Cityscape of Chicago with the 2022 SEM Conference logo and tagline overlaid. SEM 2022 Small + Emerging Managers Conference; Expanding Alternatives.

16th Annual Small and Emerging Managers Conference

October 12-13 | Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park

The 2022 SEM Conference was back and in-person again for the first time in three years. Together, GCM Grosvenor and industry colleagues worked towards the conference’s mission of Expanding Alternatives by educating and training the next generation of small and emerging managers, while providing institutional investors and consultants access to these managers. 

Who attended:

Why they attended:

Keynote Speaker: Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist. She is the CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues and a thought leader whose public engagement garners wide attention. O’Brien has had national impact with her books and speeches, and her presence on the nation’s op-ed pages, and social media, particularly Twitter where she has over 1 million followers. 

O’Brien currently anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, which is distributed by Sony Pictures. She also reports regularly for HBO’s RealSports with Bryant Gumbel. She has anchored shows on CNN, MSNBC and NBC, and hosted projects for Fox and A&E. O’Brien has contributed to the three major broadcast networks, Oxygen, Nat Geo, the PBS NewsHour and WebMD. She was a special correspondent on Al Jazeera America’s news program, America Tonight, and produced several documentaries on social issues for the network.

Earlier in her career, O’Brien anchored a show for MSNBC, before moving on to co-anchor NBC’s Weekend Today and contributing segments to the Today show and NBC Nightly News. In 2003, O’Brien transitioned to CNN, where she was the face of CNN’s morning news shows for many years and a frequent reporter and analyst for breaking news stories and election coverage. She also anchored the CNN documentary unit, where she created the In America documentary series Black in America and Latino in America which she continued to produce under Starfish Media Group as speaking tours.

Besides HBO Real Sports and Matter of Fact, O’Brien recently hosted American Injustice, a BET Town Hall on the future of criminal justice reform. She was a host of the A&E special Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America. She was the Host and Executive Producer of the Oxygen series Mysteries & Scandals, as well as O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession and Who Shot Biggie and Tupac, both for Fox. She was also host of National Geographic Channel’s Live From Space and moderator and executive producer of the annual National Geographic Bee. She was Executive Producer of the Lifetime Billboard Music Awards. She has served as Chair of the board of The After-School Corporation (now ExpandED Schools), and as a director on the boards of the Rand Corporation and the National Archives. She was a Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Distinguished Visiting Fellow

O’Brien has had national impact with her books and speeches, and her presence on the nation’s op-ed pages, and social media, particularly Twitter where she has over 1 million followers. O’Brien currently anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, which is distributed by Sony Pictures. She also reports regularly for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Keynote Speaker: Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'BrienSoledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist. She is the CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues and a thought leader whose public engagement garners wide attention. O’Brien has had national impact with her books and speeches, and her presence on the nation’s op-ed pages, and social media, particularly Twitter where she has over 1 million followers.

O’Brien currently anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, which is distributed by Sony Pictures. She also reports regularly for HBO’s RealSports with Bryant Gumbel. She has anchored shows on CNN, MSNBC and NBC, and hosted projects for Fox and A&E. O’Brien has contributed to the three major broadcast networks, Oxygen, Nat Geo, the PBS NewsHour and WebMD. She was a special correspondent on Al Jazeera America’s news program, America Tonight, and produced several documentaries on social issues for the network.

Earlier in her career, O’Brien anchored a show for MSNBC, before moving on to co-anchor NBC’s Weekend Today and contributing segments to the Today show and NBC Nightly News. In 2003, O’Brien transitioned to CNN, where she was the face of CNN’s morning news shows for many years and a frequent reporter and analyst for breaking news stories and election coverage. She also anchored the CNN documentary unit, where she created the In America documentary series Black in America and Latino in America which she continued to produce under Starfish Media Group as speaking tours.

Besides HBO Real Sports and Matter of Fact, O’Brien recently hosted American Injustice, a BET Town Hall on the future of criminal justice reform. She was a host of the A&E special Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America. She was the Host and Executive Producer of the Oxygen series Mysteries & Scandals, as well as O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession and Who Shot Biggie and Tupac, both for Fox. She was also host of National Geographic Channel’s Live From Space and moderator and executive producer of the annual National Geographic Bee. She was Executive Producer of the Lifetime Billboard Music Awards. She has served as Chair of the board of The After-School Corporation (now ExpandED Schools), and as a director on the boards of the Rand Corporation and the National Archives. She was a Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Distinguished Visiting Fellow

O’Brien has had national impact with her books and speeches, and her presence on the nation’s op-ed pages, and social media, particularly Twitter where she has over 1 million followers. O’Brien currently anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, which is distributed by Sony Pictures. She also reports regularly for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Learn more

Watch the video to view highlights from the 2021 virtual event, and don’t forget to check back for 2022 highlights coming soon! 

You can also read more about the evolving role of emerging managers in the alternatives industry. 

Click here for a full audio description transcript. 

Save the Date: October 22-24 | New York City

In 2023, we united our two conferences that focus on small, emerging, and diverse managers into one flagship event: SEM Consortium. 

We look to deliver the best-of-the best content for all attendees and create the “go-to” conference for the small, emerging, and diverse manager community. Learn more about the first combined event of 2023.