Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Chris Dixon is a General Partner at a16z where he leads Crypto investing, overseeing the largest pool in the space at $7 billion across four dedicated venture funds and a team of eighty professionals. Chris is one of the leading voices in the crypto ecosystem and topped the Forbes 'Midas List' as the most successful venture capitalist in the world in 2021. He was a guest on the show last year, and that replay is available in the feed. Our conversation covers Chris' framework for web3, network effects, venture economics, and institutional adoption. We turn to some of the areas he is most excited about deploying capital, including the creator economy, infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, and decentralized content creation. We close with how a16z supports portfolio companies in crypto, and Chris' thoughts on the current market downturn. A full list of a16z investments can be found here - https://a16z.com/investments/. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, where he focuses on the a16z Crypto Funds. Before joining Andreesen in 2013, Chris co-founded, built and sold two technology companies and was a prolific seed investor, founding member of Founder Collective, and personal investor. At various spots along the way, Chris was an investor in BuzzFeed, Uber, Venmo, Hotel Tonight, Coinbase, and Oculus, among many others. Our conversation covers Chris' early interest in computers and business, and lessons from starting companies and angel investing. We then turn to his activities since joining Andreesen Horowitz, discussing new computing platforms, a brief history of centralized and decentralized computing, development of blockchain technologies, potential killer apps, token basics, and investor perception. Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, where he focuses on the a16z Crypto Funds. Before joining Andreesen in 2013, Chris co-founded, built and sold two technology companies and was a prolific seed investor, founding member of Founder Collective, and personal investor. At various spots along the way, Chris was an investor in BuzzFeed, Uber, Venmo, Hotel Tonight, Coinbase, and Oculus, among many others. Our conversation covers Chris' early interest in computers and business, and lessons from starting companies and angel investing. We then turn to his activities since joining Andreesen Horowitz, discussing new computing platforms, a brief history of centralized and decentralized computing, development of blockchain technologies, potential killer apps, token basics, and investor perception. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Shiloh Bates is the Chief Investment Officer at Flat Rock Global, an alternative credit manager specializing in the junior tranches of CLOs. Last year, Shiloh published CLO Investing, a comprehensive review of the structure, payoff rules, and historical performance of CLOs. Our conversation covers Shiloh's twenty-five years spent in and around the space, an overview of the market, the characteristics of CLOs, the attractiveness of CLO equity relative to other credit opportunities, and Flat Rock's approach to investing in CLO equity and BBs. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Nigel Dawn is the global head of Private Capital Advisory at Evercore, where he leads the secondaries business he started a decade ago. Under Nigel's leadership, Evercore had become the market leader in transaction volume and is involved in approximately 30-40% of all secondaries market activity . Our conversation covers Nigel's observations on the growing secondaries market, including its history, rationale for LPs and GPs, incentives, critiques, other liquidity options, and advice for both sellers and buyers of GP interests. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

I've been thinking about the investment office playbook and what managers don't see when they meet with allocators. Read Ted's blog here.

