Board of Directors
UCLA Investment Company
The UCLA Investment Company Board of Directors and Officers of the Corporation comprise investment, finance and business professionals and University leadership committed to the advancement of UCLA. The volunteers of the board are appointed by The UCLA Foundation Board of Directors.
Members of the Board of Directors
David A. Ackert ’77, JD/MBA ’82, Managing Member, Crystal Lake Capital
Stephen J. Agostini, Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, UCLA
Andrea Auerbach, Partner and Global Head of Private Investments, Cambridge Associates
Justin E. Barton, President and Chief Investment Officer, UCLA Investment Company
Andrea Eisfeldt, Chair in Finance, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Philip Han ’91, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Saban Capital Group
Julio Herrera ’82, Managing Director, Oaktree Capital Management
Melvin Lindsey, Founder and Managing Partner, Nile Capital Group
Cheryl M. Lott ’01, JD ’04, Chair, The UCLA Foundation; Attorney, Buchalter
John T. Mapes ’90, Chair, UCLA Investment Company; Partner, Aurora Capital Partners
Julie Sina, Chief Operating Officer, The UCLA Foundation; Chief Financial Officer, UCLA Investment Company, Associate Vice Chancellor Alumni Affairs, UCLA
Drew Zager, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Officers of the Corporation
Justin E. Barton, President and Chief Investment Officer, UCLA Investment Company
John T. Mapes ’90, Chair, UCLA Investment Company; Partner, Aurora Capital Partners
Michael Marvelli, Corporate Secretary and Deputy Chief Investment Officer, UCLA Investment Company
Julie Sina, Chief Operating Officer, The UCLA Foundation; Chief Financial Officer, UCLA Investment Company, Associate Vice Chancellor Alumni Affairs, UCLA
Biographies
Andrea Auerbach, Partner and Global Head of Private Investments Cambridge Associates. Andrea leads a 50-person global team sourcing and underwriting private equity, growth equity, distressed, and venture capital funds, as well as direct, co-investment, and secondary investment opportunities. She is the chair of the Co-investment and Secondaries Investment Committees and a member and former chair of the firm’s Private Investment Committee. Her career with CA spans nearly two decades. Andrea has co-authored a significant amount of in-depth private investment research, backed by over 40 years of CA’s proprietary data. Andrea is frequently asked to keynote at private investment industry conferences worldwide. She is also a faculty member at the Institutional Limited Partner Association (ILPA) Institute, where she has taught classes for over 10 years. In 2020, Andrea was recognized by Chief Investment Officer magazine as a “Knowledge Broker All-Star.” Andrea joined Cambridge Associates in 2001 as Head of International Private Equity and Venture Capital Research. Prior to that, she was a Senior Director in the Private Equity Group at Prudential Insurance and began her career in that firm’s Leverage Buyout Group where she led early efforts to benchmark Prudential’s $5 billion buyout portfolio, and domestic and European private equity and venture capital fund investment portfolios, among other investment responsibilities. Andrea earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA in Economics from Smith College.
Andrea Eisfeldt, Chair in Finance, UCLA Anderson School of Management. Andrea Eisfeldt is the Laurence D. and Lori W. Fink Endowed Chair in Finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In addition to her 22-year career in research and teaching in finance, Andrea has extensive experience in asset management. She was consultant to and then Chief Economist of Structured Portfolio Management, a fixed income hedge fund with over $3 billion in assets under management. Andrea also consulted for several years for AQR Capital Management, a large, diversified asset manager of over $140 billion. Currently, as well as serving on the board of the UCLA Investment Company, she is an academic advisor to Vise, a FinTech investment management firm. Andrea recently served on the board of directors of the American Finance Association, and has also served on the Board of Directors for the Gutmann Center for Portfolio Management, the Chicago Research Data Center of the US Census, and the Western Finance Association. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research on fixed income and equity market investing is cited worldwide, and she frequently speaks at conferences, universities, central banks, and asset-management institutions. Andrea has deep expertise in mortgage-backed securities and treasuries, as well as equities and real estate. Her ideas for incorporating intangible assets into investment strategies have influenced both academic research and the investment portfolios of several large asset managers.
