OUR TEAM

Mark Yusko is the Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management. He is also the Managing Partner of Morgan Creek Digital. Morgan Creek Capital Management was founded in 2004 and currently manages close to $2 billion in discretionary and non-discretionary assets. Prior to founding Morgan Creek, Mr. Yusko was CIO and Founder of UNC Management Company (UNCMC), the Endowment investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before that, he was Senior Investment Director for the University of Notre Dame Investment Office.

Mr. Yusko has been at the forefront of institutional investing throughout his career. An early investor in alternative asset classes at Notre Dame, he brought the Endowment Model of investing to UNC, which contributed to significant performance gains for the Endowment. The Endowment Model is the cornerstone philosophy of Morgan Creek, as is the mandate to Invest in Innovation. Mr. Yusko is again at the forefront of institutional investing through Morgan Creek Digital Assets, which was formed in 2018. Morgan Creek Digital is an early stage investor in blockchain technology, digital currency and digital assets.

Mr. Yusko received a BA with Honors from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago.

Mike Hennessy is a co-founder of Morgan Creek Capital Management, and serves as the Director of Investments. In this role, Mr. Hennessy provides oversight to the Private Investments Group, and acts as a portfolio strategist on portfolios beyond private investments, including work with Morgan Creek’s advisory clients and proprietary funds.

Prior to joining Morgan Creek in 2004, Mr. Hennessy was Vice President and a founding member of UNC Management Company. Primary areas of responsibility included domestic equity, international and emerging markets equity, opportunistic equity, absolute return, fixed income, enhanced fixed income and private investments. Mr. Hennessy also assisted in developing overall investment objectives as well as strategic and tactical asset allocation for the funds. Mr. Hennessy was responsible for monitoring both public and private individual managers and overall portfolio performance, as well as risk management. Prior to joining UNC in 1999, Mr. Hennessy was an Investment Director at Duke Management Company (Duke University) where he assisted in the management of multi-billion portfolios across all asset classes of various University-related investment pools. Before joining Duke in 1991, Mr. Hennessy was an Associate at Amundi Smith Breeden Associates, a quantitative investment management firm with offices in Durham, NC.

Mr. Hennessy received his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and he also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Philosophy, Psychology and Mathematics from the College of William and Mary. Mr. Hennessy is Treasurer of Duke University Federal Credit Union, a member of the Investment Committee at the Carolina Friends School, a director of the Morgan Creek Foundation, Emeritus Trustee of the College of William & Mary Foundation Board of Trustees, and former member of its Executive Committee and Investment Committee (immediate past Chair), and a Trustee of the Murray 1693 Scholars Foundation.

Daniel J. Kingston is a Managing Director of Investments at Morgan Creek Capital Management.  Previous to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Kingston was a Managing Director responsible for heading the portfolio management at Vulcan Capital, the family office investment vehicle for Microsoft founder Paul Allen in Seattle, WA.  At Vulcan, Mr. Kingston was responsible for strategic and tactical asset allocation development for the investment portfolio, as well as all of Vulcan’s investments with external managers.  Prior to managing Vulcan, Mr. Kingston was CIO at the Kauffman Foundation, a $2 billion non-profit where he was responsible for managing all aspects of the Foundation’s investment function.  Prior to his family office and foundation experiences, Mr. Kingston was a Managing Director at the Stanford Management Company investing the endowment, and other University assets in Menlo Park, CA.  In that post, he was responsible for the development and management of internal investment strategies for Stanford University’s investment portfolio.  He first joined Stanford in 1990 after having spent time as a financial analyst with Hewlett-Packard Corporation's investment department.  Mr. Kingston has direct experience in public equity, private equity, venture capital, real assets, alternative investments, and fixed-income areas. Before starting a career in investments, Mr. Kingston spent five years as an officer on active duty with the U.S. Coast Guard.  Mr. Kingston holds a B.S. in Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Kingston is a Chartered Financial Analyst and currently serves on the board of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Foundation.

Josh Tilley is a Managing Director of Investments at Morgan Creek and one of the founding members of the investment team.  Mr. Tilley is responsible for the management and construction of portfolios across Morgan Creek's various investment solutions, including related research and analysis that spans a number of different asset classes and sub-strategies. Prior to joining Morgan Creek in 2004, Mr. Tilley served as an Associate in the Public Investments Division at UNC Management Company. Mr. Tilley functioned in various capacities, including research and due diligence that contributed to individual manager selection, overall portfolio strategy and tactical asset allocation decisions. Prior to joining UNC in 2003, Mr. Tilley was an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Lehman Brothers where he worked to complete transactions totaling in excess of $6 billion across Lehman’s multiple product lines. Mr. Tilley received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mr. Lester joined Morgan Creek Capital Management in January 2006 as an analyst and was promoted to Managing Director in 2015. He was based in Morgan Creek’s New York City office from 2006 to 2019 before relocating to the greater Chicago area in 2020. During his career at Morgan Creek, Mr. Lester has focused on a variety of public and private investment strategies across many asset classes and geographies. In 2012, he became primarily focused on global equities across Morgan Creek's various investment solutions and portfolios, including being promoted to Portfolio Manager of the Morgan Creek Opportunity Fund which was renamed the Asana Global Select Fund in 2018. Additionally, Mr. Lester sources and leads certain co-investment opportunities at Morgan Creek. He is the Host and Producer of Morgan Creek’s HedgeD podcast series and HedgeD, With A Capital “D” webinar series. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Lester was a junior analyst for Sands Point Capital Management in New York City. He graduated from Davidson College in 2005 with his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics.  

