Ken Kencel

Churchill Asset Management

Ken Kencel is the President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, the investment-specialist affiliate of Nuveen (the asset manager of TIAA) that provides customized financing solutions to middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies across the capital structure. In Kencel’s opinion, diversity and inclusivity of people and thought are critical to Churchill’s success. According to Kencel, “I am a firm believer that we excel when fostering a culture of inclusivity and transparency in which all employees contribute their unique talents and skills. This is what enables us to provide creative ideas and solutions to our clients.” It would be hard to argue with this point--the firm launched with the backing and ownership of TIAA a little over a decade ago and today has in excess of $50 billion in assets under management. With over $13 billion in limited partnership commitments, the Churchill team is one of the industry’s most active allocators to venture, growth and buyout funds with significant capacity for co-investments. Over the course of the last two years, the team has increased their focus and commitments to diverse managers, thereby building on the larger organizational commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion which has been a passion of the board and TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett. Churchill Asset Management is distinguished by its demonstrated ability to support general partners including women and diverse managers in a myriad of ways including senior lending, junior capital, limited partner commitments and co-investments.