Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Yen Liow is the founder and Managing Partner of Aravt Global, a fundamental global equity firm based in New York that manages long-short and long only products. Yen founded Aravt after a long stint at famed family office Ziff Brothers Investments, where he was part of the team that managed a market, neutral long-short hedge fund in a culture of framework thinking and continuous improvement. Our conversation covers Yen's background, experience at ZBI, and lessons about process, competitive edge, and training. We then turn to his application of those lessons to Aravt Global. We discuss three right tail strategies for long positions, the challenges in owning compounders, the art of short selling, portfolio construction, game selection, drivers of success, and challenges going forward. For those lovers of learning about the nuance of public equity investment strategies, you're in for a real treat. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

My guest on the first episode of Private Equity Masters is John Toomey, one of two members of the Executive Management Committee at HarbourVest Partners. For more than thirty years, HarbourVest has invested across all parts of the private equity spectrum - in funds, secondaries, and direct co-invests. Today, it oversees over $75 billion of assets and canvasses the world. Our conversation discusses the early days of private equity investing, evolution of strategies across primaries, co-invests, and secondaries, international expansion, best practices of managers, the next wave of growth opportunities, and risks in the space. John has a unique perch at the top of the industry and offers a wonderful perspective to kick off the mini-series. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

On today's manager meeting, Nat Fraser interviews Justin Fishner-Wolfson. Nat is an Executive Director at Agility, a $15 billion outsourced CIO firm serving 42 endowments, foundations, family offices and corporations. Justin is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 137 Ventures, a $2 billion growth-stage venture firm with a differentiated approach to sourcing deals. 137 provides customized liquidity solutions directly to founders, investors, and early employees of private technology companies. Before they get started, Nat and I discuss his diligence process, success of 137's structure, and the evolution of the market. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Paul Black and Mike Trigg from WCM Investment Management are both past guests on the show who have taken an investment philosophy focused on culture and moat trajectory to turn a once struggling boutique into a $100 billion powerhouse. Paul came on the show a few years ago when WCM had quietly grown to $25 billion in assets, and Mike joined a year ago to dive into their research process. Their colleague Mike Tian shared another perspective earlier this year when he described applying WCM's moat trajectory discipline to investing in China. In this continued exploration of WCM, we start with the truly unique facts about the firm's rebirth a decade ago and turn to key features of its success, including embracing change, the importance of culture - alongside some characteristics of toxic cultures, hiring practices, telling the truth, integrating new team members, managing turnover, and transitioning leadership to the next generation. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

You may remember my popular first meeting from a few years ago with Paul Black of WCM, then a $25 billion asset manager in Laguna Beach, CA. Since then, WCM has gone up and to the right in every way, they sold a minority piece of the business to Natixis, continue to put big numbers on the board, and have grown to north of $66 billion, defying the fade of active management outflows. My guest on today's show is Mike Trigg, a partner and portfolio manager of WCM's Focused International Growth strategy that comprises the majority of the firm's assets. We discuss Mike's background, arrival at WCM in 2005, near implosion of the firm shortly thereafter, and the rising of the international strategy from those ashes. We then dive in deeper to the core tenants of WCM's approach, discussing how the firm analyzes widening moats and cultures tied to competitive advantage. Lastly, we talk about how WCM's growth has impacted the firm. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Paul Black is Co-CEO and portfolio manager at WCM Investment Management, a $26 billion manager of global equities that he joined when it was a $200 million boutique in 1989. With so much of the institutional world, including my own training, focused on value investing, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a large, high performing growth stock manager located in a non-descript building in Laguna Beach, California. Our conversation starts with Paul's trial-by-fire entry into the business and turns to growth stock investing, including defining a great growth company, searching for widening moats, assessing a culture tied to competitive advantage, creating a positive culture, learning from mistakes, identifying tailwinds, and protecting the downside. Paul embodies the principals he preaches and offers some tasty food for thought. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

