The Clockwork CIO

The Clockwork CIO

By Green Lion MediaBusinessInvesting
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The Clockwork CIO episodes

  • In conversation with Kieran Cavanna, Co-Founder & CIO, Old Farm Partners

    Episode 6 features Kieran Cavanna, Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder of Old Farm Partners, a New York-based investment firm that uses a hybrid platform to invest in hedge fund managers and co-investments.

    Kieran began his career as a senior analyst at KPMG before moving on to Titan Advisors where he learned to cut his teeth under co-founders George Fox and Tom Holliday, becoming Head of Research. In 2013, Kieran moved to Soros Fund Management,

    where he worked with Scott Bessent as Head of the External Manager Selection Team. It was here that Kieran met Nishi Shah, with whom he went on to establish Old Farm Partners in 2016.

    During this episode we discuss:

    • Importance of being intellectually honest and to ‘know thyself’, which involves recognizing that we all have behavioral biases. 
    • A willingness to embrace alternative views – one person’s idea is everyone’s idea. This is key to building long-term harmony and success.
    • Reading an article about John Malone, CEO of TCI, and being inspired at the age of 12…as well as by Greek
      • myths that his mother would read to him growing up
    • The relentless search for new ideas and being humble enough to know that you will inevitably miss/overlook great managers now and then.
    • Learning from George Fox and Tom Holliday, the two founders of Titan Advisors, and being allowed to make mistakes: good leaders do not chastize their people.  
    • Be as authentic as possible. You can’t fake it.
    • Learning from George Soros protégé, Scott Bessent, the investment process of combining hedge fund investing with co-investing. 
      • 1 hr 7 min
    • In conversation with Michael Steed, Founder and Managing Partner, Paladin Capital Group

      Michael Steed is the Founder and Managing Partner of Paladin Capital Group and serves as Chairman of the Paladin Cyber Fund, Paladin Cyber Fund II and Paladin III Investment Committees.

      Mike started his professional career as a lawyer in Los Angeles. In 1981, he headed to Washington DC where he served as Special Counsel to the Chairman, and as the National Director, of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Mike was in a unique position to learn the skills needed to negotiate with the Republicans, find common ground in matters of policy disagreement and put one's differences aside; it was an age when polite discourse still meant something.

      Mike took inspiration from great men such as Chuck Manatt and Tip O'Neill (47th speaker of the US House of Representatives) and by observing the quality of people that Reagan surrounded himself with, Mike applied the same philosophy to building an exceptional team when he founded Paladin Capital Group in April 2001.

      As a cybersecurity-focused VC firm, Paladin soon found the world had changed when, in September that same year, the terrible attack on the World Trade Center took place. If ever there was a need for calm and steady leadership in the early stages of running a new firm, this was it.

      Mike has since gone on to turn Paladin into one of the world's pre-eminent cybersecurity VC investors.

      As you will hear during this discussion, Mike is a fascinating individual. His experiences of meeting world leaders during the 80s have helped him construct a wide lens through which to develop an investment and leadership style where the art of negotiation, respect and empathy ring true.

      1 hr 16 min
    • In conversation with Justus Parmar, CEO and Founder of Fortuna Investments

      In this latest episode I discuss leadership with Justus Parmar, CEO and Founder of Fortuna Investments, an award-winning VC firm.

      One of its areas of investment, currently, is in the fast evolving Space Tech space, having recently invested in Starfighters Space, led by industry veteran Rick Svetkoff.

      On this episode Justus discusses:

      • Important lessons learned at a young age where he found himself working at Wendys to support his family
      • Compounding time and energy to develop a winning mindset - win more days than you lose
      • Sliding door moment working as a bank teller and getting noticed by an investment professional who encouraged him to do his securities exams; Justus listened and pounced on the opportunity, joining a brokerage firm, before moving on to Macquarie where he thrived
      • The importance of unwavering conviction. You only get a few big opportunities in life. This led to Justus taking the plunge and setting up Fortuna Investments
      • Taking risks and being okay with failure
      • Why Space Tech is well on its way to becoming a trillion dollar industry
        • 1 hr 7 min
      • In conversation with Praveen Sahay, Founder, WAVE Equity Partners

        Praveen Sahay is the Founder and Managing Director of Boston-based impact investment firm, WAVE Equity Partners. Praveen has had an incredible career, one which has seen his role change from nuclear physicist to UN Armed Forces Battalion Commander and now, today, a VC investor with a focus on tech-enabled sustainability.

        1 hr 8 min
      • In conversation with Michael Harris, President at Quest Partners

        On this episode I discuss leadership with Michael Harris, President at Quest Partners, a New York-based quant fund.

        Michael highlights the challenge of determining how much time each to spend thinking about the strategic path of the company versus day-to-day business issues and during our discussion he talks about:

        • Intellectual humility and understanding the strength of your ideas, combined with transparent collaboration
        • Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills are the building blocks of being a good leader
        • The importance of his maternal grandfather and why he was an inspirational leader
        • Learning leadership under the guidance of Mark Hawley at Dean Witter and Bob Murray at Morgan Stanley
        • Giving back and inspiring the next generation of talent via his university lecture series
        • The importance of not losing one's cool in a high stress situation
        • How meditation plays a role in maintaining perspective within Quest Partners

          • I hope you enjoy the episode!

          1 hr 9 min
        • In conversation with Jennifer Murphy, Founder and CEO, Runa Digital Assets

          Before establishing Runa Digital Assets, Jennifer was Chief

          Operating Officer at Western Asset Management, a global investment firm with $475bn in AUM.

          Prior to this, Jennifer worked at Legg Mason as Chief Administrative Officer and as President and CEO of Legg Mason Capital Management.

          On this first episode, Jennifer shares an array of fascinating insights and anecdotes on various aspects of how she has developed her leadership style and philosophy including:

          • Mentorship and leadership development
          • Jennifer's approach to building high-performing teams
          • A summer studying in Japan - broadening one's mind and the importance of understanding sub-context in interactions
          • Strategies for empowering team members and encouraging collaboration and innovation
          • Investment outlook for the digital asset landscape

            • 1 hr 8 min

          About The Clockwork CIO

          From the publisher's feed

          The Clockwork CIO focuses on how allocators and private markets leaders make consequential decisions. How is capital allocated? And how are investment firms built for long-term success?