Today's show is the first in an ongoing mini-series discussing Training Grounds, organizations that have developed and spawned future industry leaders. We'll cover both allocators and managers to see what we can learn about developing talent. In the first episode of the mini-series, we discuss Carnegie Corporation of New York. Ellen Shuman became Carnegie's first CIO in 1999 after working for David Swensen at Yale. Over her dozen year tenure and that of Meredith Jenkins and Kim Lew for the next dozen, and incredible 8 of the 17 investment professionals that walked in the door have become CIOs, and the rest appear either on their way or found their passion as leaders in complimentary roles or outside the industry. Those who became sitting CIOs are Meredith at Carnegie and Trinity Wall Street, Kim at Carnegie and Columbia, Jon Michael Consalvo at Carnegie, Alisa Mall at Michael Dell's Family Office, Niles Bryant at Bowdoin College, Brooke Jones at Bryn Mawr College, Ken Lee at Children's Healthcare, and Li Tan at Radian X. Carnegie is a lesser-known allocator training ground than Yale, but it's produced half the number of future CIOs from fraction of the team size. My guests to discuss how this happened are Ellen Shuman, Meredith Jenkins, Kim Lew, and Alisa Mall. We cover the chronology of their paths, and the Carnegie organization and investment process, including recruiting, culture, research, decision-making, and succession. Alongside the many applicable lessons they share, their palpable love and respect for each other is evident from the get go. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Blythe Masters a Founding Partner of Motive Partners, a $6 billion specialist private equity platform that builds, backs, and buys technology companies that enable the financial services industry. Blythe spent 27 years at JP Morgan, starting as a teenager and rising to the firmwide Executive Committee. Her path included roles as the head of global commodities, head of corporate and investment bank regulatory affairs, CFO of the investment bank, head of the global credit portfolio and credit policy and strategy, and head of structured credit. Our conversation covers Blythe's career trajectory at JP Morgan across asset classes, cycles, and crises. We then turn to the investment model at Motive and themes in asset and wealth management. We recorded this conversation on the iConnections Global Alts podcast stage, which explains the occasional wind gusts, airplanes overhead, sirens, and children playing in the background. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Jonathan Tepper is the CIO of Prevatt Capital, a $450 million long only firm he founded in 2020 that takes a quality and value approach to own a concentrated portfolio of global monopolies. He is also the author of The Myth of Capitalism, a book we discussed alongside his career path on the show five years ago. That conversation is replayed in the feed. Our conversation this time around bookends our prior discussion, covering Jonathan's unique upbringing and education on one end and his creation of Prevatt Capital to apply the lessons from The Myth of Capitalism on the other. As a disclaimer, I so took to Jonathan when we first met that I've been an advisor to him and Prevatt Capital since launch and am an investor in the strategy. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Jonathan Tepper is the founder of Variant Perception, an economic research group that works with institutional managers, hedge funds, and allocators to provide objective and comprehensive data to form actionable ideas from leading indicators and emerging trends. He is also the author of three books, the most recent of which, The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition, received widespread acclaim earlier this year. Our conversation covers Jonathan's unusual upbringing, learning about currencies from Big Macs, building economic and liquidity forecasting models, and catering Variant Perception's research to investors. We then turn to The Myth of Capitalism, discussing the history, causes, and ramifications of the absence of competition in U.S. industries, natural and unnatural monopolies, examples in the tech giants, funeral home operators, airports, and hospitals, and what can be done to counter this negative trend. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Mike Freno is the Chairman & CEO of Barings, a $400 billion global manager that invests across public and private fixed income, real assets, and capital solutions on behalf of its insurance company parent MassMutual and other institutions. Barings emerged from a combination of four investment brands in 2016 and has expanded its capabilities by acquiring partners with complementary skills that fit into its culture. Our conversation covers Mike's path to the CEO seat, the creation of the modern Barings, the power of insurance ownership, and lessons from leading, acquiring, and integrating asset managers. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Leffell is the Managing Member of Portage Partners, Chairman of Canoe Intelligence, and Founder and Chairman of 10 East, an investment platform for sophisticated investors to access private markets by co-investing alongside Michael. Michael was former Deputy Executive Managing Member of Davidson Kempner, where he spent twenty-one years before retiring in 2010. He formed a family office shortly thereafter and developed Portage, Canoe, and 10 East out of his investing activities. Our conversation covers Michael's professional investment career, personal investing following his retirement, and businesses created from those activities. And a little disclaimer is in order: I've known Michael for about a decade, and after becoming impressed by the quality of 10 East's offerings, its research process, and high-quality investment team, I became an advisor to the organization and an investor in multiple offerings. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

