Our guest today is Mark Machin, CEO and co-founder of Opto Investments, a technology platform that provides independent investment advisors access to private markets. Mark was previously CEO of CPIB, the $500 billion dollar Canadian pension fund, and before that was a banker with Goldman Sachs in Asia. He has degrees in medicine and surgery from Oxford and Cambridge

I really enjoyed this conversation with Mark, a greatly respected LP who has already had two great careers before starting Opto. We discuss the development of the Chinese market in the 1990s, how banking has changed in Asia and at Goldman, the Canadian Pension model, how to navigate the investment world from one of its top perches, and the burgeoning world of technology-enabled private investing.

FULL BIO:

Mark Machin

Co-Founder & CEO

Opto Investments

Dr. Machin has 30 years of experience in investment and finance. Most recently, Mark was the President & CEO at CPP Investments, the largest pension fund in Canada and one of the ten largest in the world. During his tenure as CEO, the assets grew to nearly $500 billion with over 11% per annum returns.

Prior to joining CPPIB, Mark had a 20-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he was Head of Capital Markets, Head of Investment Banking, and Vice Chairman of Asia ex-Japan.

Mark is a member of GIC's International Advisory Board and is also an advisor to the GIC Investment Strategies Committee. He was on the board of Sequoia Heritage from 2018 to 2020. He was voted one of Canada's Top 10 CEOs by Glassdoor in its 2018 Employee Choice Awards.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physiological Sciences from Oxford University, a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery from Cambridge University.

OPTO INVESTMENTS: https://www.optoinvest.com/

Joe Reilly is a family office consultant, and the host of the Private Capital Podcast as well as the Inheritance Podcast.

FOLLOW JOE: https://twitter.com/joereillyjr

WEBSITE: https://www.circulus.co/

INHERITANCE PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-inheritance-podcast/id1644964247

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