Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Latest Episodes:

Private Equity Master 2: John Connaughton – Bain Capital (Capital Allocators, EP.201) Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

John Connaughton is a Co-Managing Partner at Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm that oversees approximately $130 billion in assets. Founded in 1984 as the pioneer of a consulting-based approach to private equity investing, Bain Capital today invests across private equity, credit, public equity, venture capital and real estate. Our conversation covers the early years of private equity at Bain Capital, its growth in products and assets, investment process, competitive environment, culture, and succession planning. We close with JC's insights for allocators and his outlook on private equity.

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Private Equity Masters 1: John Toomey – HarbourVest Partners (Capital Allocators, EP.200) Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

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 Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

Katy Milkman – How to Change (Capital Allocators, EP.199) Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Katy Milkman, the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, host of Choiceology, Charles Schwab's popular podcast on behavioral economics, the co-founder and co-director alongside Angela Duckworth of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, and most recently, the author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You are to Where You Want to Be. Our conversation covers Katy's path to studying change and her new book, which is framed around identifying obstacles to change and using scientific principles to get past those obstacles. We outline the eight obstacles in the book and dive in on the challenges of getting started, confidence, conformity, procrastination, laziness, and making changes last. Along the way, we touch on some applications of her research to investing and to her own life. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

Alex Rodriguez – Business after Baseball (Capital Allocators, EP.198) Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

Alex Rodriguez had a 25-year professional baseball career, highlighted by appearing in 14 MLB All-Star Games, winning the 2009 World Series Championship as a member of the New York Yankees, and hitting 696 home runs including more grand slams than any other player in history. He is also is the Chairman and CEO of A-Rod Corp, an investment holding company he started at age 20 in 1995 that today spans investments in real estate, venture capital, a SPAC, and recently announced, the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team. Our conversation covers Alex's early interest in business, lessons he learned from Warren Buffett, Magic Johnson, and Greg Norman, the strategy of A-Rod Corp, time management, leadership, and identification of partners. We then turn to his investment activities in real estate, the Slam Corp SPAC, venture capital, and the Minnesota Timberwolves, and we close discussing Alex's reflections on his year-long suspension from baseball in 2014 and the future of A-Rod Corp. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

Charley Ellis – The Magic of David Swensen (Capital Allocators, EP.197) May 31, 2021

Show notes

Charley Ellis is the founder of Greenwich Associates, author of sixteen investment books, and now a three-time guest on the show. The bookends of his published library - his seminal book, Investment Policy, and most recent work, The Index Revolution, discuss the case for indexing for most investors. Yet one of Charley's most longstanding and passionate engagements proved the exception to the rule – his decade and a half of service on Yale University's Investment Committee, including nine years as Chair. Charley and I first met about twenty-five years ago in that capacity, and he's occupied a front row seat to Yale's success ever since. With the recent passing of David Swensen, we decided to sit down and reminisce about David in a conversational tribute to the investor, man, and leader we both so greatly admired. We discuss Yale's Investment Committee, roster of managers, investment team, and the unique aspects that made David great. We also touch on Charley's latest book, the 8th edition of his seminal classic. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

[REPLAY] Charley Ellis - Indexing and Its Alternatives (EP.62) May 31, 2021

Show notes

Investment luminary Charley Ellis is the founder of Greenwich Associates, author of 16 books, and one of the most sought-after industry advisors worldwide. He also believes deeply in the paradox of skill and his latest book, The Index Revolution: Why Investors Should Join It Now, presents a compelling case for indexing for most investors..

Charley was an early guest on the show and we reconvened to talk through the full case of indexing for individuals and some of its constraints for institutions. Our conversation covers the case for indexing, smart beta, the retirement problem, investing in alternatives, private equity, and indexing challenges in emerging markets.

After we turned off the recording, Charley proffered that we offer a prize for anyone who can find valid fault with the case against active management for most investors. Any takers can drop me an email, and I'll be happy to put them toe-to-toe with Charley to debate the issue.