On today's Manager Meetings, Jason Klein sits down with Jarrid Tingle and Henri Pierre-Jacques. Jason is is the CIO at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a past guest on Capital Allocators. Jarrid and Henri are co-founders and Managing Partners of Harlem Capital, a venture capital firm seeking to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years and creating a community to support diversity across the industry. Before they get going, Jason and I discuss the attributes that attracted him to Harlem, monitoring and evaluating a first time fund manager, and sizing the position in his portfolio. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Christopher Zook is the Chairman and CIO of CAZ Investments, a twenty-year old, non-traditional multi-family office that has $3 billion invested in a series of thematic strategies, including $500 million from the CAZ team and its shareholders. Our conversation covers Christopher's self-determined path to creating CAZ, a thematic model that creates raving fans, and some of CAZ's investment themes, including GP stakes, midstream energy, disruptive technology, and changing consumer behavior. Along the way, we touch on CAZ's investment philosophy, sourcing, research, and implementation of themes. We close with Christopher's relationship with Tony Robbins, and the future of CAZ with Tony as a partner. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

On today's Manger Meeting, Chris Douvos interviews Bill Trenchard. Chris was an early guest on Capital Allocators and is the Founder of Ahoy Capital, a boutique fund of funds focused on early-stage venture. Bill is a Partner at First Round Capital, which focuses on seed-stage investing in technology companies. Bill joined First Round after starting five companies and led First Round's investments in Uber, Flexport and LendingHome. Before they get going, Chris and I discuss his initial discovery of First Round, the evolution of the firm, and his ability to get capacity in what has become a first-tier, oversubscribed venture capital firm. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ian Charles and Doc O'Connor are the Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Arctos Sports Partners, a private equity firm dedicated to buying minority stakes in professional sports franchises. From its founding just two years ago, Arctos quickly has become the market leader in the space, raising a $2.1 billion first-time fund and a SPAC alongside Executive-in-Residence Theo Epstein, and buying stakes in MLB teams including the Boston Red Sox, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the NBA, and a compliment of other sports assets. Our conversation covers their backgrounds and the formation of Arctos, the investment opportunity in sports franchises, and the underlying business and ownership structure. We then turn to the unique characteristics look of the asset, investment process, and growth strategy. Full disclosure, I am a personal investor in Arctos' fund and am a fan of their strategy and team, pun intended. I hope you'll enjoy this conversation with Doc O'Connor and Ian Charles as much as I did. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

