Improving Alpha: Innovation in Investing, ESG and Technology: Recent Episodes

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Last year, we were honored to have Chris Ailman as a guest on the Improving Alpha podcast. Fast forward 12 months, and lightning has struck twice for the Improving Alpha team, as we welcome Scott Chan, the current CIO of CalSTRS, to the guest chair.

As the second-largest pension fund in the United States and the premier teacher’s retirement fund globally, CalSTRS manages over $340 billion in assets. Handling a portfolio of this magnitude requires a sophisticated asset allocation strategy that seamlessly integrates cost-saving initiatives, maximizes returns, and enhances risk management on a grand scale. To date, Scott’s innovative strategies have resulted in an impressive $1.6 billion in cost savings.

Tune in to the newest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast and discover the insights Scott reveals on:

• how he approaches the ‘reverse pyramid’ structure of his professional career, what he’s inherited from Chris’s tenure at CalSTRS, and the strategic allocation priorities he’s set for the future.
• navigating the trending opinions on private credit and fixed income, and how it impacts the team’s total portfolio approach.
• the CalSTRS collaboration model, and how the model is assisting the team to do more sophisticated transactions to boost alpha, including co-investments and joint ventures.
• ESG and his 3-pronged approach to net zero.
• his perspective on investment technology and its power to amplify CalSTRS’ vast reservoirs of data and insights, guiding strategic allocation choices.
• the current state of interest rates and inflation and whether this period is our new normal or should we expect a ‘reset’ to occur soon.
• investing red flags and the concept of diversity of thought and risk management.
• and more.

Resources:

• Improving Alpha: Christopher Ailman, CalSTRS on Catching the Big Waves in Institutional Investing

Connect with Scott Chan:

• CalSTRS
• LinkedIn: Scott Chan, CFA

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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If you are a CEO at a large public company, who do you speak with when concerned about strategy, formulation of innovative ideas, or even execution of a plan to scale your business investments? Many believe that unless there’s a large activist event or news story, decision-making is solely your own. Is there a way to bring back active governance and drive engagement from board members and investors?

In this latest installment of the Improving Alpha: Innovation in Investing, ESG, and Technology podcast Michael Oliver Weinberg and Shivaram, Rajgopal, Roy Bernard Kester and T.W. Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing; Chair of the Accounting Division, Columbia University explore the challenges in corporate governance. Shivaram goes into what makes governance so difficult, the impact of corporate boards on the direction of governance, and why governance can be imagined as a slow-burning background fire that isn’t significant enough to spark investor attention.

Additional Shivaram highlights include:

• his early background as a chartered accountant and what led him to Columbia Business School.
• where do CEOs go if they want to improve their strategy, execution and formulation in governance, especially when it seems there’s no one on the other side listening outside of an activist event.
• why are companies in the S&P 1500 becoming zombies (in the economic sense), and getting capital that they don’t deserve instead of someone making the hard decisions to kick out of the index.
• what is the right timeframe to hold an investment in today’s market and is private equity superior to public equity to optimize long-term performance.
• how can the carrot and stick theory help governance when looking at board structures.
• what is causing the Japanese markets to model our investment texts (decades later), and why is this so important to governance.
• When looking at Europe, where are the European Uber, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, or Tesla, and how the governance code impacts their innovation.
• And more!

Resources:

• Forbes: It Should Be Mandatory To Disclose Political Influence Seeking And Payoffs From The State—There’s An Evidence Based Reason Why
• House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services
• Do Socially Responsible Firms Walk the Talk?
• The Black Swan by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Bed of Procrustes by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• EconTalk

Connect with Shivaram Rajgopal:

• LinkedIn: Shivaram Rajgopal
• Email: sr3269@gsb.columbia.edu

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Guest:

Shiva Rajgopal is the Roy Bernard Kester and T.W. Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing at Columbia Business School. He has also been a faculty member at the Duke University, Emory University and the University of Washington. Professor Rajgopal’s research interests span financial reporting, earnings quality, fraud, executive compensation and corporate culture. His research is frequently cited in the popular press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, Financial Times, Business Week, and the Economist. He teaches fundamental analysis of financial statements for investors, managers and entrepreneurs and a PhD seminar on accounting regulation.

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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Information overload can occur in even the most skilled institutional investor when considering the amount of managers and intelligence competing for their time and attention. How can a leading endowment CIO or portfolio manager navigate the volume of financial statements, capital calls, risk/reward ratios, and more? How can they mentor junior analysts to find the diamonds in the rough to help generate alpha?

In our latest Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg sits down with Catherine Ulozas, Chief Investment Officer, Senior Vice President, Investment, Drexel University. Catherine shares her extensive background from the early years at ING Direct prioritizing safety in fixed-income investments and how that brought her to the CIO role at Drexel University.

Additional highlights from Catherine’s podcast interview include:

• how is Catherine looking at the endowment risk today, especially in light of increased inflation, increasing spending rates by the university, and more.
• why was it a critical mission of the endowment to save St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, and how did the $40 million line of credit get paid back in record time.
• the innovations that her team is making both on an operational level and through advanced analytics.
• how Drexel’s endowment considers ESG and why Catherine believes the “G” tends to drive a lot of progress across the environment and social aspects of this acronym.
• positive aspects in real asset investing and the appeal of emerging markets for future asset allocation.
• how was Drexel able to overcome the deployment challenges of assets in private markets and what are the red flags that her endowment team uncovers when considering investment opportunities.
• and more

Resources:

• Quit by: Annie Duke
• To Rescue the Republic by Bret Baier & Catherine Whitney
• St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital
• Aetna

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with Catherine Ulozas:

• LinkedIn: Catherine Ulozas
• Drexel University

About Catherine Ulozas:

With over 30 years of investment experience, Catherine Ulozas is a senior executive who has managed pools of capital for endowments, insurance companies, the largest US thrift, and a state pension fund. Catherine is the Chief Investment Officer at Drexel University and has continued to improve the Drexel Endowment’s quality and returns, scoring in the top 10% in the Wilshire Consulting Foundations and Endowment Universe for the last 5 years.

