Capital Decanted

A healthy culture is the oxygen by which you accomplish the work of the organization. It breathes life and vitality into the collective work of the enterprise. It gives meaning and connection to a shared purpose or goal. And it is predictive of sustainable outsized investment performance. And yet, cultivating healthy organizations have rarely been a defining characteristic of the investment industry. Why? And how can we accelerate the profession’s social license with a renewed focus on culture?

Introduction (0:48)

Halftime (45:23)

Guests (51:25)

Guests:

Kim Lew: CEO of Columbia Investment Management Company

Jim Dunn: CEO of Verger Capital Management

Episode Sources

Most agree that healthy investment committee governance is table stakes for meeting investment outcomes over the long term and yet, it is probably the least discussed element of the investment management value chain. Why is the pursuit of governance excellence often ignored? Are there models of separation of duties between board and staff that we should be aiming for? Can strong governance actually improve or juice investment returns? Is it a source of alpha that is largely unharvested?

Introduction (0:47)

Halftime (41:47)

Guests (47:47)

Guests:

Ashby Monk, SLTI Executive & Research Director, Stanford University

Chris Ailman, Chief Investment Officer, CalSTRS

Episode Sources

Democratization is a word loaded with independence, equal access and even Americana, it’s a concept that conjures up a binary and heated debate about fairness and liberty of choice but is democratization always good? Is it the government’s role to restrict individual citizens from what they deem risky assets or should we simply demand standards of transparency and reporting and trust adults with their own money?  Listen in to find out more!

Introduction (0:47)

Halftime (53:30)

Guests (59:23)

Guests:

Joan Solotar, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions, Blackstone

Fran Kinniry, Principal, Head of Vanguard Investment Advisory Research Center, Vanguard

Episode Sources

Private Markets Valuations…do these quarterly marks properly represent fair value or are they make believe…contrived from the fictional world of GP machinations?  Do these interim valuations, as one commentator put it, “not matter;” or as another proclaimed provocatively, are they simply a case of “volatility laundering.”  Is the gap or “lag” with public market equivalents relevant…are we anchoring to the right bogey…or arbitrarily comparing objective value to an emotionally manic patient, to paraphrase Warren Buffett?  In today’s episode, our inaugural episode of Capital Decanted, we are going to lean in to this divisive and complex topic with some help from Scott and Andrea.

Introduction (0:48)

Halftime (38:02)

Guests (44:05)

Guests:

Scott Kupor, Managing Partner, A16z

Andrea Auerbach, Global Head of Private Capital, Cambridge Associates

Episode Sources