On today's Manager Meeting, Ben Cooper interviews Will Cook. Ben is the Head of Manager Research at Cardano Group, a market leading investment adviser for pension schemes in the UK and Netherlands that oversees GBP 15 billion of discretionary assets and advises on GBP 50 billion of assets. Will is the portfolio manager at Sunriver Management, a fundamental long-short equity investment firm he founded in 2014 after a long tenure at Ziff Brothers Investments. Sunriver focuses on underfollowed mid and small cap stocks. Before they get going, Ben and I discuss long-short equity investing, selecting Sunriver, Cardano's exhaustive research process, and the fit of Sunriver in their client portfolios. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Chas Cocke is the founder of LB Partners and a former co-founder of Investure, one of the original scaled OCIO businesses. Chas has followed an atypical path from a decade as an allocator to a focus on stock picking, first building an internal direct team at Investure and then launching LB in 2019. Chas opened and closed LB to new capital on day one, and recently created a digital infrastructure index that trades as an ETF under the ticker BYTE. You can learn more about it at iodigitalindex.com Our conversation covers Chas' path to allocation, lessons learned at UVIMCO, key aspects of successful manager selection at Investure, and his passion for and transition to direct investing. We close with the application of lessons to his investment process. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's Manager Meeting, Tarik Serri interviews Brian Higgins. Tarik is a Senior Director at Trans-Canada Capital, a $23 billion investment management firm that oversees the pension assets of Air Canada and outside organizations. Brian is co-founder and co-portfolio manager of King Street Capital, a 25-year-old, credit-focused hedge fund that manages $20 billion in assets. Before they get going, Tarik and I discuss King Street's distinctive features, TCC's ongoing due diligence, and the fit of King Street in TCC's portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Todd Boehly is the Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Eldridge, a multi-billion dollar permanent capital holding company with investments in eighty businesses, including high profile brands like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dick Clark Productions, and The Hollywood Reporter, and an array of companies across other industries, including media, insurance, real estate, asset management, and technology. Combining its structure and Todd's acumen, CNBC recently postured that Eldridge may be the next Berkshire Hathaway. Our conversation covers Todd's early beginnings in structured credit, growing an asset management business at Guggenheim, and the formation of Eldridge. We then turn to his investment strategy and investments in asset management, media, gaming, and technology. Along the way, we discuss Todd's thoughts on sourcing, negotiation, structure, management, capital allocation, and the future of Eldridge. Learn More Three treats from Capital Allocators for the holiday season Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's Manager Meeting, Michael Liddy speaks with Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain. Mike is a Partner at Evanston Capital Management, a $4.5 billion hedge fund of funds, whose CIO Adam Blitz was a past guest on Capital Allocators. Kyle and Tushar are Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Multicoin Capital, a $4.5 billion thesis-driven manager of cryptocurrencies, tokens, and blockchain companies. Kyle and Tushar founded Multicoin in 2017 and have grown its hedge fund and venture businesses to one of the largest in the space. Before they get going, Mike and I discuss Evanston's process to invest in the space, diligence specific to crypto strategies, selection of Multicoin, and fit in their portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Richard Tedlow is the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, where he spent three decades teaching business history. Richard left HBS in 2010 to join the faculty of the new Apple University and retired in 2018. Earlier this year, he published The Emergence of Charismatic Business Leadership, which is the subject of the show. Our conversation covers Richard's background and lessons learned teaching for four decades. We then turn to his latest tome, discussing the American history of business leaders without charisma, transitional period introducing charisma, and the modern era of superstar CEOs. Along the way, we discuss the definition, traits, downside, and future of charismatic business leadership. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's Manager Meeting, Craig Bergstrom interviews Himanshu Gulati. Craig is the Chief Investment Officer at Corbin Capital Partners, a $9 billion investor in hedge funds and opportunistic credit strategies. Himanshu is the Founder and CIO of Antara Capital, an event driven hedge fund that invests across the capital structure in loans, bonds, distressed credit, and special situation equities. Antara combines a fundamental approach with active trading, dynamic asset allocation, and risk management. Before they dive in, Craig and I discuss getting to know Himanshu, investing alongside him as part of due diligence, and the fit of Antara in Corbin's portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Jordi Visser is the President & CIO of Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, a $4 billion hedge fund focused on an innovative investment process, insightful data analytics, and cutting-edge thought leadership. Jordi came on the show and discussed his background and Weiss' strategy back in 2019. That conversation is replayed on the feed. This time around we get a glimpse of Jordi's thoughtfulness and rigor across work and life, including baseball cards for portfolio managers, the adaptability quotient or AQ, analytics for business development, and the great resignation in asset management. We then turn to Jordi's market views on inflation and interest rates, blockchain and decentralization, health and longevity, and mental health and anxiety. We close with his passion for horseracing and its application to money management. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Jordi Visser is the President & CIO of $1.7 billion Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, an asset management firm with a 40-year history of focusing on innovative investment processes and cutting edge thought leadership. Our conversation covers Jordi's decade of learning at Morgan Stanley, and then turns to a deep dive on all aspects of Weiss' equity market neutral, multi-manager process, including the importance of data visualization to risk management, behavioral alpha, improving portfolio manager performance, blending macro insights with a multi-manager team, factor-based replication, hiring managers, ranking managers, and knowing when to move on. We then discuss issues with the use of analytics outside of public equities, pending problem caused by high corporate leverage, opportunities in biotech and healthcare, the future of the hedge fund industry, and positioning an asset manager for the future. Jordi leads a rigorous approach to identifying, assessing, and improving an internal multi-manager team using data analytics. The transparency and tools he employs are a few steps ahead of where most allocators find themselves today, and as such, his insights can shine a light on the path where all allocators can develop going forward. Learn More Discuss show and Read the Transcript Join Ted's mailing list at CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com Join the Capital Allocators Forum Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides For more episodes go to CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com/Podcast