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[REPLAY] Charley Ellis – Multiple Ways to Win (Capital Allocators, EP.08) May 31, 2021

Show notes

Charley Ellis is one of the most highly regarded experts in the investment business. After spending nearly a decade as an equity research analyst in the 1960s, Charley founded financial services consulting firm Greenwich Associates in 1972 to help institutions understand what their clients think of them. Over 50 years, Charley has worked hand in hand with nearly every major financial institution in the world and has published sixteen books on investing, including his most recent "The Index Revolution: Why Investors Should Join It Now."

Charley is not just another preacher for index fund investing. He extols the virtues of indexing after having looked both broadly and deeply under the covers of some of the most successful active managers in the world.

Our conversation begins with a glimpse at what equity research and the structure of the markets looked like in the 1960s and the monumentally different way research is conducted and markets function today. Charley describes elegantly why indexing is a winner's game for many, and then walks through very special and rare qualities of three of the most successful active managers over the last few decades – Vanguard, Capital Group, and Yale University.

Charley is a brilliant communicator and masterful storyteller. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed the conversation.

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Ashby Monk – Innovation in Institutional Portfolios (Capital Allocators, EP.196) May 24, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Ashby Monk is the Executive and Research Director of the Stanford University Global Projects Center. Ashby was named by CIO Magazine as one of the most influential academics in the institutional investing world. His current research focuses on the design and governance of institutional investors, with specialization on pension and sovereign wealth funds. Ashby's most recent book, The Technologized Investor, is a practical guide showing how institutional Investors can gain the capabilities for deep innovation by reorienting their strategies and organizations around advanced technology. He also recently released a significant white paper on transparency and innovation for institutional investors for the Biden Administration. Our conversation follows-up an early podcast, Episode 29, which is replayed in the feed. This time around, we discuss the power of asset owners, issue of transparency, need for innovation and obstacles to achieving it, how and when to create change, examples of climate work at New Zealand Super, the Australian Super Funds, and Canadian Pension funds, and Ashby's handful of technology start-ups focusing on these challenges. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

[REPLAY] - Ashby Monk – Asset Giant Futurist (Capital Allocators, EP.29) May 24, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Ashby Monk is the Executive and Research Director of the Stanford University Global Projects Center. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford, a Senior Advisor to the Chief Investment Officer of the University of California, and the co-founder of Long Game. Ashby advises sovereign wealth funds and large pension funds, and is involved with a bunch of fin tech companies, all of which attempt to create innovative solutions to fixing the financial future for individuals, pensions and countries in the years ahead.

Our conversation starts with Ashby's early work experience and path through academia, and flows into an exploration of next generation, lower cost approaches to active management for large asset owners. We touch on investing in public equity, private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds using examples from the Canadian and Australian pensions, New Zealand Super Fund, and University of California endowment. Lastly, we discuss Long Game, an innovative company seeking to improve personal savings in the U.S. Ashby is a passion-driven, creative thinker who rightfully has the ear of some of the most important pools of capital in the world. His ideas will change the way you think about allocating capital.

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Dan Ariely – The Human Capital Factor (Capital Allocators, EP.195) May 17, 2021

Show notes

Dan Ariely is a leading behavioral economist, author, entrepreneur and the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. Dan is a founding partner of Irrational Capital, an investment research firm that quantifies the impact of corporate culture and employee motivation on financial performance. My initial conversation with Dan two years ago has been one of the most downloaded episodes of the show, and a recent research piece by JP Morgan entitled The Human Capital Factor that highlights his work got me excited to catch up with him again. Our conversation covers many aspects of his continuing research to identify positive human capital practices and performance in the workplace, including data collection and assessment, gender differences, goodwill, ESG, and changes during Covid. We then turn to the practical application of the research in the capital markets through two indexes and customized research. We close by talking about Dan's new research projects and some of his favorite recent answers to his Ask Ariely column in the WSJ. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

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