March 2010 – On March 2nd and 3rd the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) hosted “Designing and Managing a Successful Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds Program”, a two-day technical seminar for Brazilian pension funds, in Rio de Janeiro. The seminar was hosted in partnership with the Brazilian Innovation Agency (FINEP) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and with the support of ABVCAP, Brazil’s PE/VC Association.

Pierre-Yves Mathonet, head of risk management for private equity and venture capital at the European Investment Fund and the author of several important books on allocating to PE/VC lead the seminar, joined by Didier Guennoc of the European PE/VC Association (EVCA). In November 2009 Mathonet lead a similar seminar organized by LAVCA and ASOFONDOS for Colombian pension funds in Bogota.

The event in Rio was attended exclusively by investment officers of Brazil’s largest pension funds and other select institutional investors, including Petros, Funcef, Previ, Valia and Fapes. The program addressed fund monitoring and benchmarking, reporting standards and IPEV guidelines in the context of the Brazilian market. The country’s pension funds have been active investors in private equity and venture capital for the last decade.

In April LAVCA will host a webinar in April with the participation of Mathonet, investment officers, and a representative from ABVCAP. Details on the webinar available here.