On today's manager meeting, Tim Recker interviews Satya Patel. Tim is the Chief Investment Officer of the $4 billion James Irvine Foundation. Satya is a Partner and Co-Founder of Homebrew, a $190 million seed stage venture capital firm that takes a concentrated, hands-on, and thesis driven approach. Satya also is a Venture Advisor to Screendoor Partners, an investment vehicle designed to back underrepresented first-time venture capitalists. Before they get going, Tim and I discuss his interest in Homebrew, distinction from other operator-led VCs, and his perspective on Screendoor. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Savneet Singh is the President and CEO of PAR Technology Corp and a Partner at CoVenture. PAR is a $1.6 billion market cap public company whose technology services over 10,000 restaurant locations in over 110 countries. And CoVenture is a $2 billion investment firm focusing on novel asset classes whose founder, Ali Hamed, was a past guest on the show. Savneet previously co-founded GBI, an electronic platform for the trading of real assets, and Tera Holdings, a holding company of niche software businesses. He is an unusual talent whose achievements have been recognized on the Forbes 30 under 30 and Crain's 40 under 40. Our conversation covers Sav's early love of investing, time on Wall Street, transition to operator, and lessons learned along the way. We then turn to PAR, discussing its history, corporate culture, and trends in software. We close Savneet's thoughts on crypto, advice for managers and allocators, and his growth as an investor from serving as an operator. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's manager meetings, Ellen Ellison speaks with Rashmi Kwatra. Ellen is a past guest on Capital Allocators when she was Chief Investment Officer of the University of Illinois Foundation. Rashmi is the founder and CIO of Sixteenth Street Capital, a Singapore based manager focused on emerging and frontier markets in South and Southeast Asia with $240 million under management. Sixteenth Street manages a concentrated fundamental equity portfolio with a long-term focus on Asia's fastest growing capital markets. Before they kick it off, Ellen and I discuss her due diligence process and the fit of Sixteenth Street in her portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Paula Volent is the recently named Chief Investment Officer for Rockefeller University's $2.5 billion endowment. Paula previously oversaw Bowdoin College's endowment for twenty years as it grew from $450 million to $2 billion during her tenure and generated returns at the very top of the industry. Bowdoin's Investment Committee Chair, Stan Druckenmiller, describes Paula as an innovative, outside-of-the-box thinker, an aggressive risk taker, and a workaholic whose passion is unlike anyone he has ever seen. Paula is also one of my oldest friends in the business from our time crossing paths at Yale in the mid '90s. Our conversation covers Paula's unique career path from art conservation to endowment management and the transferable lessons she learned along the way. In the process, we discuss her approach at Bowdoin and plans for Rockefeller University. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's Manager Meetings, Kim Lew speaks with Stefan Kaluzny. Kim is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia Investment Management Company, where she is responsible for managing the University's $11 billion endowment. She also recently received Institutional Investor's Lifetime Achievement Award. Stefan is a Founder and Managing Director of Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in consumer, distribution, and retail with approximately $10 billion in assets under management. Sycamore's sector-oriented strategy focuses on partnering with management teams to improve operating profitability and strategic value in their business. To kick it off Kim and I discuss her due diligence process at Carnegie and her upcoming re-underwriting of Sycamore at Columbia, both with an eye on her longstanding friendship with Stefan. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Erik Serrano Berntsen is the Founder and CEO of Stable Asset Management, whose mission is to back the Founders of tomorrow's leading investment firms. Our conversation starts with Erik's own experience from launch to around $3 billion in assets under management today. We turn to the lessons he's learned providing strategic capital, advice, and support to investment Founders early in their lifecycle. We discuss the qualities that make for successful Founders and the factors to maximize the probability of success across building teams, attracting capital, and staying resilient. We close with Erik's perspective on the seeding business. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's episode of Manager Meetings, Ethan Berman interviews Hamish Corlett. Ethan was the founder and CEO of NYSE-listed RiskMetrics Group until it was bought by MSCI in 2010. Upon the sale of the business, Ethan invested in just one money manager, TDM, a shareholder of RiskMetrics at the time. Hamish is a co-founder of TDM Growth Partners, an Australia-based investment firm that manages $1.5 billion in growth companies ranging from early-stage privates to publicly-listed companies on behalf of just 20 individuals. Before they get going, Ethan and I discuss how he met TDM, their research process from his perspective as a CEO of a public company, and his decision to invest personally. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Matt Brown is the Founder CEO of CAIS, a leading alternative investment platform on which thousands of financial advisors have invested over $12 billion in alternatives across private equity, private credit, hedge funds, and real estate. Our conversation covers Matt's background as both a financial advisor and distributor of alternatives that collectively led to the idea behind CAIS. We discuss the development of a two-sided platform, structural features for both financial advisors and managers, and challenges along the way. We then turn to the wave of capital coming from this community and what it means for investors. Lastly, we discuss Matt's perspective on leadership and the future of CAIS. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's manager meeting, Ellen Ellison speaks with Jon Brolin. Ellen is the former Chief Investment Officer of the University of Illinois Foundation, which she joined in 2013 as the first leader of the now $2.4 billion Foundation. Jon is the Founder and Managing Partner of Edenbrook Capital, a $400 million manager of a concentrated portfolio of micro and small cap U.S. equities. Edenbrook applies a private markets approach to public markets, intending to own and add value to its portfolio companies over a multi-year time horizon. First, Ellen and I discuss how she came to find an off-the-run manager and some of her process in getting over the hurdle to allocate to what became a very successful partnership. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Barry Sternlicht is Chairman, CEO, and Founder of Starwood Capital Group, a $95 billion real estate investment firm with 4,000 employees and 16 offices worldwide. Barry has invested nearly $200 billion across every major real estate asset class around the world. The list of related real estate companies he's created, results, and associated accolades are extensive and truly impressive. Our conversation covers Barry's beginnings as an entrepreneur and real estate investor with some great stories along the way. We then turn to the current opportunity set across real estate asset classes and geographies and close with his approach to managing his own capital through his family office, SPACS, and experience during the pandemic. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Today's episode of Manager Meetings is our first sponsored show, with our friends at Janus Henderson Investors. I had the chance to speak with Daniel Graña, who is responsible for Janus Henderson's emerging markets equity strategy. Janus Henderson is a leading global asset manager with $400 billion under management. Our conversation covers some stories of the wild west early days in emerging markets, Daniel's strategy focusing on the intersection of good companies with good governance and good countries, portfolio construction, application of the process to China, benefits of aligning with a large organization when tackling emerging markets, and the case for emerging markets today. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Today's show is a little different from previous ones. Our Chief of Staff, Hank Strmac, had an idea to blend investing with some fun. It turned out I had just the crew. For the last twenty years, four friends and I have met for dinner regularly to talk investing. Three of them - Brett Barth from BBR Partners, Jon Harris from Alternative Investment Management, and Meredith Jenkins from Trinity Wall Street, are past guests on the show. The fourth, Casey Whalen from Truvvo Partners, was a colleague of mine at Yale back in the mid-90s. We recently got together in Brett's offices and riffed on a range of topics, including Covid, crypto, nuances in private equity and hedge funds, non-institutional investing, China, diversity, and ESG. We closed with a round on the two people who most influenced our careers. If you enjoy this as much as I do this crew, reach out to Hank or me and let us know. I suspect I can cajole them into doing it again. Until then, please enjoy my most recent gathering with Brett, Jon, Meredith, and Casey. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Jon Harris is the CEO of Alternative Investment Management, a twenty-year-old investment firm that started as a family office and has evolved into managing $1 billion in hedge fund and private equity strategies on behalf of a range of fascinating business and investment executives. Our conversation starts with the formation of AIM and its people-based investment approach. We discuss building a network to source and diligence managers, filtering the universe of prospects, understanding the motivations of managers, conducting reference checks, and using the information they gather. We then turn to AIM's private equity strategy, including selecting managers, the misalignment of interests in co-investments, and the death by a thousand cuts of hidden fees. We close talking about the continued purpose of hedgeD funds, due diligence tricks, preparing for unexpected risk, managing time, and philanthropy. Learn More Read the Transcript Subscribe to the Capital Allocators Blog or Monthly Mailing List Don't Subscribe, but Let Us Know Who You Are Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides Review past episodes of the Podcast