As the head of Asian Investments, Mr. Lee spearheads Morgan Creek's investment strategy and activities in the region with a particular focus on China, investing in both funds and co-investment opportunities. Prior to relocating to Shanghai in 2011, Mr. Lee was based in Morgan Creek's Hong Kong office from 2009 where he assisted in all Asian private investment activities in the region. Mr. Lee joined Morgan Creek in its Chapel Hill headquarters in 2007 where he facilitated screening and analyzing private asset fund globally. Mr. Lee received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Commerce, with concentrations in Finance and Accounting, from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.  Mr. Lee is fluent in Mandarin and has earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst^SM designation.

Sachin Jaitly is a General Partner of Morgan Creek Digital and is also an entrepreneur, big data expert, and investor. Prior to joining Moran Creek Digital, over the past 20 years, Sachin has built new technologies to address significant market demands. Sachin was co-founder of flexEngage, which is a patented digital receipt solution that is deployed across tens of thousands of retailers. After flexEngage, Sachin joined Datalogix, which was the largest big data platform in digital media. Sachin led the business development efforts with Datalogix and helped scale the company to an exit, when it was acquired by Oracle. Sachin understands the passion and challenges that come along with entrepreneurship. In 2018, Sachin launched Tessera Venture Partners to seed great entrepreneurs and help them through their journeys. Sachin graduated with an MBA in Finance and BA in International Business from Rollins College, holds an Executive Education Certificate from MIT in Blockchain Technologies, and is currently in pursuit of a Doctorate in economics.

Xavier A. Segura is a General Partner of Morgan Creek Digital.  Xavier is a big data, AI and Blockchain expert who applies the techniques he developed over 12 years in the tech industry for investment opportunities. Prior to joining Morgan Creek Digital, Xavier co-founded Tessera Venture Partners to invest in early stage diverse and inclusive blockchain intelligence companies. Before launching Tessera, Xavier spent over a decade working in go to market, product and business-development roles at Oracle, Verizon and AT&T. He has managed over $100M in global P&L where he led global cross-functional teams that regularly exceeded product and revenue targets. He has built and commercialized technology stacks using artificial intelligence and machine learning in over $10 billion worth of tech acquisitions. Xavier was a member of the Stanford GSB Latino Entrepreneurship program, holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Darpan Biswas joined Morgan Creek in 2010. Mr. Biswas’s primary responsibilities at Morgan Creek relate to the investment and research activities of Morgan Creek Digital. Mr. Biswas’ responsibilities also include investment and research activities in emerging markets, credit markets, and global macro. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Biswas completed his Master of Business Administration as a Dean Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While completing his degree, Mr. Biswas served at the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer working on manager due diligence, investment analysis, and organizational projects. Mr. Biswas also served as the portfolio manager of a $1.8M fund at UNC where he invested in securities across multiple asset classes. Before business school, Mr. Biswas consulted with firms in the financial services and telecommunications industry at Deloitte Consulting. Mr. Biswas received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur in India.

Michael Fair joined Morgan Creek in 2019 and is responsible for analysis, research, diligence, and business development.  Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Michael spent 3.5 years with Duff & Phelps and Houlihan Lokey, where he consulted on valuations of illiquid private equity, hedge fund, and venture capital investments in portfolio companies.  Michael received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds the Series 7, 79, and 63 securities licenses.  Michael is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is a member of the CFA Institute and the North Carolina Society of Finance and Investment Professionals.  Securities offered through Frontier Solutions, LLC. Member: FINRA & SIPC |BrokerCheck

Ryan Abronski joined Morgan Creek in 2021. Mr. Abronski’s primary responsibilities relate to deal sourcing, investment, and research activities. He also authors thought leadership and educational material. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Abronski spent 3.5 years sourcing, assessing offerings, and conducting research and diligence on disruptive life sciences and technology companies on behalf of alternative investment funds and corporate strategic ventures, including roles at DeepWork Capital and Advent Health Institutional Development. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Entrepreneurship from Rollins College and an MBA in Finance from Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. While in business school, Mr. Abronski co-founded a business venture to scale NASA Ames Research Center’s commercial application of nanosensor array technology for medical diagnosis and data transmission. Additionally, he served as a student investment manager of a $1.2 million Crummer SunTrust Endowment Fund, investing in securities across multiple asset classes.