Andrea earned a B.S. with highest honors from the College of Commerce at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994, and received her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 2000.
David A. Ackert, Managing Member, Crystal Lake Capital. Mr. Ackert joined The Foundation Board of Directors in 2016. At UCLA, he is a founding member of The Laurence and Lori Fink Center for Finance & Investments Board. Since 2010, David has been the Managing Member of Crystal Lake Capital and was previously an Operating Director at Paine + Partners. From 1994 until 2007 he was an executive vice president at AIG Financial Products Corporation, where he served as head of corporate marketing for North America and global head of the transaction development group and the energy practice. From 1986 until 1994 he was a VP in the capital markets department at Goldman, Sachs & Co. From 1983 to 1986 he was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell, a New York City law firm. Mr. Ackert earned his B.A. (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), MBA and J.D. (Law Review, Moot Court Honors) degrees from UCLA. He also attended Hong Kong University as a Rotary Foundation Fellow. He serves as Treasurer for the Archaeological Institute of America, is a founding member of the Harvard University National Advisory Board for Public Service and is also a founding and current board member of Off Broadway Angels. Mr. Ackert and his wife, Charlotte, have one son, Nicholas.
Drew J. Zager, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. As a Senior Portfolio Management Director, Drew Zager leads a team of twelve professionals who manage $17.8 billion as of June 30, 2023 in high-grade, fixed income portfolios for institutional and private clients. A Morgan Stanley veteran since 1986, Drew was initially hired to provide fixed income coverage to middle market institutional clients. He had previously served as Senior Tax Consultant at KPMG and a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California. Drew was the chair and a founding director of the UCLA Investment Company, serves on the UCLA Investment Company & Foundation Board, chairs the UCLA Botanical Garden board and frequently lectures at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is also an advisory member to the UC Regents Investment Committee. Drew previously served on the boards of the University of California, Riverside, was on the Investment Committee, and the Young Eisner Scholars, a nonprofit organization that identifies and empowers academically promising children in underserved neighborhoods across the country. Drew created and chaired the Morgan Stanley Global Philanthropic Exchange in 2006 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. He graduated from California State University with a B.A. in finance and accounting.
Julie Sina, Chief Operating Officer, The UCLA Foundation; Chief Financial Officer, UCLA Investment Company, Associate Vice Chancellor Alumni Affairs, UCLA. Her 30-year career in higher education spans from student affairs and financial aid to personnel and information services to strategic board, budgeting and facilities management. Previously, Ms. Sina was the Chief of Staff for UCLA’s College of Letters and Science and also served as the Chair of the UCLA Undergraduate Non-Resident Enrollment Task Force. Prior to UCLA, Ms. Sina served as University Vice President at the University of the Pacific where she managed the office of the President and served as Secretary of the Board of Regents.
Julio Herrera ’82, Managing Director, Oaktree Capital Management. Julio has served as the portfolio manager of Oaktree’s Emerging Markets Opportunities and Emerging Markets Debt Total Return strategies since their inception. In addition to overseeing a diverse team of investment professionals, he sits on Oaktree’s Senior Leadership Council and the Global Credit strategy’s investment committee.
Throughout his 30+-year career in asset management, Julio has played a leading role in many of the largest debt restructurings in the emerging markets. Prior to joining Oaktree in 2012, he was president of Fintech Advisory, Inc., a large family office focused on distressed situations in emerging economies. During his 15-year tenure, Fintech completed landmark deals in Latin America, Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe. Before this, he was the Head of Emerging Markets Corporate Fixed Income Research at Lehman Brothers Inc., vice president in emerging markets proprietary trading at ING Capital Holdings Inc., and an investment analyst RRH Capital Management.
