Guardian Life's David Turner: The Heat-Mapper (Privcap video - free to watch)

May 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Heat Map Investing

David Turner prefers to build his private equity portfolio by pursuing a small number of GPs in a specific group of desired sectors, not wade through the hundreds of GPs who try to come into him “over the transom.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Privcap, the outspoken Head of Private Equity for the The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America describes his “heat-map” approach to investing, whereby his team identifies strategies, and then top GPs within those strategies, and pursues them over a multi-year period. Topics discussed include why “most GPs are not differentiated,” why mezzanine has been put on the side-burner but Guardian is on the prowl for the right distressed team, the right way to allocate to the emerging markets, Turner’s analysis of the trend toward separate accounts and which GPs will benefit from this trend, the need for LPs to be more engaged in a public discussion about the future of the asset class and its benefits to the economy, and the hoops a GP must leap through to get his attention.

View the full video here - http://www.privcap.com/programs/116-heat-map-investing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIVdk1EBg1k



David Turner's bio:

David Turner
Managing Director, Head of Private Equity
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

David Turner is the Managing Director and Head of Private Equity Investments at Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America. Prior to this, he was the General Partner, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Investment Officer at Private Equity Group at WestLB Mellon Asset Management (USA), LLC. Turner joined the private equity group in 2002 and worked out of the New York office. He has over 25 years of finance experience, with more than 20 years in private equity investing. Prior to joining the Adviser, Turner was a Senior Portfolio Manager and the Head of the Alternative Investment Division at the State of Michigan Retirement Systems, where he led the management of more than $13 billion in a fully diversified U.S. domestic and global fund-of-funds portfolio ranging from early and late stage venture capital funds to small, middle, and large cap buyouts, mezzanine, and distressed securities in addition to creating special purpose separate account vehicles with strategic private equity investors. In this capacity, Turner was part of a team overseeing 244 partnership funds, 95 general partners, 38 direct investments, and public company stock distributions. Previously, he served as a Senior Portfolio Manager for the Michigan Alternative Investment Division, where Mr. Turner sourced, managed, or liquidated over 30 private equity investments in funds and co-investments and managed stock distributions. He is the Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Private Equity Group at WestLB Mellon Asset Management (USA), LLC. Mr. Turner is a Member of the Advisory Board at Saratoga Partners. He has served on numerous Partnership Advisory Boards and Company Boards of Directors and has spoken at many industry conferences. Earlier in his career, Mr. Turner managed a pre seed stage technology transfer and originated and packaged small business loans. He received a B.A. in Urban Planning from the State University of New York.