Mr. Schmeelk joined Morgan Creek Capital Management in September 2012 as a senior analyst and was promoted to Managing Director in 2021. He is based in New York City. During his career at Morgan Creek, Mr. Schmeelk has primarily focused on global equities across Morgan Creek's various investment solutions and portfolios, including the Morgan Creek Opportunity Fund which was renamed the Asana Global Select Fund in 2018. Additionally, he sources and leads certain co-investment opportunities at Morgan Creek. Mr. Schmeelk is the Host and Producer of Morgan Creek’s HedgeD podcast series and HedgeD, With A Capital “D” webinar series. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, he worked for Alternative Investment Management as an investment analyst, providing analytical resources to both the hedge fund and private equity platforms at the firm. Mr. Schmeelk graduated from Villanova University in 2009 with his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He serves as an Advisory Board Member for Carmenta Global Management.

Frank Tanner joined Morgan Creek in 2013 and is primarily responsible for Private Equity and Real Assets investments, including sourcing, diligence, and deal and manager research across primaries, co-investments, directs, and secondaries. In addition, Mr. Tanner works with clients to analyze private opportunities and optimize private asset portfolio allocations. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Tanner interned with Charlotte-based WestEnd Advisors, where he performed macro research and security analysis for a global, large cap, core equity fund. Mr. Tanner received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and graduated with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also was a Men’s Varsity Basketball letterman.

Ryan Newson joined Morgan Creek in 2021 and is primarily responsible for private equity and venture capital investments, including sourcing, diligence, and deal and manager research across primaries, co-investments, and direct investments. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Newson completed his Master of Business Administration at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While completing his degree, Mr. Newson interned with J.P Morgan as a Summer Associate within the Private Bank. Mr. Newson also interned with the Investment Team at Carolina Angel Network, where he conducted research and analysis on startups seeking to raise seed-stage or Series A funding. Before enrolling in business school, Mr. Newson spent four years in New York City working for an advertising technology firm, where he was primarily responsible for business development, account management, and data analysis. Prior to moving to New York, Mr. Newson received a Bachelor of Arts from Bates College, where he also played on the varsity football team for four years. Mr. Newson is also a CAIA Charterholder.

Tina Li joined Morgan Creek in 2014 and is based in Shanghai. Her responsibilities include manager due diligence and selection, topical research and portfolio analysis. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Ms. Li was a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young in Shanghai. Ms. Li received her Bachelor of Science in International Accounting & Finance from the University of Bradford, and holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Birmingham.

Peggy Mitchell joined Morgan Creek as investment assistant to the Private Equity and Real Assets investment team in 2014. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Ms. Mitchell worked as a paralegal on deposit solution products at Reich & Tang and The Reserve in New York City. Ms. Mitchell also held executive assistant roles at Warner Music Group and Barnes & Noble, Inc. She received an Associate of Applied Science, Business Administration at Briarcliffe College.

Pam Clark joined Morgan Creek in 2004 as the Executive Assistant to Mark Yusko. Prior to Morgan Creek, Ms. Clark worked at UNC Management Company (UNCMC), the Endowment Investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before UNCMC, Pam worked as an administrative assistant to the Principal at a large local high school. Ms. Clark also worked as a Real Estate Agent.

Mr. Sellars leads the Investor Relations group based in Chapel Hill and is responsible for global business development and client relations. He has been with Morgan Creek since 2011. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Sellars was a Managing Director at Signet Management, where he was responsible for U.S. Client Relations and Business Development. He spent fifteen years at Merrill Lynch, primarily based in New York, as a managing director in the Global Markets Institutional Group overseeing the Latin American emerging market sales unit. This team participated in more than $20 billion of equity financing deals and consistently held a top-ranking in their marketplace. Mr. Sellars received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Chemistry and Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also received his MBA, with a Distinction in Finance, from The London Business School. He holds Series 7, 9, 10 and 63 securities licenses.   Securities offered through Frontier Solutions, LLC. Member: FINRA & SIPC |BrokerCheck  

Greg Holmes joined Morgan Creek in 2018 as a Managing Director in Business Development.  Prior to Morgan Creek, Greg had a long career as head of institutional sales trading at several Wall Street firms including Robertson, Stephens and Seaport Global.  Greg received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Denison University.  He currently holds Series 7, 63 and SIE securities licenses.   Securities offered through Frontier Solutions, LLC. Member: FINRA & SIPC |BrokerCheck  

