The Solutions Scoop

This first episode of Season 3 introduces an exciting new chapter of our podcast: Meet the Third Party Evaluators series which features one-on-one discussions with senior leaders who are responsible for the search and evaluation of OCIO, solutions, consultant and other investment providers. We dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title.

Our guest today is Uma Kolluri, CFA, who serves as a Principal and owner at Curcio Webb, a premier independent consultancy focused on search and evaluation. Drawing on over two decades of expertise in institutional research and investment consulting, Uma currently oversees the firm's Investment Services division.
 
Her team is dedicated to assisting endowments, foundations, retirement plans, and various institutional investors in the identification and selection of investment consultants, OCIO providers, and trust or custodial partners.
 
Uma offers a unique perspective shaped by her background in investment consulting and her leadership in numerous provider reviews for diverse organizations. Her work with both small institutions and massive investment programs provides her with unparalleled clarity on governance, partner selection, and the evolving dynamics of the institutional investment market.

This wide ranging discussion covers:

• Curcio Webb's history
• Why clients look for OCIOs
• Due diligence and fees
• The challenge of measuring OCIO assets and performance
• Customizing searches for clients, and 
• Determining the best fit

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This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Alison Davis is a Managing Director in Makena Capital’s Client Strategy Group, joining the firm at the beginning of 2016. She works closely with both domestic and international clients across different segments, including family offices, Endowments and Foundations (E&F), sovereign wealth funds and leads Makena’s efforts with wealth channels.

Prior to joining Makena, Alison worked at NEPC in Boston as an investment analyst in their E&F practice. She earned a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College and attended the London School of Economics. 

This wide ranging discussion covers:

• Makena Origins and Growth.
• OCIO Model and Governance
• Products and Evergreen Vehicles
• Global Clients and Family Offices
• Investment Process and Deal Flow
• Liquidity and Risk Management
• Institute Partnership and Benchmarking
• AI and Tech Stack at Makena

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Our guest Josh White, a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he's Client CIO of the institutional business. He has portfolio management responsibility for nearly fifty billion dollars in assets, building tailored solutions for pension funds, healthcare systems, insurers, and Taft-Hartley plans. Our wide ranging conversation covers:

• Josh’s professional journey
• The need for industry standards beyond benchmarks, and reframing “conflicts” 
• Current client challenges and active management headwinds 
• Portfolio customization and J.P. Morgan’s technology to accelerate research, implementation, reporting, and manager analysis

The Institute's "Meet the OCIOs" series are one-on-one discussions with senior leaders from across the investment solutions and OCIO ecosystem, where we can dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title. 

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Our guest Sona Menon, serves as the Head of the Outsourced Chief Investment Office (OCIO) within Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Sona also oversees the institutional product platform which sources and accesses institutional managers for the OCIO business. In these capacities, she oversees $145 billion in AUM across the various client segments. We discuss:

• Her career journey
• Morgan Stanley’s business and the OCIO market
• OCIO client trends
• Investment philosophy, portfolio construction
• Future priorities

Our Meet the OCIOs series are one-on-one discussions with senior leaders from across the investment solutions and OCIO ecosystem, where we can dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title. 

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Our guest Anne Marie Schultz  is a Partner and the U.S. Investments Commercial Leader at Mercer, responsible for driving growth across investment tools, advice and solutions for all clients. Anne Marie and Institute co-founder Amanda Tepper discuss a wide range of topics, including: 

• The ‘three C’s’ Anne Marie believes are driving increasing investor demand for custom investment solutions
• How solutions clients benefit from strategic acquisitions executed by their providers
• Where the solutions industry is going over the next five years 
  
  And much more.
  
  Our Meet the OCIOs episodes are one-on-one discussions with senior leaders from across the investment solutions and OCIO ecosystem, where we can dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title. 
  
  

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Our guest Dan Farley,  Executive Vice President at State Street and CIO for the Investment Solutions Group is responsible for the management and development of asset allocation strategies for institutional clients around the world.  He leads a team of over 150 investment professionals, managing and developing over $500 billion in multi-asset class portfolio solutions for institutional clients and intermediaries. Dan and Chestnut Solutions Institute co-founder Ravi Venkataraman discuss a wide range of topics, including: 

• The solutions business at State Street
• How OCIO fits in a continuum of client solutions and market segments
• Investment capabilities and other types of value add 

And much more.

