Meet The Team

James Kocis

Jim founded Burgiss in 1987 and serves as the president, overseeing the strategic direction and operations of the company.  Jim began his involvement in private equity in the late 80′s as a consultant to Paine-Webber, where he and his team built one of the first database systems to help investors manage private equity assets. With this engagement, Jim had the good fortune to be advised by Tom Judge, of AT&T Investment Management. A graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Jim is the author (with Alan Zenreich) of The Paradox Programmer’s Guide: PAL by Example; and Inside Private Equity: The Professional Investor’s Handbook with James Bachman, Austin Long, and Craig Nickels.

James Bachman

James directs Burgiss’ research-related initiatives and leads the expansion of Burgiss’ portfolio management capabilities. Prior to joining Burgiss, James worked at The Bridgeton Companies, an alternative investment boutique. James is chairman of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) Private Equity Task Force, a member of CAIA’s Exam Committee, a member of the CFA Institute’s Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) Private Equity Working Group and a member of the IRR Working Group. He coauthored Inside Private Equity: The Professional Investor’s Handbook with James Kocis, Austin Long, and Craig Nickels. James obtained his BA from Muhlenberg College and his MBA from the Texas A&M University at Commerce. James holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.

Stephen Bruhns

Steve directs Burgiss’ business  development and strategic partnership programs.  Prior to Burgiss, Steve spent 10 years at ITI, Inc.(now Gravic, Inc), where he developed a portfolio management system for the general partner market, which was acquired by Burgiss in 1998. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Lehigh University.

Kendra Alaishuski

Kendra manages client services for Burgiss and is responsible for directing the client support staff and providing training and problem resolution to clients on a daily basis. Prior to joining Burgiss, Kendra was a compliance administrator and trust officer at Firstar Mutual Fund Services and a former tax and retirement analyst at Sunstone Financial Group.  Kendra was awarded a BS in actuarial science from Rider University and received her MBA from Marquette University.

Ken Harney

Ken is the director of Burgiss’ professional services, managing the product-related consulting team and overseeing its custom reporting services. An expert in the practical application of advanced technology to sophisticated business needs, Ken is an adjunct professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he teaches graduate level courses in applied technology. Prior to joining Burgiss, Ken served as vice president at Ness Technologies, where he led enterprise client management sales and implementation teams. Previously, as president of the application development company KHI, Inc., Ken led the merger with PCSI and the transition to Nasdaq-traded Blue Flame, Inc. Ken holds degrees in computer science and management and technology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Stevens Institute of Technology.

Tom Kusner

Tom and his team of financial analysts and researchers are responsible for Burgiss’ data services and analytics, including Private Informant portfolio holdings transparency solution. Tom joined Burgiss with over 13 years of experience managing global data research operations and developing data intelligence and analytics for the private equity and public equity markets. Previously, Tom was Managing Director for PitchBook Data, a private equity data provider, and Director of Data + Analytics at CapitalBridge (now Ipreo). Earlier, Tom lead data research and operations at VentureEconomics,Thomson Financial and VentureOne. He also spent six years as a Securities Analyst for Coleman and Company Securities. Tom holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.