Improving Alpha: Innovation in Investing, ESG and Technology

How do the United States and Asia approach the expansion of artificial intelligence for the future? On one side of the world, you have frontier model development requiring massive compute and content ingestion, while the other side is looking at their internal strengths and figuring out where AI can have the greatest impact. As investors, how can we figure out a true ROI to place our bets on across regions of the world?

In this latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg is joined by Farhan Ahmad, Former CEO of PayNet Malaysia, Three Time Entrepreneur, and MIT CSAIL Board Member, to discuss the nuanced approach of Asian AI model development, the concept of interoperability vs isolated development, ongoing AI adoption and improved social outcomes,  and how the United States and Europe plan to stay engaged in this innovation.

Key highlights include:

Resources:

Connect with Farhan Ahmad:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Farhan Ahmad is a three-time entrepreneur, technology executive, and former CEO of PayNet Malaysia, the country’s national payments network. Throughout his career, he has founded and successfully exited three technology companies and held leadership roles across banking, financial technology, and digital payments in both the United States and Europe. While leading PayNet, he helped expand one of the world’s most advanced real-time payment networks, significantly increasing its scale and strengthening cross-border payment interoperability across Asia. Farhan also serves on the board of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), where he contributes to discussions at the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, and innovation. His work focuses on AI adoption, financial infrastructure, digital transformation, and the practical application of emerging technologies to solve real-world challenges.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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How can philanthropies and charitable organizations structure capital layers to maximize private, public, and government funding? In this episode, we explore whether society’s core pillars—governments, financial markets, and local communities—must be brought back into balance to drive sustainable growth for impact-driven organizations. 

The Improving Alpha podcast welcomes Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO of Shorefast, a Canadian charity driving community and economic development across Fogo Island. Host Michael Oliver Weinberg speaks with Zita about how philanthropies can optimize for place, build a balanced operational framework, and unlock greater long-term investment. 

Other key takeaways include:

Resources:

Connect with Zita Cobb:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Zita Cobb is a Canadian business leader and social entrepreneur who serves as the Founder and CEO of Shorefast, a Canadian charity focused on community-based economic development. She is the visionary behind the Fogo Island Inn, a globally acclaimed Michelin Three Key property and social enterprise located in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada.

She previously played a key role in the expansion of JDS Fitel (later JDS Uniphase), a leader in fiber optics technology, where she served as CFO. In 2001, she retired to focus her time and financial resources on philanthropic initiatives.

In 2016, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, and she holds the distinction of being the first social entrepreneur inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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When looking at the latest oil and gas headlines across the United States, many immediately think of Texas. North Dakota ranks #3 among the largest oil-producing states in the nation and is home to the $9BN North Dakota Trust Lands sovereign wealth endowment. This streamlined team generates revenue from oil royalties and taxes and is one of the healthiest institutions in the nation. So what’s their secret against a world with higher inflation, volatility, and more?

In this episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, we welcome Frank Mihail, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, North Dakota Trust and Lands. In this discussion, Frank discusses his early beginnings as an oil and gas engineer, which quickly evolved into selling Beverly Hills real estate, and eventually into building out a hedge fund book and a portable alpha program, which presented him with the opportunity to join North Dakota Trust Lands.

Additional takeaways from this episode:

Resources:

Connect with Frank Mihail:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Frank Mihail, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer of North Dakota Trust Lands, where he oversees the investment strategy for one of the state’s sovereign wealth funds. He leads the management of a multi-billion-dollar endowment that supports public education through long-term investing across public and private markets. Before joining North Dakota Trust Lands, Frank held investment leadership roles at New Mexico PERA and previously worked in private wealth management after beginning his career as a mechanical engineer and real estate professional. He is a CFA charterholder and earned his MBA from UCLA, bringing a disciplined, long-term approach to institutional portfolio management, strategic asset allocation, and investment governance.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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Are investors handing over too much power to artificial intelligence and thereby sacrificing critical decision-making skills in an effort to get easy answers? What happens to cognitive biases or thinking mistakes when we treat AI queries like a transaction rather than a conversation?

The Improving Alpha podcast welcomes Cheryl Einhorn, Founder and CEO of Decisive, Author, and Columbia University Professor, to discuss her perspectives around AI and how quickly critical thinking frameworks can erode in young leaders who get addicted to AI. Cheryl goes on to detail what you should be doing today to protect your decision-making skills for the future.

