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Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Business & Economics Podcasts

Allocator and asset management expert, Ted Seides, conducts in-depth interviews with leaders in the institutional investing industry. Guests include Chief Investment Officers from leading allocators, asset managers, strategists, thought leaders, and many more. Our mission is to learn, share, and help implement the process of premier investors. Learn more and join our community at capitalallocators.com.

Location:

United States

Description:

Allocator and asset management expert, Ted Seides, conducts in-depth interviews with leaders in the institutional investing industry. Guests include Chief Investment Officers from leading allocators, asset managers, strategists, thought leaders, and many more. Our mission is to learn, share, and help implement the process of premier investors. Learn more and join our community at capitalallocators.com.

Twitter:

@tseides

Language:

English


Episodes

Jonathan Tepper - Buying Monopolies at Prevatt Capital (EP.375)

3/18/2024
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

Duration:00:49:52

[REPLAY] Jonathan Tepper - Variant Perception of Capitalism (Capital Allocators, EP.110)

3/18/2024
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

Duration:00:52:00

Mike Freno – Confident Humility at Barings (EP.374)

3/14/2024
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

Duration:00:39:34

Michael Leffell – Opening Doors to Niche Private Opportunities at 10 East (EP.373)

3/11/2024
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

Duration:00:51:21

Richard Sandler – The Prosecution of Michael Milken (EP.372)

3/4/2024
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

Duration:01:00:55

Michael Milken – Innovations in Finance, Medicine, and Education (EP.371)

2/26/2024
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

Duration:01:11:58

Michael Mauboussin - Pattern Recognition and Public Markets (EP.370)

2/19/2024
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

Duration:00:49:31

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

2/19/2024
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

Duration:01:11:25

Magnus Grimeland – Day Zero Investing at Antler (EP.369)

2/15/2024
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

Duration:01:07:58

Brad Jacobs – Masterclass on Leadership and Management (EP.368)

2/12/2024
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

Duration:01:15:48

Ron Biscardi – Inside iConnections Global Alts (EP.367)

2/8/2024
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

Duration:00:24:39

Sanjay Ayer – Think Different and Get Better at WCM (EP.366)

2/5/2024
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

Duration:01:03:24

[REPLAY] Paul Black and Mike Trigg – How to Build a $100B Money Manager (Capital Allocators, EP.227)

2/5/2024
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

Duration:01:04:24

[REPLAY] - Mike Trigg – Defying the Fade at WCM (Capital Allocators, EP.162)

2/5/2024
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

Duration:00:53:04

[REPLAY] Paul Black - Gratitude, Fun, and Growth Stocks (Capital Allocators, EP.51)

2/5/2024
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

Duration:00:55:47

Raphael Arndt – The Death of Traditional Portfolio Construction? (EP.365)

1/29/2024
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

Duration:00:48:57

[REPLAY] Raphael Arndt – Australia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund CIO (EP.70)

1/29/2024
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

Duration:01:25:40

Chad Summe and Mike Veith – Corridor of Commerce at eGateway Capital (EP.364)

1/25/2024
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

Duration:00:51:42

Tilly Franklin – Endowment Model at Cambridge University (EP.363)

1/22/2024
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

Duration:01:08:05

George Michelakis – Chess Master’s Approach to Long-Short Equity at Gladstone (EP.362)

1/15/2024
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

Duration:00:48:20