Panelist - Stephen Elia
Vice President and Head of Investor Relations and Business Development, AEA Investors, LP

Stephen Elia is a vice president and head of investor relations and business development at AEA Investors LP ("AEA"). Mr. Elia is responsible for all aspects of investor fundraising, communication and relations. AEA was founded in 1968 by the Rockefeller, Mellon, and Harriman family interests and S.G. Warburg & Co. as a private equity investment vehicle for a select group of industrial family offices. Today, AEA is a global alternative investment firm with approximately $5 billion of invested and committed capital in three areas: 1) funds dedicated to buyouts of middle market companies, 2) a small business fund dedicated to buyouts of small companies, and 3) funds dedicated to mezzanine and senior debt investments. AEA has offices in New York, London, Munich, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Before joining AEA, Mr. Elia was an investment banker with Merrill Lynch & Co.’s private equity fundraising group where he helped raise a variety of private equity and real estate funds from institutional investors worldwide. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he was a manager in the tax and business advisory group at Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Elia graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a B.S. in accounting and received an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.