Key takeaways:

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Connect with Cheryl Einhorn:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Cheryl Einhorn is the founder and CEO of Decisive, a decision sciences company that trains people and teams in complex problem-solving and decision-making skills using the AREA Method. AREA is an acronym for an evidence-based decision-making system that uniquely controls for and counters cognitive bias to expand knowledge while improving judgment. Cheryl developed AREA during her two decades as an award-winning investigative journalist writing for publications ranging from The New York Times to Foreign Policy Magazine, Barron’s, and Harvard Business Review.

Cheryl is a longtime educator, teaching at Columbia University and at Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business and Cornell Tech. She is the author of three books: Problem Solved, A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction, about personal and professional decision-making, and Investing In Financial Research, A Decision-Making System for Better Results about financial and investment decisions. Her new book about Problem Solver Profiles and the psychology of decision-making, Problem Solver, Maximizing Your Strengths To Make Better Decisions, recently won book awards for best psychology book and creative nonfiction book of 2024. Cheryl is also a contributing editor to several books by Harvard Business Review.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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Why are companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI delaying going public, and can this phenomenon be traced back to regulatory changes of the nineties? Can private market funding essentially dry up, leaving no alternative? How do these firms approach regulatory thresholds and what is the impact to stratgeic allocations by today’s leading LPs?

Michael Ewens, David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance, Finance Division and Co-director Private Equity Program, Columbia Business School, joins our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast and breaks down his own observations from his research on the public-private market debate, early stage pitching biases, private capital and US economic inequality, and the impact of PE ownership.

Highlights from Michael Ewens and host Michael Oliver Weinberg follow below. 

Resources:

Connect with Michael Ewens:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Michael Ewens is the David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance at Columbia Business School and co-director of the Private Equity Program.  He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial Economics, Associate Editor at the Review of Financial Studies, Associate Editor at Management Science, Associate Editor at the Journal of Corporate Finance, and co-editor of the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego. Since 2006 he has been a quantitative advisor for Correlation Ventures, a quantitative-focused venture capital firm.  His research has appeared in the Economist, Bloomberg, and the New York Times. Prof. Ewens has taught private equity and venture capital finance at Columbia Business School, California Institute of Technology, Wharton School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California San Diego. From 2010 to 2014, he was on the faculty at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, and from 2014 to 2022, he was on the faculty at the California Institute of Technology. He co-organizes the Columbia Private Equity Conference and the virtual Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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Institutional investors seeking strategic opportunities around the world today need to be aware of how extreme political shifts, government corruption, asset volatility, and other factors can affect their portfolios. Taking the center stage of this discussion is the play on critical minerals and mining, and what sort of innovations or alternative ecosystems can be developed to help improve investment strategies.

In this episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg welcomes Nicolas Stavros Niarchos, Journalist and Author of The Elements of Power. In this discussion, Nicolas covers his observations on conventional sovereign risk models and what happens when you get on the wrong side of the wrong person in these macro-political crisis environments.

Additional points of investor interest in this discussion include:

Connect with Nicolas Niarchos:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Nicolas Stavros Niarchos is a journalist and author whose work focuses on global supply chains, critical minerals, conflict, energy, and international affairs. He has reported from regions across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, bringing attention to the economic, political, and human impacts of resource extraction and global trade. A former fact-checker at The New Yorker, Nicolas has built a reputation for deeply researched reporting and on-the-ground investigations. He is the author of The Elements of Power, a book that examines the critical minerals driving modern technology, clean energy, and geopolitical competition, with a particular focus on cobalt production in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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What have been the main motivators in LP investors looking at secondary markets and co-investments? Can larger asset owners like sovereign wealth funds and major endowments play in this space, or is it better left to more nimble allocators?

Additional highlights that Josh and Michael covered are below:

Resources:

Connect with Josh Lerner:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Josh Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor at Harvard Business School and Co-Director of the HBS Private Capital Project.  Much of his research focuses on venture capital and private equity organizations and innovation policy. He has been recently recognized as among the forty most influential economists worldwide by ScholarGPS and research.com.

He has co-directed the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program since 2010 and serves as co-editor of their publication, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy. He founded and runs the Private Capital Research Institute, a nonprofit devoted to encouraging access to data and research and has been a frequent leader of and participant in the World Economic Forum projects and events.

In the 1993-1994 academic year, he introduced an elective course for second-year MBAs.  Over the past three decades, “Venture Capital and Private Equity” has consistently been one of the largest elective courses at Harvard Business School and whose teaching materials are used in business schools around the world. He has taught numerous executive and doctoral courses on venture capital, private equity, and entrepreneurship and has introduced a series of entrepreneurship classes at Harvard College. 

