Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Latest Episodes:

Succession - Sarah Samuels on Generational Transitions (EP.400) Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

As the first generation of investment firm founders approaches retirement age, the issue of succession to the next generation is increasingly at hand. We've seen several successful transitions of firms, many that haven't survived their founders, and an entire sub-industry arise to help facilitate generational transfers across GP stakes, public offerings, and structured transactions. With both managers and allocators thinking more about the inevitability of succession, I thought it would be helpful to share what a leading allocator who reviews thousands of managers has learned about the issue. My guest on today's show is Sarah Samuels, Partner and Head of Investment Management Research at NEPC, which advises on $1.7 trillion in assets. As part of her work assessing managers, Sarah has created a framework to analyze succession as an investment risk. She was a past guest on the show, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Our conversation covers that framework across its three key metrics: performance, age, and economics. We discuss the challenges of transitioning both economics and portfolio management, using stories and analogies to other businesses along the way.

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[REPLAY] Sarah Samuels – Framework and Rigor at NEPC (EP.264) Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Sarah Samuels is the Head of Investment Manager Research at NEPC where she oversees teams across public equities, credit, hedge funds, and private markets for the $1.5 trillion investment advisory juggernaut. Prior to joining NEPC three years ago, Sarah worked at the senior level of both a top notch endowment and a public pension fund. She sought to bring the best of both worlds to her role at NEPC. Our conversation covers Sarah's early career investing, time in the allocator seat at Mass PRIM and Wellesley College, and decision to join NEPC. We discuss her key investment themes, investment framework blending qualitative and quantitative analysis, second-level thinking, CIO mindset, alignment of interest, private equity allocations, and investment committees. We close discussing Sarah's work on DE&I and her involvement in Girls Who Invest.

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Todd Simkin - Game of Trading at Susquehanna (EP.399) Aug 05, 2024

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Todd Simkin is an Associate Director at Susquehanna International Group, a global quantitative trading firm comprised solely of internal capital that is known for its rigorous analytical approach to decision-making. Todd is also the CEO of Susquehanna Re, his latest role in a 27-year tenure at SIG that has spanned trading, strategic initiatives, and trader education.

Our conversation covers the history of SIG alongside Todd's roles, trader development, the art and science of trading, risk management, recruiting talent, competitive advantages, luck, and strategic initiatives in venture capital, prediction markets, sports gambling, and reinsurance.

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Jeff Assaf - Protecting Clients and Assets at ICG (EP.398) Jul 29, 2024

Show notes

Jeff Assaf is the founder and CIO of ICG Advisors, which oversees $7B in assets for a highly curated group of 80 client families. While Jeff keeps his client names confidential, ICG manages money for a roster of successful athletes, entertainers, and business professionals with a combination of tailored investment solutions and white-glove service, many of whom he has served for decades.

Our conversation covers Jeff's path to investment allocation through Oppenheimer, Bear Stearns, and eventually ICG. We discuss defining client objectives, selecting managers, building low-volatility portfolios, assessing re-ups in private equity, and serving as a good partner to managers and clients.

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Rob Small and Anil Seetharam - Public Equity Adjacent to Private Equity at Stockbridge (EP.397) Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

Rob Small and Anil Seetharam are Managing Directors and founding members of the Stockbridge team at Berkshire Partners, a $5B concentrated public equity manager that sits inside the $20B private equity firm. Unlike many public equity strategies at private equity firms, Stockbridge works closely and collaboratively with Berkshire's private equity team on its investment research and has attracted an enviable client roster of some of the most respected allocators in the world. Our conversation covers Rob and Anil's history at Berkshire and the steps they took to launch Stockbridge in 2007. We discuss their collaboration with Berkshire's private equity team, investment criteria, deep dive research, decision-making process, portfolio management, board involvement, management of stock volatility, sell decisions, mistakes, and lessons learned over the last 17 years.

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Jennifer Prosek – Nailing the Narrative (EP.396) Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Jennifer Prosek is the founder and CEO of Prosek Partners, a leading marketing and communications firm that for 30 years has helped the world's top brands navigate what comes next. In asset management, Prosek's clients oversee $60 trillion and comprise a who's who in private and public markets. Jen is a popular past guest on this show from her first appearance five years ago and second when she shared her thoughts on navigating the pandemic.

Our conversation updates Jen's thoughts on the emerging market of branding in the private markets, the importance of nailing the narrative, power of convening, maximizing value at conferences, and identifying talent. We discuss her thoughts on the trends driving capital flows and some great Jen-isms from her LinkedIn newsletter called Leading in Volatile Times.

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[REPLAY] Jen Prosek – Branding an Asset Management Firm (Capital Allocators, EP.81) Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Jennifer Prosek is the founder and CEO of Prosek Partners, a leading international public relations and financial communications consultancy with offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and Connecticut. Prosek Partners ranks among the top 10 independent public relations firms in the U.S., and among the top financial communications consultancies. The firm has been listed as an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for nine years running. Jen is also a two-time author.

Our conversation covers the foibles of professional marketing in asset management, building a brand, measuring a successful branding effort, managing the story of weak performance, and describing the differences in hedge fund and private equity branding. We then turn to some of Jen's fascinating observations learned from her experience, including raising entrepreneurial children, working with millennials and Gen Z staffers, and implementing the principals of 'Just Ask', behave with humanity, and not thinking in black and white.

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Training Grounds: Bain Capital, John Connaughton (EP.395) Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

Today's show is the second in an ongoing mini-series discussing Training Grounds, organizations that have developed industry leaders. The first episode discussed Carnegie Corporation, where over a dozen years 8 of the 17 investment professionals that came through the doors became CIOs at Carnegie or other institutions.

Bain Capital is one of the world's largest private alternative investment firms. The firm was founded 40 years ago with a half dozen team members managing a $37 million growth equity fund and has expanded to 1,750 people, 180 partners, and $200 billion in assets under management today. During that time, Bain Capital developed leaders across every category of alternative investing, many of whom started in the firm's private equity business. My guest to discuss this training ground is John Connaughton the Co-Managing Partner & Global Head of Bain Capital Private Equity. Our conversation covers Bain Capital's founding idea, recruiting and training, governance model, inflection points of growth, compensation, case for staying private, culture, developing leaders, and succession.

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Charles Duhigg- Secrets of Communication (EP.394) Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

Charles Duhigg is a celebrated writer for The New Yorker and author of bestseller "The Power of Habit." His latest book, "Supercommunicators," describes how to effectively communicate in conversation.

Our conversation covers Charles' path to writing business stories and personal books and turn to his latest tour du force. We discuss the science behind connection, three types of conversations, methods to become a better communicator, and tools to navigate challenging conversations. Charles' book and words feel like unlocking a secret language that can help anyone connect better with others, and he embodies the archetype of the supercommunicator he describes.

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Ben Hunt - The Stories that Drive Markets (EP.393) Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Ben Hunt is the creator of Epsilon Theory and co-founder of Second Foundation Partners, where he writes and invests through the lens of narratives, or in his words "If a price moves, it is because a human told themselves a story." Before turning to investing twenty years ago, Ben was a tenured political science professor and founder of two technology companies. He has been studying trends using what we now call big data ever since his first book about predicting international conflict in 1997. Our conversation covers Ben's path to finance, the power of stories, tracking and measuring narratives in markets, and applying the lens of narrative to investing. Ben's insights offer a careful consideration of what's really going on in markets. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

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