Julio and his family have long supported arts, educational and social organizations in California, Connecticut and New York. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from UCLA and attended Stanford University on a California Graduate Fellows.
John T. Mapes ’90, Chair, UCLA Investment Company; Partner, Aurora Capital Partners. John is a Partner of Aurora Capital Partners (“Aurora” or the “Firm”). Aside from two years in investment banking after college, John has spent his entire professional career in the private equity industry at Aurora where he has served as the Firm’s Managing Partner and Chairman of the Investment Committee.
Aurora was founded in 1991. With assets under management in excess of $4.5 billion, Aurora is a private equity investment firm that invests across a number of funds in middle market companies across the country. Aurora is currently investing out of its sixth fund. The Firm acquires controlling interests in companies in three sectors: engineered products, distribution and tech-enabled services. John’s corporate board experience spans numerous companies including: Roller Bearing Co of America, Coast Gas Industries, Western Nonwovens Inc., Impaxx Inc., Autocam Corporation, Douglas Dynamics, K&F Industries, Ames Taping Tools, Mitchell International, RecoverCare, National Technical Systems, Pace Analytical Services, and Restaurant Technologies.
Following his graduation with a BA degree in Economics/Business in 1990 from UCLA, where John played varsity tennis for the Bruins, he spent two years with Salomon Brothers, Inc. in both New York and Los Angeles, in their Corporate Finance Group. He left Salomon Brothers to join Aurora in 1992 and then rejoined the Firm after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1995.
At UCLA, in addition to serving on The UCLA Foundation Board (as Board Chair from 2018-2020), the UCLA Investment Company Board as the current Chair, and on the UCLA Technology Development Corp Board, the Mapes’ endowed five student-athlete scholarships — two in men’s tennis, men’s basketball, football, and women’s beach volleyball. Additionally, the Mapes funded a gift to support the construction of new beach volleyball facility at UCLA which is known on campus as Mapes Beach. John formerly served as Chairman of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Committee and on the UCLA Centennial Campaign Executive Committee.
John has been involved in the Los Angeles community with the Special Olympics and the St. Matthew’s Vestry, which oversees the Church and Episcopal Day School at St. Matthew’s Church. He is also active on behalf of Harvard Business School.
John’s wife Carrie earned a BA in History from UCLA in 1990 and a Master’s in Education and Multiple Subject Instruction Credential from UCLA in 1991 and is a co-founder of Hello Again Products, a women’s wellness product company. Carrie belongs to UCLA Women & Philanthropy and is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association. John and Carrie have a son who graduated from UCLA in 2020 and a daughter who graduated from Duke in 2022.
Justin E. Barton, President and Chief Investment Officer, UCLA Investment Company. Mr. Barton is the President and Chief Investment Officer at the UCLA Investment Company. The Investment Company is responsible for the UCLA Foundation endowment, a global, multi-asset portfolio. Along with the Investment Company team, Mr. Barton oversees all aspects of the endowment including executing investment strategy, portfolio construction, and governance. Mr. Barton began his investment career in Brown University’s investment office before joining Old Square Capital, a New York-based investment firm. He moved to London in 2011, where he worked for Investec Asset Management, an institutional investment manager. Mr. Barton has a BA degree from Princeton University and an MA in International Relations from the University of Cape Town. Mr. Barton holds an Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society of the UK and the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
Philip Han ’91, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Saban Capital Group. Saban Capital Group is a private investment firm based in Los Angeles specializing in the media, entertainment, and communication industries. Mr. Han oversees a globally diversified portfolio of investments across equities, fixed income, and alternative investments. He also leads Saban Real Estate Group, which owns a portfolio of office, self-storage, student housing and manufactured housing properties across 23 states. Prior to joining Saban Capital Group, Mr. Han was with PricewaterhouseCoopers and EYM Technologies, a venture-backed email infrastructure start-up. Mr. Han was formerly a Commissioner with the California Commission for Economic Development and is currently on the Board of Trustees with the Orthopedic Institute for Children. Mr. Han attended UCLA where he earned both his BA in Economics/Business and MBA in Finance.