He graduated from Yale College with a special divisional major.  He worked for several years on issues concerning technological innovation and public policy. He then earned a Ph.D. from Harvard’s Economics Department.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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As more institutional investors increasingly rely on massive amounts of data and consolidated software ecosystems, the term Platformocracy is finding its way into everyday usage. The term is defined as how major technology companies function as unelected governments, leveraging their networks to unilaterally dictate free speech, rules around online privacy, and more, all without impartial oversight. Given this landscape, how can institutional investors navigate allocation strategies to avoid risks in their investments and keep their investment strategies private?

In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast series, host Michael Oliver Weinberg speaks with Jonathan Bellack, ex-Googler and Author of the Platformocracy newsletter, to discuss his insights on corporate controls tied to digital communities, privacy concerns on data usage, AI-driven market manipulation, and more.

Key takeaways include:

Connect with Jonathan Bellack:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Jonathan Bellack has spent more than 30 years working across the evolution of the internet economy, beginning with dot-com startups before earning his MBA and helping lead a SaaS turnaround that was later acquired by Google for $3.1 billion. During his 15 years at Google, he served as a senior product management leader, helping build billion-dollar advertising businesses while also leading efforts focused on online safety and counter-abuse technologies that impacted billions of users worldwide. After leaving Google in 2023, Jonathan spent a year building the Applied Social Media Lab at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

Today, Jonathan focuses on helping product-driven organizations and leaders solve problems and deliver meaningful outcomes. He also publishes Platformocracy, a weekly newsletter exploring participatory governance and accountability in online communities.

Outside of work, Jonathan is a husband and father of two sons with a passion for grilling, whiskey, and all things nerd culture. He serves on the boards of Montclair Local Nonprofit News and New Jersey 11th for Change, as well as the Trust & Safety Advisory Group at the Institute for Security and Technology. He also guest lectures on product leadership at Columbia and UCLA business schools, and recently added “dog owner” to the list.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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As the complexity in alternative financial markets grows, is the bridge between academia and institutional investing being stretched to a point of collapse? Both researchers and investors deal with similar problems in institutional investing. Solution approaches may differ, but could a value be found in combining points of view, so that investors benefit from greater combined intelligence and portfolio performance gains?

In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, we welcome Assistant Professor of Finance, Simon Mayer, from Carnegie Mellon University. Alternative investors who are wondering where academic theory and practitioner insights intersect will gain a tremendous view of the synergies that can be achieved today.

Catch the latest as host, Michael Oliver Weinberg, and Simon Mayer cover these synergies and trends across digital assets, ESG investing, continuation vehicles, and SPACs.

Highlights include:

Connect with Simon Mayer:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Simon Mayer joined Carnegie Mellon University as an Assistant Professor in Finance in summer 2023. Prior to joining CMU, Simon has been faculty at HEC Paris and a research fellow at Chicago Booth. He received his PhD in Financial Economics in 2021 at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research interests include Corporate Finance, Financial Intermediation, Private Capital Markets, and Financial Technology. Simon has published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics. At Tepper, he is teaching courses on Corporate Finance and Financial Markets.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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When examining sole fiduciary states, such as North Carolina, the direction of pension plans and other asset pools typically consolidates under a single elected official, typically the State Treasurer. Combine that setup with disappointing investment performance, and the stage begins to get set to reform both governance and investment operations. This is what happened in 2025 when Brad Briner, the Treasurer of North Carolina, began to implement reforms to adopt best practices in institutional investments and lay out the new organization known as the North Carolina Investment Authority.

For this episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg welcomes Kevin SigRist, Chief Investment Officer, North Carolina Investment Authority, to discuss the $200B pension portfolio. Kevin covers not only the performance future of the plan, but the risk profile, governance, views on inflation, and other current allocator trends.

Additional key highlights include:

Resources:

Connect with Kevin SigRist: 

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Kevin SigRist is Chief Investment Officer at the North Carolina Investment Authority, where he oversees the investment strategy for approximately $200 billion across pension, defined contribution, and state asset pools. He has spent decades in institutional investing, with prior roles including CIO positions at the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, senior leadership at the Florida State Board of Administration, and work in global investing with SAMA’s investment subsidiary. Kevin’s background spans public markets, private markets, asset liability management, and governance reform, with a career focused on aligning long-term investment decisions with real funding and fiduciary objectives.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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