AAAIM High ELI

Our guest for today's podcast is Kim Lew, Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia Investment Management Company, where she oversees over $11 billion in endowment and university assets. Kim needs no introduction as she is by far one of the most admired investors and leaders in the world of investment management. Kim joined Columbia in late 2020, a groundbreaking moment for the industry and something I applauded as a 2x graduate of the university. Kim is a great "storyteller" as she is authentic and her leadership qualities just makes you want to follow her. If there is ever a leader that you would ever want to charge up a hill to fight your final battle, Kim is that person. Joining me on the podcast as co-host is fellow AAAIM board member, Susan Soh, Chief of Strategy and Capital Development for the Private Investments arm of Two Sigma. I am excited to welcome Susan to the podcast as she is one of the most admired business development professionals in our industry. I was honored to join the conversation with two awesome female leaders in the business. Without further ado, here is our conversation with Kim Lew.

My guests for today's podcast are Andrew Chen and Marcos Veremis. Andrew is a Portfolio Manager at Lockheed Martin Investment Management Company where he focuses on the Absolute Return portfolio. Andrew is an engineer by training and I was happy that he agreed to participate in this podcast given how much time he has spent learning and thinking about blockchain and the potential for the new technology. Marcos is a partner at Evanston Capital, a leading fund of funds that he joined in 2020. Previously, Marcos spent 14 years at Cambridge Associates where he led Cambridge Associates research on cryptoassets and blockchain including crypto manager due diligence in the venture and hedge funds spaces.

My guest for today's podcast is Danny Lee who is a Partner at Blue Pool Capital, one of the most highly regarded investment firms in the business. As a private equity investor, Danny has seen and experienced it all, building an awesome career that many of us would be envious about. Danny talks about his early days after moving to New York from China at the age of 13, attending Brooklyn Tech, a highly competitive magnet high school and his decision to attend Columbia College. We then turn to his formative years at Lehman Brothers in investment banking before his move to Hong Kong and eventual jump to private equity where he has spent the past 20+ years working for top firms including Investor AB, Bain Capital and now Blue Pool Capital. I enjoyed this conversation not only because Danny is a friend and an accomplished investor, but also because Danny's story has come full circle from being a beneficiary of a major scholarship while at Columbia to endowing his own scholarship at Columbia 30 years later. Note to audience, although you may not be able to hear it on the podcast, I think "the tear" may have made its first appearance on the podcast! Without further ado, here is my conversation with Danny Lee.

My guests for today's podcast are Troy Dixon, Founder and CIO of Hollis Park Partners, a $750mn+ independent alternative asset manager that specializes in structured products and Greg Maddox, Head of Global Manager Research at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. I took a different approach for this podcast by asking my two guests to follow along with role playing the following scenario: Let's pretend that the three of us have recently started the "Emerging Manager Impact Fund" (EMIF), a new $1 billion fund focused on investing in top emerging and diverse managers. We are being seeded by Priscilla Chan Zuckerberg and Oprah Winfrey with the dual purpose of delivering best in class risk adjusted returns while making an impact by investing in emerging and diverse managers. (Note to audience, repeat - this is a role play so please don't call us to ask for money!) Given Troy's and Greg's wealth of experience and juxtaposition of perspective: retail vs. institutional, sell side vs. buy side, investment bank vs. independent emerging manager, portfolio manager vs. allocator, having designed an emerging and diverse program vs having won mandates from emerging and diverse programs – I found this conversation especially insightful for all players in the investment game. Without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Troy and Greg.

My guest for today's podcast is James Chen, Founder and CIO of Ovata Capital, a $600mn+ multi-strategy, market neutral equities hedge fund headquartered in Hong Kong. James takes us on his journey from being born in Mongolia to growing up in Long Island, NY through his formative years as a proprietary and customer trader at Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, JP Morgan and Barclays. In 2014, James made the decision to join Bluecrest where he established their equities business in Hong Kong. Following Bluecrest's decision to convert to a family office, James made the decision to start Ovata Capital, personally funding and underwriting the business hiring many of his former Bluecrest equities team members in Hong Kong. James shares many lessons he learned over his career, providing valuable insight to portfolio managers who aspire to launch their own independent firms. Joining me on this podcast as guest host is Christophe L'Ahelec, who most recently was a Senior Principal in the External Managers group at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, one of the most widely respected allocators in the business. I leave it to Christophe to ask all the hard questions! Without further a due, here is my conversation with James and Christophe.