Meredith Jenkins is the Chief Investment Officer of Trinity Wall Street, where she oversees $5.5 billion of the church's endowment and real estate assets. Before taking the helm as Trinity's first CIO, she was the co-CIO of Carnegie Corporation of New York, Andrew Carnegie's foundation, from 2011 to 2016. She joined Carnegie in 1999 as its first investment associate and was an integral part of the build-out of the Corporation's investment capability under its first CIO. During the period, Meredith spent four years in Asia as the Corporation's special representative focusing on opportunities in China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Meredith started her career at Goldman Sachs in investment banking, Sanford Bernstein in research, and Cambridge Associates in consulting before attending Harvard Business School. She currently sits on the Investment Committee of the Wenner Gren Foundation and the Board of Directors of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company. Our conversation starts with Meredith's early career lessons and discusses alignment of interest, standing by managers in difficult times, markers of success, manager research in Asia, the co-CIO structure at Carnegie, and governance in her new challenge of starting an investment office from scratch. Fun loving and smart as a tack, Meredith offers pearls of wisdom through our conversation. For more episodes, go to capitalallocatorspodcast.com/podcast Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides

Brett Barth is a founder and the CIO of BBR Partners. BBR manages north of $12.5B on behalf of 125 families in its multi-family office. In this episode, we start talking about raising twins, a family issue close to both of our hearts. From there we learn about how Brett came to form BBR. We spend a lot of time going into depth on his firm's asset allocation process and on the decision-making process of manager selection. Along the way we touch on inefficiencies in Asia in the early days and in music royalties today. Brett offers nuggets of practical substance for allocators of all types – from financial advisors to large institutional managers. For more episodes, go to capitalallocatorspodcast.com/podcast Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides

On today's Manager Meetings, Beezer Clarkson speaks with Mike Smith and Nikhil Basu Trivedi. Beezer is a past guest on Capital Allocators and is a Partner at Sapphire Ventures, where she is responsible for the management of Sapphire's fund investments in early stage venture funds globally. Mike and Nikhil are co-founders of Footwork Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that closed on its first fund earlier this year, which was significantly oversubscribed. Footwork plans to invest in Seed stage and Series A companies with early signs of product market fit and the potential for decades of customer love. The partners discuss their blend of investing and operating skills, and their fundraising process. Before they kick it off, Beezer and I discuss how she discovered Footwork, her due diligence process, decision to invest, and gaining capacity. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Luke Ellis is the CEO of Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund company at $135 billion in assets across five distinct investment engines. Luke is also the Deputy Chairman of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI), and previously joined the show to discuss the organization alongside Mario Therrien from CDPQ. That episode is replayed in the feed. This time around, our conversation is focused on Luke and his wide-ranging wisdom about markets and asset management businesses. We talk about his start in the business, his decade in the heyday of hedge fund of funds, and his last decade at the helm of Man Group. In the process, we touch on the role of CEO, Luke's perspectives on recruiting, growth, incentives, technology, private equity, and risks going forward. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Luke Ellis and Mario Therrien are long-time veterans of the hedge fund industry who hold the Chairman and Deputy Chairman seats of the SBAI, or Standards Board of Alternative Investments. The SBAI is an industry consortium that brings together managers and investors to set best practices for the alternative investment industry. In their day jobs, Luke is the CEO of Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund company with $120 billion in assets, and Mario is the Head of Investment Funds and External Management at Canadian pension and insurance fund manager CDPQ, where he oversees $45 billion of funds managed externally. Our conversation focuses on the activities of the SBAI, including its purpose, origin, members, and evolution. We cover how members of an industry driven by different interests came to agree on anything and what has transpired since its founding after the financial crisis. We then turn to the state of the hedge fund industry and discuss its structure, fees, and future. Learn More Read the Transcript Subscribe to the Capital Allocators Blog or Monthly Mailing List Don't Subscribe, but Let Us Know Who You Are Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides Review past episodes of the Podcast

On today's Manager Meeting, Paul Black speaks to Ryan Batchelor. Paul is a popular past guest on the show and the Co-CEO of WCM Investment Management. Ryan is the Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager at Clifford Capital Partners, a $320 million value manager based in Alpine, Utah. Clifford employs a blend of core and deep value holdings selected through bottom-up research into sustainable wide moat businesses for core holdings and out of favor stocks for deep value holdings. The overlap of interest in moats led WCM to take an equity stake in Clifford three years ago. We'll start with my chat with Paul about what led him to Ryan. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Katie Hall is the Founder and Co-Chair of Hall Capital Partners, a $40 billion OCIO for high-net-worth families, endowments and foundations. She launched Hall Capital with the backing of Don Fisher, Warren Hellman and recent Presidential candidate Tom Steyer back in 1994 and has grown that base to serve 130+ clients today. Our conversation covers Katie's background, her path to starting Hall Capital, and her approach to the business. We then turn to her investment philosophy, customized asset allocation, and thoughts on alternatives, crypto, and ESG. We close with Katie's perspectives on governance and the future of Hall Capital. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's manager meeting, Mario Therrien speaks with Leda Braga. Mario is a two-time past guest on the show and is the Head of Investment Funds and External Management at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). CDPQ oversees $300 billion for pension funds in the province of Quebec. Leda Braga is the founder and CEO of Systematica Investments, a $10 billion hedge fund with a quantitative and systematic approach. Leda founded Systematica in 2015 after a decade of experience managing assets with her team in the same strategy at BlueCrest Capital. Before they get going, Mario and I discuss the key factors in selecting a systematic manager and the role of Systematica in CDPQ's portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Three years ago, Paul Black from WCM Investment Management joined me on the show for a very popular conversation. At the time, WCM managed $25 billion in global growth equities out of the limelight in Laguna Beach, CA. Last year, I had a second conversation with WCM with Mike Trigg, the Portfolio Manager of its Focused Growth International strategy. Mike discussed the colorful history of the firm and its research to identify businesses with widening moats and cultures aligned with their competitive advantage. Both shows are available on the feed. Well, in the last three years, WCM has continued to excel and defy the headwinds of active management. Their $25 billion in assets under management three years ago has grown to around $100 billion today. Today's show is, in effect, the third meeting with WCM. My guest is Mike Tian, Portfolio Manager and Analyst at WCM, where he oversees the firm's emerging markets strategy and thinks deeply about moat trajectories. Our conversation begins with Mike's definition of moats and assessment of moat trajectories, using Visa as an example. We then turn to his application of moat trajectory analysis in China, including the value of heavy industries, analysis of culture, consumer preferences, risk, and some investment examples along the way. We close with Mike's thoughts on the moat trajectory of WCM itself. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Tian from WCM. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

You may remember my popular first meeting from a few years ago with Paul Black of WCM, then a $25 billion asset manager in Laguna Beach, CA. Since then, WCM has gone up and to the right in every way, they sold a minority piece of the business to Natixis, continue to put big numbers on the board, and have grown to north of $66 billion, defying the fade of active management outflows. My guest on today's show is Mike Trigg, a partner and portfolio manager of WCM's Focused International Growth strategy that comprises the majority of the firm's assets. We discuss Mike's background, arrival at WCM in 2005, near implosion of the firm shortly thereafter, and the rising of the international strategy from those ashes. We then dive in deeper to the core tenants of WCM's approach, discussing how the firm analyzes widening moats and cultures tied to competitive advantage. Lastly, we talk about how WCM's growth has impacted the firm. Learn More Read the Transcript Subscribe to the Capital Allocators Blog or Monthly Mailing List Don't Subscribe, but Let Us Know Who You Are Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides Review past episodes of the Podcast

Paul Black is Co-CEO and portfolio manager at WCM Investment Management, a $26 billion manager of global equities that he joined when it was a $200 million boutique in 1989. With so much of the institutional world, including my own training, focused on value investing, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a large, high performing growth stock manager located in a non-descript building in Laguna Beach, California. Our conversation starts with Paul's trial-by-fire entry into the business and turns to growth stock investing, including defining a great growth company, searching for widening moats, assessing a culture tied to competitive advantage, creating a positive culture, learning from mistakes, identifying tailwinds, and protecting the downside. Paul embodies the principals he preaches and offers some tasty food for thought. Learn More Join Ted's mailing list at CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides For more episodes go to CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com/Podcast Show Notes 2:54 – How Paul got started in the business 4:52 – Lessons learned in the early years of his career 5:56 – Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings 6:01 – Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor 6:05 – The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel 7:49 – What works about growth stock investing 9:01 – What constitutes a great growth company 13:47 – Defining and measuring a company's competitive advantage 17:50 – How does he assess a company's culture 19:41 – The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force that Transforms Performance 20:26 – Questions that help assess company culture 21:57 – Any data to back up claims that companies with good cultures perform better over time 22:46 – Culture aligning with competitive advantage 24:30 – Looking at WCM's moat and culture 31:23 – The landscape for active management 33:53 – Weathering tough periods for the firm 37:02 – How do they think about culture in other countries 39:01 – Why does growth stock investing work when the data shows otherwise 40:47 – What is he excited about in growth stocks 43:45 – Tailwinds at the sector level 45:10 – Downside protection in the portfolio 46:38 – Patterns of positive and negative allocator behavior 48:35 – How do they manage the change in the portfolio going from 200 million to 26 billion 49:53 – Closing questions