Our Meet the OCIOs series are one-on-one discussions with senior leaders from across the investment solutions and OCIO ecosystem, where we can dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title. 

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

As the OCIO marketplace continues to expand, traditional investment evaluation techniques focused solely on performance and fees are no longer sufficient. The Chestnut Solutions has introduced the Holistic Value Measurement (HVM) framework — a powerful new governance tool for evaluating OCIO and investment solutions providers that can be used by asset owners, OCIOs, solutions providers, and search consultants.

In this episode, originally recorded as a webinar on June 26th, 2025, Chestnut Managing Partners, Ravi Venkataraman and Amanda Tepper introduce the HVM framework and discuss business and client applications with JP Morgan's Joshua White, Head of NAI and Insurance Investment Specialists for the firm's OCIO business.

Learn how HVM can enhance due diligence, provider selection, and
ongoing monitoring by assessing value across three critical dimensions:
📊 Investments
⚙️ Operations
🤝 Service

Accompanying slides may be found on Chestnut’s website here.

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Bernie Reidy, National Endowments & Foundations Executive at Bank of America, plays a pivotal role in shaping and executing his firm's national strategy serving endowments and foundations across the United States. He leads a team that develops customized OCIO mandates tailored to nonprofit clients’ missions and objectives. In this thoughtful executive conversation, Bernie and Chestnut Solutions Institute co-founder Amanda Tepper discuss a wide range of topics, including:  

• How Bank of America’s suite of value-added non-profit operations and strategy advisory services can impact clients’ investing approach
• Existential questions such as ‘What is an OCIO?’ ‘What is a fiduciary?’
• Why two OCIOs are not (generally) better than one
• The broader value of strategic nonprofit advisory

Our executive conversations are one-on-one discussions with senior leaders from across the investment solutions ecosystem, where we can dive deep into big issues facing the solutions industry and also get to know a bit of the person behind the title.

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

Carol W. Geremia is president of MFS Investment Management and co-head of Global Distribution. She leads the firm's worldwide client-facing teams as well as product and marketing strategy. As a member of the firm's Enterprise Leadership Team, she helps drive MFS' long-term corporate strategy. In these roles, Carol oversees the management of the company's global institutional and retail businesses, which span US and non-US markets.

This special episode was recorded when Carol presented at the Chestnut Solutions Institute in-person 2025 Spring Forum in Boston. Rather than talking about markets and the issues that are out of our control like interest rates, signs of recession and geopolitical risks, this talk explores how we rise above the “noise”, build resilience and Playing a Bigger Game. It is a mindset or a philosophy that looks beyond the immediate to consider transformational change, which starts with:

■ Assessing where we are and how we got here
■ Reexamining the purpose of the industry relative to the real world
■ Facing our fear of getting it wrong. Our “GULPS”
■ Investing our energy differently
■ Embracing new allies/organizations who can drive change
■ Moving to Bold Action to ensure we can build better outcomes in a world of intense uncertainty

Please check out the accompanying paper at https://www.mfs.com/content/dam/mfs-enterprise/mfscom/insights/2025/March/pdfs/mfse_wp_3135734.pdf to fully appreciate Carol’s fascinating remarks and references.

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product. 

This podcast is being jointly presented by the Chestnut Solutions Institute and Rosemont Investment Group, two firms that are deeply involved and invested in the successful growth of the solutions industry, each playing a very different and unique role in the solutions ecosystem. 

The conversation features:

Chas Burkhart, CEO, Rosemont Investment Group
Brad Mook, Managing Director, Investments & Finance, Rosemont Investment Group
Ravi Venkataraman, Managing Partner, Chestnut Advisory Group
Amanda Tepper, Managing Partner, Chestnut Advisory Group

In our roundtable we discuss:

• How investment solutions are penetrating the wealth management business
• Operating and ownership best practices for a successful solutions business
• A new provider evaluation framework to help providers and clients ensure that any investment solution product or service is actually creating value for the end client

Send us feedback

This podcast is owned and produced by the Investment Solutions Institute, an independent forum for investment solutions providers and their partners, dedicated to advancing the future of the investment solutions industry.

The Institute is part of the Chestnut Advisory Group, a boutique, practitioner-led management consulting firm dedicated to asset managers and investment solutions providers. Visit us at www.chestnutadvisory.com to sign up for more insights and events from the Chestnut Solutions Institute and follow us on LinkedIn.

This material does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or solicitation for any security or financial product.