IVCA Preview: Moderator Lee M. Mitchell on ‘Private Equity Policy Lunch: A Fireside Chat with the American Investment Council (AIC)’ September 9th, 2025
September 3, 2025
The IVCA Education Luncheon is back, formulated as a “Fireside Chat” with PE in the spotlight. The “Private Equity Policy Lunch: A Fireside Chat with the American Investment Council (AIC)” will take place on September 9th, 2025 (location details below) and will be moderated by Lee M. Mitchell, Managing Director/Partner at Thoma Bravo, and a board member of both the IVCA and the AIC. The event is sponsored by British multinational professional services firm KPMG, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
Scheduled to appear for the Firechat Chat will be Will Dunham, President and CEO of the AIC and Lee Slater, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the AIC. The chat topics will include a look back at the 2025 tax policy debates, the growing opposition to the PE industry and how can PE respond, what’s ahead politically for private capital and state level legislative trends in the current environment.
The American Investment Council (AIC) is an advocacy and resource organization established to develop and provide information about the private investment industry and its contributions to the long-term growth of the U.S. economy and retirement security of American workers. Member firms of the AIC consist of the country’s leading Private Equity and growth capital firms united by their successful partnerships with limited partners and American businesses.
Lee M. Mitchell is the Managing Director/Partner of Thoma Bravo (having participated in the formulation of the film in 1998), and a board member for both the IVCA and the AIC. He is a trustee of Northwestern University, where he has been Chair of the Investments Committee, and of an affiliate of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he is a member of the Investment Committee and Chair of its Alternative Investments Subcommittee. Mr. Mitchell received a BA from Wesleyan University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
As a preview to the luncheon, Moderator Lee M. Mitchell took on some of the key topic issues in a Q&A with the IVCA.
IVCA: What can attendees expect from this luncheon, both from the expert panel and the subject matter?
Lee Mitchell: Our two guests from Washington have years of experience on Capital Hill with both Democratic and Republican legislators. They both represented the interests of Private Equity in the recent legislative process that resulted in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ tax and spending legislation and are in a perfect position to provide an update on recurring federal legislative and regulatory proposals that could impact how private investment funds operate and where they can invest.
This often includes proposals for taxation of carried interest income; restrictions on investment in particular business sectors – such as healthcare; antitrust restrictions and burdensome review processes; and restrictions on foreign investor participation in US investment firms. They also will discuss what was learned during the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ debate about legislators’ negative opinions about Private Equity and what can be done to change, improve, or at least counterbalance those opinions.
IVCA: You serve on both the IVCA and AIC boards. How do you see the American Investment Council’s work in Washington impacting Private Equity firms here in Illinois?
Mitchell: Most Illinois Private Equity firms, like those in all other states, are subject to federal laws and the rules and policy agendas of federal agencies and departments. Those laws and regulations can add to our cost of doing business, limit our ability to invest, negatively impact the success of our portfolio companies and limit our potential investors.
Although not regulated in the same way, Venture Capital firms also can be seriously impacted by some of these federal legislative issues and by others, such as restrictions on the ability of entrepreneurs and people with needed technical and specialized expertise to enter and stay in the US to develop new businesses and new technology funded by venture investors.
IVCA: Part of the topic is the perception of the Private Equity industry, and where it stands politically. Why is this an issue of importance at this time?
Mitchell: As Private Equity has grown, it inevitably has attracted more governmental and public attention. Labor unions have long opposed the growth of PE because of a belief that private investors reduce employment levels and burden businesses with excessive debt. In more recent years, this perception has grown as PE has spread to ‘turnaround’ and financially challenged situations where job-destructive failures are more common.
At the same time, those who tend to favor increased governmental regulation of business are troubled by the rapid growth of what they see as unregulated private equity and private credit compared with the regulated and thus more transparent public investment markets. Moreover, this is occurring at a time when spending by governments at all levels has required finding more sources of revenue, making the now larger private equity industry a more meaningful target for increased taxation.
In this environment, without efforts to change perceptions, private equity and privately funded companies could well face substantially increased regulation, limits on investors and areas of investment, and increased tax burdens.
IVCA: What can private investment firms in Illinois do to get more involved in efforts to improve Washington’s understanding of our businesses and our positive contributions to the federal and local economy?
Mitchell: Until the relatively recent establishment of the AIC and its predecessor organization, private investment firms were ‘sitting ducks’ for harmful legislative and regulatory proposals in Washington based on erroneous perceptions. Outside of the few very largest firms – whose business models and interests sometimes differed from smaller firms – there was no one in Washington to defend against this.
The AIC has made enormous progress in educating members of Congress and federal regulators, but the AIC could be even more effective if EVERY firm were to become a member and add its own examples to the positive stories the AIC draws on to change inaccurate perceptions. At the same time, the political power of members of Congress is derived from the hometown voters who elected them, not from Washington. Some of us may have local relationships with members of Congress that aren’t being used to create a better understanding of our business.
Making those relationships known to the AIC can be very helpful as well. It also should be noted that some federal legislative proposals that don’t get adopted by Congress make their way to the states, where they can become state legislative initiatives. That’s why it’s so important to support and be active in the work of the IVCA. The IVCA and its PAC program have been highly effective in educating our state legislators about the important role Private Equity and Venture Capital play in the Illinois economy and avoiding harmful legislation at the state level. Here again, that positive impact could be even greater if ALL our Illinois firms were to become active members of the IVCA.
The next IVCA Luncheon event – sponsored by KPMG – will be ‘Private Equity Policy Lunch: A Fireside Chat with the American Investment Council (AIC)’ on September 9th, 2025 (11:30a-1:30p) at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson Blvd, Chicago. For details and registration info, click here or contact Kathy Pyne directly at kpyne@illinoisvc.org