UChicago Private Markets Program

Source: https://careeradvancement.uchicago.edu/student-opportunities/week-long-programs/uchicago-private-markets-program/ Parent: https://careeradvancement.uchicago.edu/

The UChicago Private Markets Program is a one-week immersive academic and career-oriented program to educate students in the Private Markets through theory, cases, and modeling workshops, and position them to pursue professional opportunities in private equity, private credit, family capital and private markets investing, and investment banking.

Supported by a generous gift from Amy Carbone AB ’83 and Paul Carbone AB ’83, the Private Markets Program is offered jointly by the University of Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation together with the College's Office of Career Advancement.

Students will complete guided online training modeling modules prior to the beginning of the program and participate in lectures on private markets key accounting, finance and valuation concepts. Students will have the opportunity to build detailed operating models, financial statements models, leverage finance models, comparables valuation models and integrated leveraged buyout (LBO) and growth capital models.

Participants will additionally learn from investment cases presented by experienced professionals from leading firms which may include Ares Management, Adams Street, GTCR, Insight Partners, Linden Capital Partners, and Pritzker Private Capital. At the conclusion of the program, students will compete in an LBO transaction case competition.

The weeklong program will also include dinners and networking opportunities with Chicago area Booth students & Booth alumni along with experienced financial professionals. Additional benefits include:

• Welcome Remarks and an Introduction to Private Markets by Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Lecture Sessions hosted in the Chicago Booth Gleacher Center
• Networking Session with Chicago area Booth students & Booth Alumni
• Fall Quarter appointments with Chicago Booth Mentors in Residence

Key Topics

• Introduction to Private Markets
• Introduction to key theoretical concepts in Private Markets accounting, finance, investments
• Modeling workshops: Operational model, Financial Statements, Leverage Finance, Comparable Valuation, LBO and Growth Capital
• Private Markets Cases and Conversations
• Special session in Family Capital Investing

Pre-Program Skills Training

Accepted students will be required to attend an in-person pre-course training session. Modules will focus on accounting basics, modeling, and valuation fundamentals

• Introduction to Excel Modeling
• Introduction to Accounting and Valuation
• Financial Statements Modeling (P and L, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet)
• Valuation modeling (Comparables)

Exclusive Networking Opportunities

Students will meet and network with Chicago Booth students, staff, alumni, and Chicago-area finance professionals through case studies, networking receptions, company visits, and more. In addition, students will also have the opportunity to schedule fall quarter appointments with Chicago Booth Mentors in Residence.

Who Should Apply and Application Information

• Students graduating between December 2026 and June 2029 who have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing careers in investment banking, private equity, family capital, or private capital markets.
• Students will be expected to be available to attend all program sessions and show active and enthusiastic engagement throughout the program.
• Lunch/dinner is included and double occupancy hotel accommodations will be provided from Sunday – Thursday evening for participants who need housing during the program.

• Applications for the 2026 Private Markets Program will open on February 10, 2026. Application materials include:

• Resume

• Unofficial transcript
• Statement of interest
• Confirmation of pre-work requirements and availability for the entire program

• Key Application Dates:

• February 10, 2026: Applications will open on Handshake.

• February 10, 2026: Private Markets Program Information Session, featuring a program overview, conversation with prior program members, and application information.
• April 1, 2026: Applications due.

Instructors

The program has been designed and will be offered by Andreas T. Angelopoulos, UChicago Private Markets Program Director, with support in financial modeling and student coaching by Jeff Henriksen, UChicago Private Markets Program Instructor.

Andreas T. Angelopoulos UChicago Private Markets Program Director

Andreas T. Angelopoulos has more than 30 years of professional experience in private markets, investment banking and engineering in USA and Europe, both in business and academic settings.

Andreas served as Senior Adviser of Pritzker Alternative Strategies, the Anthony Pritzker Family backed provider of family capital solutions to private equity groups which invest in lower and middle market fund primaries, co investments and special opportunities in the USA and Europe.

Before that, Andreas served as Chairman of Private Markets in Gestron Asset Management where he launched the strategy and developed the division in 2016, as the Chief Investment Officer, Chair of the Investment Committee and the Portfolio Construction Committee. Gestron is a USD 1.4 billion family-owned Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) based in Luxembourg, authorized and regulated by the CSSF, investing in Private Equity and Credit Middle Market funds and direct co-investments in the software, healthcare, services and industrial sectors, in the USA and Europe.

Andreas worked in Venture Capital (Growth Equity) investing in USA and Israel, Private Equity (LBO and Growth Capital) in South Europe, Investment Banking (Leverage and Principal Finance) in Western Europe with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Englefield Capital (Bregal) and Commercial Capital (Credit Agricole) and in engineering (real estate and infrastructure) with Bechtel, Dames & Moore and Hochtief Group in the USA and Europe.

In academia, Andreas designed and is the Program Director for the UChicago Private Markets Program in Chicago. He served as an Executive Director of the Oxford Private Equity Institute and founded as a Director the Oxford Chicago Valuation Programme and the Oxford Finance Lab at the University of Oxford. He has lectured as an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and on a visiting basis at Imperial College, University of Cambridge and London School of Economics.

Andreas holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in Engineering from Columbia University and an Engineering (Dipl-Eng) Degree from University of Patras in Greece.

Jeff Henriksen UChicago Private Markets Program Instructor

Jeff Henriksen is the CEO and founder of Thorpe Abbotts Capital and an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford and is a part-time instructor for AMT Training.

As an Associate Fellow, Jeff has worked directly with Oxford students through mentoring and coaching sessions. He lectured valuation and financial modeling in the Oxford Finance Lab in 2017 and 2018 and has advised the University of Oxford teams competing in a variety of global finance competitions, including the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Oxford Chicago Private Equity Challenges (Oxford won in 2018 and 2019), and the 2017 and 2018 Wharton Buyout Competition (Oxford victorious in 2018). Jeff has done guest lectures on valuation, investing, and behavioral finance topics at both University of Oxford and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

He also teaches part-time for AMT Training in USA where he teaches new investment banking hires topics including, Accounting Bootcamp, Three Statement Financial Modeling, Discounted Cash Flow Valuation, Merger Modeling, Short and Long Form LBO modeling, and Advanced Valuation Issues.

As CEO of Thorpe Abbotts, Jeff oversees both portfolio management and research operations for the firm. Jeff has shaped his investment philosophy with a focus on a behavioral-based asset management. Although his investment style is rooted in the teachings of traditional value-oriented thinkers, Jeff’s philosophy centers on understanding the behavioral factors behind mispricing to unlock the core building blocks of the value premium. Using knowledge of these core building blocks, Jeff seeks to adapt traditional value investing philosophy to 21st century financial markets.

Jeff earned his MBA from the University of Oxford where he received the Dean’s Commendation Award. He also holds a Master’s in Finance from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder where he graduated magna cum laude in History. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Jeff lives with his wife, Christina, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Questions?

For questions about the Private Markets Program please contact Nancy Schaller.