On today's show, Roz Hewsenian interviews Jan Garfinkle. Roz serves as the Chief Investment Officer of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, an $8 billion foundation dedicated to increasing access to health care. Jan is the founder of Arboretum Ventures, a $700 million health care-focused venture capital firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Arboretum focuses on investments "off the coast" targeting companies that seek to reduce healthcare costs in devices, diagnostics, services and IT. Before they begin, Roz and I discuss her discovery of Arboretum, attractive qualities of the firm, and positioning in Helmsley's portfolio. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Jennifer Heller is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Brandywine Group Advisors, Inc., a subsidiary of Brandywine Trust Group. Jenny manages $12 billion of 'family endowments' that are effectively permanent capital if well invested and managed. She is nothing short of a superstar CIO. Jenny was the 7th guest on the show back in 2017, and that recording is replayed in the feed. Our second conversation gets a bit more in the weeds on Jenny's superb thought processes. We discuss a beginner's mind, the deep dive aspect of Brandywine's research process using examples from affordable housing, crypto, and insurance, KPIs for managers, position sizing, lessons learned in the manager evaluation process, and how her thinking about teams and culture has evolved. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Jenny Heller is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Brandywine Trust Group. Brandywine formed 25 years ago to manage the capital for a small group of families that all share a long-term, multi-generational time horizon. Today, it oversees almost $9B for those same families, much of it from compounding over a quarter century. The Group invests flexibly across asset classes, with a focus on partnering with people who they believe have sustainable competitive advantages, share their long-term vision, and have highly aligned interests. These elite managers often start with great ideas, but limited capital. Before taking the helm at Brandywine five years ago, Jenny worked at the Sloan Foundation, Stanford University Management Company, and Merrill Lynch in its investment banking program. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she serves on its Investment Advisory Committee, and Stanford Business School. Our conversation starts with Jenny's frustrating experiences with a non-profit micro finance in India and South Africa and turns to her career allocating money on behalf of non-profits and families. We touch on subtleties in picking managers for taxable investors, challenges in executing a long-term strategy, learning from mistakes, and mentorship. Jenny's clear and deep thought process provides pearls of wisdom throughout our conversation. Learn MoreSubscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

On today's manager meeting, Tim McCusker speaks with Rick Rieder. Tim is the Chief Investment Officer at NEPC, one of the industry's largest independent investment consultants with over $1.3 trillion assets under advisement. Rick is BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, a group that manages approximately $2 trillion in assets. BlackRock's fixed income platform covers both active and index mandates across a breadth of vehicles and strategies around the globe. Before we dive in, Tim and I discuss how NEPC works with BlackRock in client portfolios and positions the Strategic Opportunities Fund in fixed income allocations. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

Matt Spielman is the Founder and CEO of Inflection Point Partners an executive coaching practice he launched after a twenty-year career in the financial and corporate world. Matt partners with high-performing executives and their teams in asset management, media, professional sports, and other industries, and last year was named one of the leading coaches in asset management by Institutional Investor. Our conversation covers Matt's background and path to executive coaching, inflection points in his own career, and his coaching philosophy. We then turn to frameworks for setting goals, executing on them, aligning interests across an organization, and dealing with inevitable setbacks. We close with Matt's thoughts on turnover in an asset management firms and advice for senior leaders. I should note that Matt was a classmate of mine from business school and is also my executive coach. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

On today's manager meeting, Donna Snider speaks with Bruce Martin. Donna was a past guest on the show when named Institutional Investor's top CIO of the future. Sure enough, today she serves as the Chief Investment Officer at Hackensack Meridian Health. Bruce founded Still Lake Capital to invest in a concentrated portfolio of equities after spending twenty-five years in the credit markets, including seventeen at Angelo, Gordon. Five years later, he's still at it, managing his capital alongside that of some friends. Donna was a long-time investor with Bruce at Angelo, Gordon and has watched his progress carefully in his new venture. Before she dives in with Bruce, we chat about why she's stayed connected to him through his transition and when she might be ready to take the leap to back Still Lake. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

My guests on today's show are financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap, co-authors of "The Caesars Palace Coup," a book detailing the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment. Coming off the heels of our Private Equity Masters mini-series, this conversation dives into a private equity deal gone wrong, including some technical aspects of what it takes to emerge from a bankruptcy. We walk through the intricacies, tensions and dynamics of the Caesars bankruptcy, whose stakeholders included Apollo, TPG, GSO, Elliot, Silver Point, Oaktree, and Appaloosa – a literal who's who of giants in private equity and distressed investing. We then turn to applicable lessons for investors, including power dynamics, the unwritten rules of distressed investing, and the role of skill and luck. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript