Our Team

Our core investment team has more than 100 years of combined experience in emerging private equity markets and has worked together for more than 12 years.

Steve Cowan, Managing Director. Prior to PCGI, Mr. Cowan served at Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), most recently as a Director in the Investment Funds Department, where he was responsible for structuring new funds, designing and implementing the program’s asset allocation plans, selecting managers, and overseeing a large portion of the $3.5 billion investment funds program. Mr. Cowan also helped design OPIC’s groundbreaking capital markets insurance product. Prior to his tenure at OPIC, Mr. Cowan was an attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York. He also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at American University’s Washington College of Law, and as an advisor to the governments of Colombia and Canada with respect to developing private equity programs. Mr. Cowan received his AB (magna cum laude and with honors) in Political Science and Development Studies from Brown University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and during college participated in the Yale-in-China program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Gene Pohren, Managing Director. Prior to PCGI, Mr. Pohren served at OPIC. As a Director in the Investment Funds Department, he oversaw significant parts of OPIC’s $3.5 billion investment funds program and was instrumental in redesigning OPIC’s investment fund structure and fund manager evaluation processes. Before joining the Investment Funds Department, Mr. Pohren worked as a Manager in OPIC’s Project Finance Department where he structured direct financings throughout the emerging markets. In 2004, Mr. Pohren took a leave of absence to accept an assignment with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board to help design and implement an emerging market private equity investment plan. Prior to working at OPIC, Mr. Pohren was an Associate in corporate finance at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Mr. Pohren earned a BS (with high distinction) in Business Administration from the University of Maine and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Mr. Pohren is a returned Peace Corps volunteer.

Stephen O’Neill, Managing Director. Prior to PCGI, Mr. O’Neill was an investment banker with significant cross-border and international experience. As Managing Director of Battery Kemble, an investment and advisory practice, he focused on creating, funding and providing strategic planning for new companies, particularly in the biotechnology field. Prior to Battery Kemble, Mr. O’Neill worked as a senior investment banker for UBS Warburg in New York (Head of the ‘Into US’ Equity Capital Markets business), Singapore (Managing Director of the Institutional Equities business), Hong Kong (Head of the Southeast Asia Corporate Finance business) and London. Mr. O’Neill has an AB (magna cum laude) in History from Brown University and an MBA (Arjay Miller Scholar) from Stanford University. Mr. O’Neill spent part of his childhood in Asia, living in both Singapore and Bangkok.

Charles Toy, Managing Director. Prior to joining PCGI, Mr. Toy served at OPIC for seven years, where he was General Counsel and at different times managed the project finance and private equity programs, reorganizing and developing strategic plans for the two operating departments, each with exposure of over $3.5 billion in emerging markets. Before and after OPIC, Mr. Toy was a partner at two major international law firms, Kaye Scholer Fierman Hays & Handler, for which he opened Hong Kong and Beijing offices and was resident in Hong Kong for seven years, and Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington. He represented clients investing and starting new businesses or operations throughout Asia and around the world. Mr. Toy has taught on the subject of foreign direct investment as an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University. He earned a BA (with honors) from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School. Mr. Toy speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.

Bernard McGuire, Jr., Managing Director. Prior to PCGI, Mr. McGuire served at OPIC as a Director in the Investment Funds Department. During his tenure with OPIC, Mr. McGuire led the origination and execution of emerging markets alternative asset fund-of-funds investments totaling $1.3 Billion and $680 million, respectively, while managing and restructuring a $600 million global portfolio of OPIC legacy investments. His OPIC experience includes new product development, fund creation and investments in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America covering strategies such as growth equity, buyout, infrastructure, distressed debt, real estate, mezzanine and asset backed securitization. Prior to his time at OPIC, Bernard spent several years in Sydney, Australia as Managing Director of Tigerex, Ltd., a global electronic securities trading network for wholesale broker-dealers. From 1992 to 2000, Mr. McGuire executed and managed venture capital and private equity transactions in Asia while living in Hong Kong and Beijing, China. Bernard earned his BA in History and BS in Political Science from Vanderbilt University and MBA from the Cass Business School in London, England. Mr. McGuire has a working knowledge of Mandarin Chinese and French.

CHENG Chee Mun, Senior Vice President. Prior to joining PCGI, Mr. Cheng was an Investment Manager with Allianz Private Equity Partners (APEP) in Singapore. In that role, he was one of the team members who started APEP's office in Singapore and responsible for APEP’s private equity fund investments in Asia. Prior to APEP, he worked for Neptune Orient Lines as a Strategic Planning Manager and a Feeder Operations Executive. Mr. Cheng holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Kyoto University in Japan. Mr. Cheng speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese.

Jennifer Faust, Senior Vice President. Prior to joining PCGI, Ms. Faust served at OPIC for over five years, most recently as a Senior Investment Officer in the Investment Funds Department. In that role she was responsible for the monitoring and credit review of OPIC’s private equity portfolio of over 40 private equity funds with roughly $3.5 billion in emerging market commitments over a wide variety of sectors and regions. She was also responsible for the direct relationship and management of numerous emerging market private equity funds. Prior to OPIC, she was an Equity Analyst for SG Cowen in London where she covered a wide range of European equities. Ms. Faust holds a Masters in European Studies from the London School of Economics and a BA (cum laude) from Furman University. Ms. Faust speaks German.

Carl Balit, Assistant Vice President. Prior to joining PCGI, Mr. Balit was a student at Georgetown University where he completed a MBA and a MS in Foreign Service. He also holds a BA in Economics from Colby College. Prior to Georgetown, Mr. Balit worked at Maillot Baltex where he was involved in leading a shift of the Canadian manufacturing firm’s production platform to Asia. Mr. Balit speaks French.

John Engel, Assistant Vice President. Mr. Engel’s investment experience spans buyouts, venture and expansion capital in the US and internationally with sector expertise in energy and clean technology. Prior to joining PCGI, Mr. Engel was an analyst with Sansome Pacific Properties, a boutique commercial real estate developer. He is a CFA Charter holder and holds a BS in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology (magna cum laude) from the University of California at San Diego. Mr. Engel is based in La Jolla, CA and speaks Spanish.

Amit Chandra, Assistant Vice President. Prior to joining PCGI, Mr. Chandra was an associate with Key Principal Partners, a private investment firm that provides mezzanine and equity capital to profitable middle-market companies. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, an MS in Management Science from Case Western Reserve University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Mr. Chandra speaks Gujarati and Hindi.

Kimberly Aronoff, Office Manager. Prior to joining PCGI, Ms. Aronoff was responsible for the music and theatre departments at Holy Cross School and St. Patrick's School in Montegomery County, Maryland. She also acted as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Children's Ministry at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland. Ms. Aronoff has a BA in Music from American University and speaks conversant French.

Sherri French, Executive Assistant. Ms. French has more than eight years of Executive Assistant experience at PCG. Previously, she spent 3 years at First American Title as Executive Assistant to the CFO and 4 years at Matrix Direct Insurances Services serving as their Executive Assistant and Exam Coordinator. Ms. French is based in La Jolla, CA and speaks conversant Spanish.