Smita Pillai

Tannis Fussell is Founder and Managing Partner of AscentriaCapital Partners, an investment firm specializing in buyouts, growth, and income generating transactions across industries. At Ascentria, Tannis assists management teams with increasing their company’s value in some investments, while acting as a
silent partner in others.

Prior to founding Ascentria, Tannis was a senior executive at PGIM, Prudential’s global investment management group, which manages over $1 trillion in assets. As the head of an investment team within Prudential Private Capital, Tannis focused on investing private debt and private equity in companies within the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. She was responsible for sourcing investment opportunities and structuring, negotiating, and executing transactions, in addition to managing a portfolio of debt and equity investments in companies of various industries.

Prior to joining Prudential Private Capital, Tannis was a Managing Director at Cordova, Smart & Williams (CSW), a middle market private equity investment firm. At CSW, she was actively involved in all aspects of investing, from fundraising to business development to transaction execution. She was also involved in portfolio monitoring where she served on the Boards of her portfolio companies, advising and guiding them on their strategic and financial plans. Tannis started her career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, and a leveraged buyout and investment banking associate at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. She also spent time working for a portfolio company, Intelisys Electronic Commerce, where she was charged with formulating the firm’s corporate strategy, and executing its strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Tannis spends time volunteering, largely for foster children. She has served as Chairman of the Board for Forestdale, which provides foster care, preventive, and other family services. She also works with Culture For One which has a mission to inspire children living in foster care by providing cultural experiences and exposure to a broader world. Tannis holds a Master’s degree from Harvard Business School, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Howard University. She is an alumna of The Robert A. Toigo Foundation.