Macon Patton joined Morgan Creek in 2014 and is responsible for leading new client development initiatives with private and institutional investors. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Patton was a Senior Vice President at Allen C. Ewing & Co in Charlotte, NC. He began his career at Autranet (a subsidiary of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette) in Institutional Fixed Income Sales & Trading. He then moved to Prague shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  There he spent several years working with a small investment company before moving to one of the leading Czech investment banks. His experience also includes work in real estate investment and development. Mr. Patton received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.  Securities offered through Frontier Solutions, LLC. Member: FINRA & SIPC |BrokerCheck

Ashley Britton is the Investor Relations Analyst for Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Ashley served as a Data Analyst for the COVID-19 response team for the State of North Carolina. While working on the response team, Ashley became an acting liaison between local health departments and the CDC. Ashley received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with studies in Business Administration and Management.

Erica Vrana joined Morgan Creek in 2008 as a Client Service Associate. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Vrana worked at UBS Securities in New York where she was a sales representative and sales assistant on the Mortgage Backed Securities trading floor. At UBS, Ms. Vrana had extensive experience maintaining client relationships as well as acting as a liaison inside UBS to resolve all operational issues for over 50 client accounts. Prior to UBS, Ms. Vrana worked at Bear Stearns on the Fixed Income trading floor working on both the U.S. Government Bond Desk and the Foreign Exchange department. Ms. Vrana received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from the Journalism and Mass Communications School, where she was also a four year collegiate scholar varsity swimmer.

Will Bacon is the Chief Compliance Officer for Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, he was Corporate Counsel and Deputy Compliance Officer at IFC Core Investment Management where he oversaw the firm’s SEC registration as an investment adviser and monitored all compliance-related policies and procedures. Before IFC, Mr. Bacon held the positions of Senior Compliance Officer at Credit Suisse and Product Director at Hatteras Funds. He previously worked at financial services firms in New York which is where he began his career as an associate in foreign exchanges sales at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Bacon received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Rosemyr Corporation.

Laura Fisher joined Morgan Creek in 2008 and overseas cash management and tax compliance for the Company. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Ms. Fisher worked for five years at Blackman & Sloop, CPAs, P.A. in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as a Senior Auditor. Her expertise is in public accounting, notably in ERISA and non-profit audits as well as tax preparation for businesses and high net worth individuals. Ms. Fisher received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from East Carolina University.

Prior to joining Morgan Creek in 2008, Mr. Taylor worked for over ten years at Wellington Management Company, LLP, one of the largest private institutional asset managers. Nick served as Director of Financial Control and Vice President, where he led the formation and operation of a financial control and risk function. Prior to that, Mr. Taylor formed and managed Wellington Management’s International Accounting group, where, as International Controller and Vice President, he was responsible for financial accounting, financial and regulatory reporting. In this role, he worked extensively across the firm to support the financial, operational, regulatory, compliance and tax aspects of the firm’s US and international affiliates. Prior to joining Wellington Management, Mr. Taylor worked for four years for PricewaterhouseCoopers in their audit practice in both Boston, Massachusetts and London, England. He is a Certified Public Accountant and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. He received his MS/MBA in Accounting from Northeastern University, and has Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of East Anglia, UK. Prior to relocating to Chapel Hill, Mr. Taylor served on the Finance Committee for the Town of Rowley, Massachusetts for five years and was the founding Treasurer and Board Member of the Triton Education Foundation, Inc, the only district-wide educational not-for-profit supporting the school district.

Taylor Thurman joined Morgan Creek in February 2006 and serves as the COO, Investments.  He manages the firm's operational due diligence program, client administration and reporting operations, and product structuring activities. In addition, Mr. Thurman serves as the Chief Compliance Officer of the firm’s suite of registered products and is responsible for Board level communications. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, he spent three years at Cambridge Associates, LLC where he led a team focused on client reporting and portfolio analytics for international institutional investment portfolios. He also spent time with Arthur Andersen LLP's audit practice. Mr. Thurman received his BS in Business Administration and Accounting from Washington and Lee University. He is a CFA charterholder and is a member of the CFA Institute and the North Carolina CFA Society.

Mr. Vannoy joined Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC in January 2006 and oversees the financial operations of the fund of funds products. Prior to joining Morgan Creek, Mr. Vannoy’s career consisted of five years with Ernst & Young and KPMG in both the United States and Cayman Islands with a primary focus on offshore captive insurance, hedge funds, venture capital, and early stage start-ups. Mr. Vannoy also spent time with Progress Energy as a business analyst in the merchant trading group providing back office support for gas and power trades, including booking of gas/power swaps, futures and other financial derivative trades and Nortel Networks in the technical accounting group leading the revenue/contract recognition and fair value strategy initiative for the wireline business unit. Mr. Vannoy received his BS in Accounting from North Carolina State University and a Master in Accounting from North Carolina State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of North Carolina and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (“NCACPA”).