A long time ago, 33 years to be exact, Mike Milken pled guilty to 6 counts of violations of securities laws, went to jail for 2 years, and received a lifetime ban from the securities industry. He was at the time the most successful and powerful man on Wall Street and remains one of the smartest and most successful backers of talent in finance, cancer research and education. Most of us have formed beliefs about Mike based on accounts in the media or books written like Den of Thieves. We might think Mike was guilty of insider trading, for example. The way we form beliefs is problematic and rooted in survival from a time long past. We hear something and almost always immediately believe it is true. Danny Kahneman calls that System 1 thinking. Here's one example. We think Mike was guilty of insider trading. In fact, he was not. His plea of guilty did not touch insider trading. And another, the Attorney who aggressively pursued Mike to bring him down and presumably catapult his own political ambitions was none other than Rudy Giuliani, himself indicted, arrested, and disbarred 30 years later. Last week, Mike discussed how he emphasizes research and facts in his work. It is System 2 thinking - that requires us to think on our own without being infected by the beliefs of others. So what really happened to cause us to have such negative views about a man who has done so much for the world? My guest on today's show tells a very different story based on facts from being in the room where it all happened. Richard Sandler has been Mike Milken's personal attorney since 1983, having joined Drexel three years before the U.S. Attorney first subpoenaed Mike. He wrote a book last year entitled Witness to a Prosecution – the Myth of Michael Milken that describes his account of what happened based on the facts. Our conversation covers Richard's perspective on the history, motivations, and proceedings that led to both Mike's imprisonment and the public perception of him that formed as a result. I encourage you to set aside any preconceived notions you have about Mike Milken in listening to this conversation. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Milken is a legendary financier and philanthropist. Mike is best known for his role in creating the high yield bond market in the 1970s and 1980s at Drexel Burnham Lambert, his guilty plea, and his remarkable philanthropic efforts over fifty years supporting medical research, education, and public health. Under Mike's leadership, upstart Drexel became the most successful securities firm on Wall Street, enabled capital to become available for the 99% of companies that could not previously access the public market, and turned into the greatest breeding ground for talent in the industry. Approximately seventy investment firms are headed by leaders who worked for Mike, including founders and leaders of Apollo, Ares, Blackstone, Canyon, Cerberus, Crescent, GoldenTree, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Leonard Green, and Moelis. Our conversation begins with Mike's childhood and his early interest in democratizing access to capital. We discuss his career goals, the importance of capital structure, and his perspectives on markets today. We then turn to Mike's long history of philanthropic work to improve education and advance cancer research, as described in his book Faster Cures: Accelerating the Future of Health. I should note that we do not discuss Mike's difficult years post-Drexel or his pardon in 2020. However, next week Mike's longtime personal attorney, Richard Sandler, will join me to discuss just that. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Mauboussin is the Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, a $70 billion equity manager. Michael is renowned for his ability to articulate important investment concepts backed by academic research. His first of three prior conversations on the show is replayed in the feed. You can find the rest at capitalallocators.com. Our conversation explores Michael's most recent piece on pattern recognition, including when it works and when it doesn't. We then transition to discussing the changing nature of public markets, inspired by another of Michael's recent research reports entitled Birth, Death, and Wealth Creation. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Mauboussin currently is the Director of Research at BlueMountain Capital, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund and asset manager. He spent the majority of his professional career thinking and writing about decision making, behavior and complex systems, with long stints at Credit Suisse and nearly a decade alongside Bill Miller at Legg Mason. Michael has been an Adjust Professor at Columbia Business School for 24 years. Our conversation covers Michael's early career, the paradox of skill, academic research more favorable to active management, decision-making, optimal size and composition of teams, unsettling features in the market, data analysis in sports, career risk, the Santa Fe Institute, and Michael's new research on the horizon. Every time I speak to Michael I come away thinking better and feeling smarter, and this time was no exception. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Magnus Grimeland is the CEO and founder of Antler, one of the world's largest day zero investor. Antler's pre-seed strategy canvasses 27 countries, 1,000 portfolio companies, 8,000+ founders, and over 120,000 annual applications for 2,000 spots in its residency programs. Magnus founded Antler in 2017 after serving as the co-founder of Zalora, a tech-enable fashion brand in Asia. Our conversation covers Magnus' journey from growing up in rural Norway to developing a global startup platform, characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, and the process for building the infrastructure for founders to solve important problems in the world. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Brad Jacobs is a career CEO and the founder of Jacobs Private Equity (his family office). Brad created and grew three platforms using a roll-up strategy that resulted in seven multibillion-dollar publicly traded companies. He and his teams have raised $30 billion of capital, completed 500 acquisitions, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generated annual returns to shareholders in excess of 50%. Brad shares his playbook in his aptly named book, How to Make a Few Billion Dollars. In December, he announced a billion-dollar PIPE into a new platform opportunity, of which $900 million is his personal capital. Our conversation is a master class in all aspects of leadership and management, including identifying an opportunity, acquiring businesses, assessing people, managing talent, running operations, leading electric meetings, motivating and compensating team members, and embarking on his next platform investment. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ron Biscardi, the CEO of iConnections, whose Global Alts conference in Miami is the largest capital introduction gathering in the industry. In addition to the annual event, iConnections hosts an annual charity cap intro event and provides its technology platform to connect the industry year-round. Last week, I joined 6,000 industry peers in Miami at Global Alts. The main event at the conference were an incredible 15,000 one-on-one meetings between allocators and managers. As a side show, I grabbed Ron on the podcast stage to get a closer look at how it all comes together. In an industry that typically competes at every turn, iConnections is the opposite – they are the ultimate collaborators. Ron has provided the iConnections software to power most major industry events, including our Summits, and is generous in finding ways to connect people and add value. I've been an advisor to Ron and iConnections since Ron created their first charity event, Funds 4 Food, in the midst of the pandemic. It's been great fun to watch their growth and success in the years since. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Sanjay Ayer is a portfolio manager at WCM Investment Management, the Laguna-based $80 billion equity manager profiled on three popular past episodes with CEO Paul Black, President Mike Trigg, and emerging market portfolio manager Mike Tian. Sanjay joined WCM in 2007, and alongside Mike Trigg, leads the firm's research process that follows the mantra: think different and get better. Our conversation is a fascinating exploration of the differentiated mindset at WCM. We discuss topics, including self-discovery, cognitive dissonance, thinking differently, getting better, compounding knowledge, reflection time, and feedback loops – all in the context of Sanjay's path and the application of the concepts to WCM's research process, investment examples, and business. 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