Melvin Lindsey, CFA, Founder and Managing Partner of Nile Capital Group. Nile Capital Group is a private equity firm that invests in GP stakes of innovative performance-driven asset management companies. Mr. Lindsey serves on the boards of Nile’s portfolio holding companies including Welton Investment Partners LLC, Prytania Asset Management, Kvasir Technologies, Wilshire Lane Capital LLC, Strategic Global Advisors LLC, Denali Advisors LLC, and Convergence Investment Partners LLC. Prior to founding Nile, Mel co-managed Julius Bär Investment Management (JBIM) as Managing Director of Global Distribution. During his tenure at JBIM, assets under management grew from $800 million to a peak of $78 billion, ultimately resulting in an IPO and listing on the NYSE in 2009. Mel previously worked at Investec Asset Management as Director in the Institutional North America division. He was also Managing Director and portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management and a Vice President at Shearson Lehman Brothers. Mel holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and received his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mel also attended IMD Global Leadership Program in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is a member of the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts. Mel serves on the Board of Trustees and the Investment Committee for the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), the UCLA Foundation Board, UCLA Anderson School of Management Board of Advisors, and Saint John’s Health Center Foundation.
Stephen J. Agostini is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer for UCLA. Prior to joining UCLA, Steve served as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Budget between January 2019 and April 2024. In his role as leader of UNC-CH’s Finance and budget functions, Agostini served as a key strategic advisor to the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations, while providing oversight of the University’s $4.2 billion all-funds budget, as well as financial reporting, treasury, debt, procurement and accounting operations.
During his tenure at UNC-CH, Agostini led the University’s efforts to create its first “all-funds” budgets, encompassing fiscal years FY21-FY25 and totaling more than $4 billion annually. Agostini led efforts to maintain sufficient working capital during the COVID-19 pandemic to preserve University activities and employment, while also managing $48.2 million in pandemic relief funds. In FY21, Agostini and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations resolved a structural gap equal to 9% of expenses in the University’s General Fund. During Mr. Agostini’s tenure, UNC-CH received unmodified (“clean”) audit opinions for the University’s Annual Financial Reports between FY19 and FY23 and had its AAA rating affirmed by the three key rating agencies, Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch.
Before joining UNC-CH, Agostini served as CFO for three U.S. Federal agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Economics and Statistics Administration within the Department of Commerce. He has also served as a senior finance and budget official for Arlington County, VA, the City of Philadelphia, Milwaukee County, WI, the City and County of San Francisco, the State of Wisconsin and the City of Milwaukee. In addition to his financial management experience, Mr. Agostini has provided recommendations on a range of economic development issues impacting state and local governments, including plans that resulted in new baseball stadiums for the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Born and raised in New York City, Agostini earned his Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University.
Cheryl M. Lott ’01, JD ’04, Chair, The UCLA Foundation; Attorney, Buchalter. Cheryl is an attorney with Buchalter, A Professional Corporation who represents corporate clients, banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions in both state and federal court. Her practice focuses on general business and commercial litigation, as well as labor and employment litigation, construction defect litigation, and class action defense. She also has extensive experience working on local, state, and federal regulatory matters. In this realm, she has significant experience assisting financial institution clients with Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering detection procedures. Cheryl also co-chairs Buchalter’s Los Angeles office’s litigation department. Cheryl is a past President of the UCLA Alumni Association, and is the chair-elect of the UCLA Foundation Board. Cheryl is a member of the UCLA School of Law Alumni Board and is a founding member of the UCLA Law Women LEAD Board. In 2019, Cheryl was recognized as an Emerging Leader at the UCLA Law Awards.
Cheryl earned her J.D. at the UCLA School of Law with a Concentration in Critical Race Studies and a Specialization in Corporate Law. Cheryl earned her B.A. in Political Science and African-American Studies, with a minor in Chicano Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles.