September 03, 2025

E208: CIO Frank Mihail on Running an $8 Billion Portfolio with 3 People

42 minutes

In this episode of How I Invest, I speak with Frank Mihail, CIO of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, which manages an $8B sovereign wealth endowment built to fund public schools.

Frank shares how his three-person team runs a highly concentrated portfolio with 75% in alternatives, why they prefer evergreen fund structures for liquidity, and how they think about portable alpha, co-investments, and core-satellite strategies.

We also discuss the trust’s broader mission: having already distributed $2B to North Dakota schools, with the long-term goal of covering the entire cost of public education.

Highlights:

The origins and purpose of the North Dakota Trust Lands sovereign wealth fund

How the endowment has grown to $8B in investable assets and $12B total

Why 75% of the portfolio is in alternatives, including private equity, venture, hedge funds, real estate, and infrastructure

The case for evergreen fund structures over traditional closed-end vehicles

Trade-offs between co-investments vs. manager selection for concentrated portfolios

How portable alpha works in practice—and why North Dakota uses a “portable beta light” approach

The role of fund-of-funds in reducing operational complexity and building core-satellite strategies

Behavioral finance and why avoiding mistakes during volatility matters more than chasing marginal alpha

The trust’s long-term mission to support public schools and reduce taxpayer burden

Guest Bio:

Frank Mihail is the Chief Investment Officer of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, where he oversees the investment of the state’s sovereign wealth endowment. Before joining North Dakota, Frank was an Investment Officer at the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), where he managed hedge fund strategies. He holds deep expertise across public and private markets, with a focus on building resilient, high-performing institutional portfolios.

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(0:00) Preview

(1:56) Portfolio Construction, Asset Allocation, and Liquidity Strategies

(4:45) Evergreen Funds: Benefits and Co-Investment Strategies

(10:54) Strategies for Private Equity and Hedge Fund Exposure

(18:30) Vanguard's Impact on Indexing and Portable Alpha Explained

(23:29) Fund of Funds and Core-Satellite Investment Approaches

(29:22) Behavioral Finance in Investment Decision-Making

(31:25) Key Investment Thesis and Illiquidity Valuation

(36:57) RVK's Role and Economic Impact on Public Education

(42:05) Closing remarks

...more

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By David Weisburd

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