Raphael Arndt is the CEO of the Future Fund, Australia's 200 billion AUZ ($135B) sovereign wealth fund that his team manages alongside 55 billion AUZ of other sovereign pools of capital. Raphael assumed the CEO seat in 2020 after serving as Chief Investment Officer for six years. Our conversation from five years ago about the Fund's total portfolio approach is replayed in the feed. Our conversation focuses on the significant changes in the Future Fund over the last few years. Raphael and his team spent a year analyzing changes in the global economy, demographics, and markets and concluded the Future Fund needed substantial turnover to prepare for the coming period. We discuss these changes in the external environment and the governance and culture internally required to do something about it. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Raff Arndt is the Chief Investment Officer of Australia's AUZ$145 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Future Fund. He trained as an engineer and dove into infrastructure policy at the beginning of Australia's privatizations in the late 1990s. After investing in the space for six year, he joined the Future Fund in 2008 to head the infrastructure team. Six years later, Raff became CIO. Our conversation spans all aspects of the management of a next generation institutional portfolio, including a one team, one portfolio philosophy, disaggregating beta and factors from skill in public markets, separating the impact of leverage and timing from skill in private markets, venture capital and co-investment opportunities in a large pool of capital, the option value of flexibility, the team required to make decisions in this format, compensation, fees, views on China, and the current market environment. Australia created the Future Fund only eleven years ago with a mandate to compound capital for 20 years before even contemplating withdrawals. It has been described to me as a pool of capital with the size and transparency of CalPERS and the sophistication of Yale. I'm sure you'll soon understand why. Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Today's Sponsored Insight features Chad Summe and Mike Veith, Partners at eGateway Capital, a Cincinnati based, thesis-driven firm that focuses on growth stage, enablement technologies that drive the future of digital supply chains, marketing, and commerce. Our conversation covers their path to creating eGateway, their investment strategy and process. Chad and Mike highlight the firm's regional and relationship-based sourcing and value add opportunities that benefit from the importance of the Midwest in supply chains and commerce. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Tilly Franklin is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer at University of Cambridge Investment Management, where she oversees the £4.0B Cambridge University Endowment Fund. UCIM applies an endowment model approach primarily investing in managers and with an overall emphasis on sustainability. We discuss Tilly's background that canvasses operating roles, direct private equity, at Apex, investing at Yale cub Alta Advisors, and the perspectives she brought to Cambridge four years ago. We cover her work at UCIM across developing the team, portfolio, manager selection, and sustainability. Lastly, we talk about Tilly's experience with GAIN, or Girls Are Investors, a non-profit organization that introduces women to careers in finance. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

