Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Latest Episodes:

Steve Nelson – Assisting Private Equity Allocators Through Turbulent Times at ILPA (Capital Allocators, EP.129) Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

Steve Nelson is CEO of the Institutional Limited Partners Association or ILPA, a non-profit that engages, empowers and connects limited partners (LPs) to maximize their performance. It has over 500 member institutions that represent $2 trillion in private assets under management or approximately 50% of the global institutional market. ILPA is the only global organization dedicated exclusively to advancing the interests of LPs and their beneficiaries through best-in-class education, research, advocacy, and events.

Our conversation covers Steve's twenty years at Cambridge Associates leading to his time at ILPA, the mission of ILPA and the ways it achieves that mission. We then turn to the most important needs of private asset allocators before this crisis, their focus during this challenging period of time, and the current status of capital calls, position marks, subscription lines, communication between managers and clients, impacting investing, and the outlook for ILPA's efforts going forward.

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

Eric Peters – Trading and Evolution at One River (First Meeting, EP.18) Apr 06, 2020

Show notes

Eric Peters is the founder and CIO One River Asset Management, an investment manager dedicated to delivering high conviction absolute-return strategies, where each individual strategy comes out of the team's expertise in thematic macro, volatility, systematic, and inflation trading/investing. Eric has been a long-time trader and writes a widely dispersed email called Weekend Notes, in which he shares macro insights through colorful anecdotes.

Our conversation starts with Eric's early exposure to trading, macro blow-ups, and the formation and activities of One River. We then turn to the current environment and get his sobering thoughts on what has transpired and what the turmoil will mean for private equity and asset allocation going forward.

Mark Baumgartner – Allocating in a Crisis at IAS (Capital Allocators, EP.128) Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

Mark Baumgartner is the CIO of the Institute for Advanced Study, where he oversees a $1 billion portfolio. I reached out to Mark in this rapidly changing environment to get his take on how he's navigating these rough seas. He was kind to spare a few moments to share his thoughts.

Our conversation covers Mark's framework for approaching this crisis, communicating with his team, orienting to the environment, communicating with managers, filtering and prioritizing the opportunity set, and taking action.

[REPLAY] Mark Baumgartner – Luck, Risk and Uncertainty as CIO for the Institute for Advanced Study (Capital Allocators, EP.77) Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

Mark Baumgartner is the CIO of the Institute for Advance Study, where he oversees a $1 billion portfolio that seeks to achieve just median returns but with significantly less risk. Prior to joining IAS, Mark had stints at the Ford Foundation overseeing risk, at Morgan Stanley's Alternative Investment Partners, at both quantitative and qualitative hedge funds, and as a management consultant. Oh, and he studied to be a rocket scientist before that.

Our conversation covers Mark's path to IAS and the principles of luck, risk, and uncertainty on that path. We discuss the IAS portfolio, one catered to achieve a low risk profile, and how he has stayed the course when that structure hasn't been rewarded by markets. We talk about identifying managers that fit into his approach and different metrics of defining risk at both the manager and portfolio levels.

[REPLAY] Jen Prosek – Branding an Asset Management Firm (Capital Allocators, EP.81) Apr 02, 2020

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.

Ben Inker – Value Investing at GMO (First Meeting, EP.17) Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

Ben Inker is the head of the Asset Allocation team at GMO, a $60 billion asset manager known for its value bias under founder Jeremy Grantham. Ben joined GMO right out of college nearly thirty years ago and has been there ever since.

Our conversation starts with Ben's early investment lessons from renown economics professors at Yale and how that led him to GMO upon graduation. We discuss his framework for thinking about investing and the struggles of value investing over the last decade, including the impact of global dominators, technology, and interest rates. We then turn to the case for value today, the challenges of value going forward, and the characteristics Ben sees in allocators' successes and mistakes. Lastly, our conversation took place a few weeks ago, but the world's changed a lot since then. I reached back out to Ben late last week to get his current thoughts on the market.

Michael Mauboussin – Consilient Observations in a Crisis (Capital Allocators, EP.127) Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

Michael Mauboussin is the Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global and fortunately, a regular guest on the show. Michael is an astute researcher of behavior, decision-making and complex systems, and I reached out to him to get his reasoned temperature on the current climate.

We discussed frameworks for making a good decision in turbulent markets, monitoring stress, assessing valuation, and determining where to look for opportunities. We then touch on Michael's current research and detour to our inevitable topic of sports.

[REPLAY] Michael Mauboussin – Who's on the Other Side (Capital Allocators, EP.99) Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

Michael Mauboussin is the well-known investment strategist currently plying his wares at Blue Mountain Capital. He joined me for the second time to discuss his new research entitled "Who's on the Other Side?"

Our conversation dives into the work, discussing how investors can focus on process over outcome, the four types of investment edges, behavioral traits of single and group portfolio managers, portfolio position weighting, informational edges available from paying attention and complexity, the principal-agent issues that create cycles and opportunities during dislocations, the growth of private markets, and implementing his research. We close with a discussion of data analytics in the game of lacrosse.

[REPLAY] Michael Mauboussin – Active Challenges, Rational Decisions and Team Dynamics (Capital Allocators, EP.36) Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

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.

James Aitken – Systemic Risk in a Crisis (Capital Allocators, EP.126) Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

In the midst of this unprecedented time, I thought it would be helpful to hear from James Aitken, the extraordinary macro strategist who specializes in understanding the functioning of the financial system. I reached out to James with one key question in mind – are we facing a systemic risk outside of what we see happening to the economy and markets. That conversation follows. Please stay safe and healthy.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected