Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Latest Episodes:

Greg Fleming – Building and Running Rockefeller Capital Management (Capital Allocators, EP.125) Mar 16, 2020

Show notes

Greg Fleming is the founding CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management, where he took the helm of a storied family office in 2018 to build and serve other families and institutions as well. Prior to taking on this challenge, Greg was the President of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley Investment Management and before that spent seventeen years at Merrill Lynch, culminating in serving as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2007-2009.

Our conversation walks through some of Greg's career path, including highlights from the financial crisis, and the Rockefeller Capital Management business and strategy. We hit on ESG investing, serving clients, and leadership. And I couldn't help asking Greg about his relationship with Yankee great Derek Jeter.

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

Christie Hamilton – Tweeting on Allocation at Children's Health (Capital Allocators, EP.124) Mar 09, 2020

Show notes

Christie Hamilton is the Head of Investments at the $2 billion Children's Health Medical Center of Dallas. She's perhaps the most well-followed institutional allocator on Twitter, under the handle @ROIChristie.

Our conversation covers Christie's career path, experience with Twitter, and the investment process at Children's, covering the mission, strategy, manager selection, opportunities and risks. In our closing questions, you won't want to miss Christie's list of investment pet peeves and life lessons learned.

Mike Mauzé - Escape Velocity for CPG Brands at VMG Partners (First Meeting, EP.16) Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Mike Mauzé is the General Partner at VMG Partners, which is one of those little known, closed capacity private equity firms that a small number of top institutions have loyally invested with since its founding 15 years ago. VMG manages $2 billion focused solely on building iconic consumer brands and has an astonishing record of delivering a 45% IRR to its LPs since inception.

Our conversation covers Mike's path from banking to private equity investing, VMG's thesis in the CPG space, its investment criteria, sourcing, work with portfolio companies, assessment of brands and exit strategy. We then discuss the firm's decision-making process, how it built a business with a core group of loyal LPs, and the globalization of brands and work in China.

Doug Phillips – Middle of the Fairway at the University of Rochester (Capital Allocators, EP.123) Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Doug Phillips is the CIO of the University of Rochester, where he has overseen the school's $2.6 billion endowment for twenty years. Doug's two-decade tenure at Rochester constitutes only the back half of his work in the endowment world, as he previously managed Williams College's endowment for fourteen years and started his career in the early eighties at Princeton.

Our conversation covers the history of Rochester's endowment, the University's broad stakeholders, asset allocation, manager sourcing, research process, investment committee, assessment of past decisions, and efforts to be a good partner to managers. We then dive into each asset class, touching on traditional equity, hedge funds, real assets, private equity and venture capital.

Dan Rasmussen – Private Equity Risk and Public Equity Opportunity at Verdad Advisers (First Meeting, EP.15) Feb 17, 2020

Show notes

Dan Rasmussen is the Founder and portfolio manager at Verdad Advisers, which he launched in 2014 to replicate the historical success of private equity in the public markets. He's an outspoken critic of the market's enthusiasm for private equity, resulting from research he conducted in the business while working at Bain Capital.

Our conversation covers Dan's early education in the Socratic method, research into why private equity works, current risk in the private equity and private credit markets, and the launch of Verdad to find private equity-like outcomes in the public markets. We then turn to Verdad, including key lessons upon shifting to public equity investing, stock screens, portfolio construction, position sizing and the competitive advantage of capacity constraints. Lastly, we touch on Verdad's written research and preparing a portfolio for a recession.

If you like Dan's thought process, you can sign up to receive his team's weekly research at verdadcap.com/strategy.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT – CAPITAL ALLOCATORS LIVE! Feb 10, 2020

Show notes

I'm excited to announce Capital Allocators LIVE!, a live event that will take place in NYC on June 18th. I'll host a series of live podcasts with Michael Mauboussin, Morgan Housel, Andre Perold, Atomic Habits author James Clear, and Annie Duke. You can hear us live and sit alongside a bunch of other past guests on the show as well. Founder's Class Tickets and Golden Tickets are now available. Founder's Class Members will receive a discounted price for the event and the same price for all future LIVE! events. There are just 50 Founder's Class Memberships available for those early birds catching the worm. Golden Tickets are also available, and those include the event and a special dinner afterwards with Annie, James, Morgan and me for those 25 Golden Ticket holders. Hop onto capitalallocatorspodcast.com and buy your tickets today!

James Aitken – Tour Around the World from a Small Island (Capital Allocators, EP.122) Feb 10, 2020

Show notes

James Aitken is the Founder and Managing Partner of Aitken Advisors, a one-man macroeconomic research boutique based in Wimbledon, England from where he pens his weekly "Notes from a Small Island" and consults approximately one hundred of the most influential pools of capital in the world.

After a wildly popular show two years ago, James came back for another doozy. Our conversation covers the ESG tsunami and the impact fund flows will create on business economics, politics, and investments, the dynamics of Brexit and incumbent Investment opportunities, China's evolving economic plan, and the tenuous plumbing of the US financial system.

Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14) Feb 03, 2020

Show notes

Peter Kraus is the Chairman and CEO of Aperture Investors, a $5 billion asset manager he founded after a storied four-decade career on Wall Street, including heading the Investment Management Division at Goldman Sachs and serving as Chairman and CEO of AllianceBernstein. Throughout his career, Peter has been a vocal proponent of pay-for-performance compensation models and the need for trust between active managers and their clients.

He ultimately decided that a successful culture of performance-linked fees that properly aligns the manager and client could only occur in a new firm built from scratch. He teamed up with Italian insurance company Generali to launch Aperture in 2018.

Our conversation covers Peter's career at Goldman Sachs and AllianceBernstein, the structural problem of incentives in the asset management industry, and Peter's attempt to disrupt that structure. We then discuss his process for selecting managers on Aperture's platform, including screening, due diligence, and the nuances in idea generation, track record, value system, and managing teams.

Ted Seides – A Rational Reminder (Capital Allocators, EP.121) Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

Last year, I appeared on the Rational Reminder podcast, a show hosted by Cameron Passmore and Ben Felix of PWL Capital, a terrific Ottawa, Canada-based wealth manager that focuses on low cost, passive investing.

We discussed the depth of the institutional investment research process, hedge funds, alternatives for individuals, index fund investing around the world, lessons from the big Bet, and a few other fun topics.

Cameron and Ben are thoughtful investors and offer high-quality content through their podcast. I'd encourage you to have a listen.

Please enjoy Cameron and Ben's interview with me.

Beezer Clarkson – Sapphire Gem of Early Stage Venture (Capital Allocators, EP.120) Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

Beezer Clarkson is Managing Director at Sapphire Ventures where she is responsible for the management of Sapphire's fund investments in early stage venture funds globally. Her career through direct and fund investing has left her with unusually deep knowledge and insights in the space.

Our conversation starts with Beezer's meandering career and turns to her work at Sapphire, including its structure and unique relationship with SAP, Series A investing, winnowing through a massive funnel of fund opportunities, the due diligence process and re-underwriting process, implications of companies staying private longer, and #OpenLP, a public forum to hear the voice of VC LPs that Beezer created with past podcast guest Chris Douvos.

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