George Michelakis is the Chief Investment Officer of Gladstone Management, a $2 billion long/short equity hedge fund based in London. George founded Gladstone in 2006 with seed capital from, well me at Protégé Partners, and six years later bought back the stake when still managing less than $100 million. In the dozen years since Gladstone has won awards for European Hedge Fund of the Year and the top performing five-year fund for three years in a row. Long before that, George became an International Chess Master and took third in the 1992 World Under-20 Chess Championships. We discuss George's path from chess to investing, alongside his college friend Roelof Botha of Sequoia, the challenges of the fundamental long-short equity model, the culture required to make it work, and how he does at Gladstone. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

How will we generate returns to meet important spending needs in an increasingly unforgiving world? One answer is "Internal Alpha' – making fewer mistakes alongside making great investments. Generating internal alpha is rarely taught in the investment field, which is why we created Capital Allocators University. Read Ted's blog here.

Brian Christiansen is Executive Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Sands Capital, a growth-focused public and private equity manager that oversees $50 billion in assets. Our conversation covers Brian's journey to Sands Capital, the firm's investment philosophy and approach to growth investing, six key investment criteria, portfolio construction, competitive advantage, and investment examples. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership Capital Allocators was compensated in connection with participation in this interview, which creates a conflict of interest that should be considered.

Ana Marshall is the CIO for the $14 billion William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a two-time past guest on the show. This time around, we discuss Ana's recently published book, The Climb to Investment Excellence. It is an outstanding, thorough guide for any leader overseeing a pool of institutional capital. But don't take my word for it – the book jacket has praise from perhaps the best list of investment luminaries to ever adorn a cover: Seth Klarman from Baupost, Sir Christoper Hohn from TCI, Paul Singer from Elliott, Doug Leone from Sequoia, Lei Zhang from Hillhouse and Marc Andreessen from a16z. Our conversation offers a walkthrough of the mountain investors must climb to reach their summit, following the metaphors of identifying the goal, preparing to embark or establishing governance, getting started or setting the investment strategy, working up the mountain or manager selection, and reaching the summit. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ana Marshall is the CIO for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she oversees a $13 billion pool of capital. Ana joined Hewlett eighteen years ago after spending the same amount of time as a direct investor. She was a past guest in 2019 describing her approach, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. We caught up to discuss what is on Ana's mind going into the new year. We cover inflation, private equity secondaries, liquidity management, China, emerging markets, and ESG. We close discussing where Ana is looking around corners, what's filling her basket of worries, and her plan for the next five years. Access Stream by AlphaSense Free Trial For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ana Marshall is the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she oversees a $10.5 billion pool of capital. Ana joined Hewlett in 2004 after spending eighteen years as a direct investor in high yield credit, emerging market debt, and international equities. Our conversation covers Ana's lifelong passion for investing, joining the "super buy side," conducting company meetings to inform the manager selection and allocation process, portfolio structure, manager selection, monitoring and measuring risk, perspectives on peers, internal dynamics, and working through a big mistake. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Morgan Housel is a partner at Collaborative Fund, blogger about behavior and money, and author of The Psychology of Money. The book has sold 4.5 million copies since its release three and a half years ago and already ranks in the top five best-selling books about finance. Morgan recently published his second book, Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes. Our conversation starts with what happened since his last appearance on the show just before the release of The Psychology of Money. We then turn to his latest magnum opus and discuss some of its themes and stories across storytelling, expectations, compounding, risk, incentives, and people. Morgan's wisdom, humility, and passion for his work come out in spades. He also happens to be a wonderful person and dear friend. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Morgan Housel is a partner at Collaborative Fund and one of my favorite writers about investing. Morgan recently released his first book, The Psychology of Money, and I'll go on record and predict it will be a best-seller in short order. Our conversation starts with Morgan's non-traditional education, his path to writing, and his process for writing each week. We then turn to the book and discuss some anecdotes about luck and risk, greed, compounding, patience, and tail events. We close with two of Morgan's personal stories – one about his own investing and the other, which seems inconceivable as you listen, about his lifelong challenge with stuttering. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

We're counting down the top 5 episodes of 2023. The number one episode of the year, and the number one episode of all time, Seth Klarman – Timeless Value Investing. Seth's uncommon wisdom and sole podcast appearance combined to make this year's chart topper one for the ages. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

We're counting down the top 5 episodes of 2023. Number three covered private credit and number two covers the other most topical strategy of the year – multi-manager platform hedge funds. Weighing in at number two is Dmitry Balyasny and his discussion of multi-strategy platforms at BAM. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

We're counting down the top 5 episodes of 2023. At number three, Kip DeVeer and the world of private credit at Ares. The subject of private credit was top of mind for investors, and Kipp shared his experience and wisdom in this tour of the space. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

We're counting down the top 5 episodes of 2023. Coming in at number four is Stan Miranda, the modern endowment model at Partners Capital. Stan's original insights shine in this story of the powerhouse OCIO he founded with Paul Dimitruk 20 years ago. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

It's that time of year when I share my annual letter and a rundown of the top episodes of 2023. Like last year, we'll be counting down the top 5 episodes each day this week. Tune in throughout the week to find out which episodes were played more than any other from last Thanksgiving to this one. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

We're counting down the top 5 episodes of 2023. Kicking us off at number five, is Greg Lemkau, the evolution of MSD, episode 291. I can't say I'm surprised by this one. Greg is beloved far and wide in the industry and all kinds of people came out of the woodwork when this release. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Gary Sernovitz is Managing Director at Lime Rock Partners, an oil and gas-focused private equity firm that manages $10 billion, where he runs the firm's investor relations and business development efforts. He is also the author of The Counting House, a fictional story about a CIO who oversees a $6 billion college endowment. After twenty years of observing CIOs, Gary brings his pointed, witty writing with a nuanced understanding of someone sitting in the CIO seat. Our conversation discusses the perspective Gary brings to his latest book, the challenges of serving as a CIO, and insights from two decades of manager meetings. Sitting outside the CIO seat, Gary shares a side of the CIO role that many experience, but few are comfortable discussing on the podcast. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Today's Sponsored Insight features, Thomas Haugaard, a portfolio manager on the Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency team at Janus Henderson Investors where he helps manage $1.3 billion just one year into the team's tenure at JHI. Thomas spent the last decade in the strategy with the same team, a prior decade in emerging markets research, and a decade before that in academia studying emerging markets. Our conversation covers Thomas' path to investing, the opportunity set and misconceptions of hard currency debt, and his team's approach to the sector. This is our third sponsored insight from Janus Henderson, following conversations with Daniel Grana on emerging market equities and Andy Acker on biotech. Those insights are replayed in the feed. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

On today's show we'll discuss another empty room – an opportunity ignored by most investors because they either don't want to or can't participate. Andy Acker is a Portfolio Manager at our anchor sponsor, Janus Henderson Investors, where he manages the firm's healthcare strategies. Janus Henderson is a global asset manager with $300B in assets under management, and Andy oversees the firm's Global Life Sciences strategy and its Biotechnology strategy. Biotech stocks have been crushed despite significant advances in drug development, making it a proverbial empty room with only specialists and contrarians left standing. Our conversation starts with Andy's path to becoming a healthcare investor, scientific innovation over his time at Janus Henderson, translation of science into commercial success for businesses, and the 90/90 rule for how stocks behave. We then turn to his investment process across filtering ideas, research, assessment of management teams and commercial success, portfolio construction, trading around names, and private crossover investing. We close with Andy's perspective on opportunities and risks to the space from here, and green shoots he sees that might fill seats in the empty room. For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

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

Marcia Page is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Värde Partners and Founder and CEO of MPowered Capital. Värde is a thirty-year-old $13 billion leading global alternatives firm specializing in credit. MPowered came out of Marcia's personal investing and focuses on accelerating equity for best-in-class female and underrepresented talent through capital, commitment, and connections. Marcia is one of the few women to have founded and scaled an alternatives firm over three decades. Our conversation spans Marcia's extensive career. We discuss her Minnesota roots, early days at Cargill, founding and scaling of Värde, value investing, and transition of leadership at the firm. We then turn to the latest phase in Marcia's career at Mpowered Capital and her efforts to address the industry's diversity gap. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Nicolai Tangen is the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, where he oversees the $1.3 trillion Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. The Fund owns 1.5% of all public equities worldwide and 2.7% of all listed companies in Europe. As part of his effort to communicate with constituents, Nicolai also hosts "In Good Company," a podcast where he interviews CEOs of large, global, market-leading companies. Before taking the helm three years ago, Nicolai was the founder of AKO Capital, which today manages $20 billion and is one of Europe's leading hedge funds. Our conversation covers Nicolai's investment path, lessons learned along the way about interviewing and leadership, and transition to the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund. We discuss the history of the pool of assets, Nicolai's approach to serving as a universal owner of assets, and his goals as leader of the organization. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Levy is the CEO of Crow Holdings, the family real estate empire initiated by Trammel Crow seventy-five years ago that today includes longstanding family holdings, $30 billion in externally managed and development real estate, and a diversifying portfolio of non-real-estate assets. Before joining Crow, Michael had a long career in real estate finance and investment management at Morgan Stanley that culminated in his serving as COO of the Investment Management Division. Our conversation includes Michael's path from New York to Dallas, managing through the financial crisis, lessons in asset management leadership, and the unique nature of the culture, relationships, and breadth of real estate investing at Crow. We also get his take on opportunities and risks in the current markets. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. For a little turkey treat, today's show has me on the other side of the mike. Sarah Samuels, the head of manager research at powerhouse consultant NEPC and a past guest on the show, is also the Board Chair of the CFA Society in Boston. She's created a podcast series for the Society called "Pull Up a Chair," and I was honored to be her inaugural guest. We recorded live at Wellington Management's headquarters earlier this month in front of a crowd that included Tim McCusker, the CIO at NEPC, and Jean Hynes, the CEO of Wellington. I'm a big fan of the collegial Boston investment community and was excited to participate. Sarah drew out some personal anecdotes about my investment career and a look at the business around Capital Allocators. At the end, I offer up a pitch for a children's book Sarah wrote that will release in April called Braving Your Savings. Keep your eye out for it in the coming months. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Chad Hutchinson is a partner at Arctos Partners, a private equity firm best known as the leading minority owner of professional sports franchises. Chad was one of only seven athletes since 1970 to play in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League. After his sports career ended, he started from scratch in finance and spent fifteen years in private markets before joining Arctos and bringing his two careers together. We discuss Chad's journey to two professional sports, mindset and framework for success, transition and career in finance, blend of his two paths at Arctos, and interdisciplinary learnings across fields. Set all your assumptions about athletes and private equity managers aside as you listen to this incredible story of Chad's determination, humility, intelligence, and drive. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Rick Heitzmann is the founder and Managing Partner of FirstMark Capital, a network-driven seed and series A venture capital firm managing $3.5 billion that backs entrepreneurs in high-growth consumer and enterprise technology sectors focused in New York City. some of FirstMark's past wins include Pinterest, DraftKings, Shopify, Upwork, StubHub, and Airbnb, and Rick has been named to the Forbes' Midas List as one of the world's top venture capitalists for the last four years in a row. Rick is a one-man treasure trove of venture insights. Our conversation includes his background across distressed investing, operations, and growth capital, the New York tech scene, creation of value-added guilds of hundreds of thousands of people, and investment theses across digital health, gaming, and the venture environment. And as any great New Yorker would be, Rick is a tried and true Yankees fan – what more can you ask for? Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership