins for their closing statements

Questions:   If you have a question that you would like to ask our speakers, please use the "Questions and Comments" box located on the event registration form.

Please note that we will be closing question entries on Wednesday, 14 April 2021.