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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Today there’s tremendous focus around the practice of good medicine, the advancement of healthcare innovations, and positive patient outcomes. One company that embodies these characteristics and provides services to the healthcare industry is The Doctor’s Company. The Doctors Company began in 1976 during a crisis period in medical malpractice claims that were skyrocketing. Formed out of historic legislation for the time, and starting with only 450 members this organization has grown to over 90,000 members.

As the nation’s largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurance company it takes a steady hand and solid grasp of the balancing that needs to occur in both the underwriting and asset allocation areas of the business.

Join Michael Oliver Weinberg, host, Improving Alpha Podcast, as he sits down with TC Wilson, Chief Investment Officer, The Doctors Company. Learn more about TC’s journey and the balancing of investments and underwriting to help generate alpha.

TC highlights the following:

• the generation of alpha opportunities across US investment grade and non-traditional investments and how they differ from an endowment or foundation.
• how he’s looking at private credit and private equity and where the innovation and creativity lie today.
• how The Doctors Company integrates ESG considerations and supports California’s climate and carbon initiatives in asset allocation strategies, governance, monitoring, and due diligence.
• what does the organization known as California Organized Investment Network, (COIN) do for environmental benefits in California?
• how does the challenging regulatory environment impact TC’s diversification strategies in managing his shop? Does he believe that they might be getting penalized prematurely for other players’ bad market moves?
• steps for identifying red flags in investment strategies and culture.
• And more

Resources:

• The Doctors Company
• California Organized Investment Network (COIN)
• Body by Science by: John R. Little & Doug McGuff

Connect with TC Wilson:

• LinkedIn: TC Wilson

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Guest:

Chief Investment Officer and Senior Vice President TC Wilson joined The Doctors Company as its first Chief Investment Officer in 2017. Mr. Wilson is responsible for the development, management, and oversight of the company’s strategic investment program. He also ensures that overall investment and growth objectives are met in support of the company’s underwriting profile and operating results. He contributes to The Doctors Company’s strategic growth plan as it relates to investment review and assessment of new partnerships and opportunities. On a day-to-day basis, Mr. Wilson oversees the company’s investment portfolio with the goal of preserving and growing surplus. He also serves as Chairman of The Doctors Company’s 401(k) Committee. Prior to joining The Doctors Company, Mr. Wilson served as Head of Institutional Consulting for The Optimal Service Group (OSG), an investment consultant that specializes in investment advice to the medical malpractice industry. At OSG, he was the lead investment consultant to The Doctors Company from 2000 through 2017. Mr. Wilson has nearly 30 years of investment and consulting experience, including his initial five-year stint with one of the nation’s leading benefits consulting firms in Richmond, Virginia.

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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Allocators face a barrage of ideas and debates around the use of artificial intelligence and large language models, better known as LLMs. How can huge amounts of investor data be transformed and enriched to solve challenges in asset allocations and improve an investment team’s strategy? Better yet, have we accumulated enough ‘scar tissue’ in artificial intelligence to understand what AI gets wrong and is easily corrected, versus what is instantaneously correct and becomes actionable intelligence?

In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg sits down with Chris H. Wiggins, Chief Data Scientist, The New York Times and Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, to dive deeper into the fundamentals of data science, dashboarding, and KPIs.

Further highlights from Michael’s discussion with Chris include:

• in a crowded field of AI adopters, where does the advantage lie today? With the new disruptors in a given industry or the incumbents?
• what are the forces behind data science and how does the framework of descriptive data sets, predictive models, and prescriptive solutions help inform those wishing to leverage AI or LLMs?
• when adding a data scientist to an investment team, what should the hiring organization be on the lookout for, before extending an offer?
• the ‘shocking’ acceptance of the AI problem.
• AI’s impact on the labor force in the next few years.
• from an investment play is it better to buy into the AI craze and the deep learning networks, or is the real ‘gold rush’ centered around the requirements necessary to expand artificial intelligence usage via data centers, people who train the models, and the data contained in these models?
• Listen now to find out more.

Resources:

• The Silo Effect by: Gillian Tett
• Algorithms to Live By by: Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
• How Data Happened by: Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones
• Data Science in Context by: Alfred Z. Spector, Peter Norvig, Chris Wiggins, and Jeannette M. Wing

Connect with Chris Wiggins:

• LinkedIn: Chris Wiggins
• Columbia University: Chris Wiggins

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Guest:

Chris Wiggins is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University and the Chief Data Scientist at the New York Times. At Columbia he is a founding member of the Department of Systems Biology, the executive committee of the Data Science Institute (http://datascience.columbia.edu/), and the Institute’s education and entrepreneurship committees. He is also an affiliate of Columbia’s Department of Statistics and a founding member of Columbia’s Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (C2B2). He is a co-founder and co-organizer of hackNY (http://hackNY.org), a nonprofit that since 2010 has organized once-a-semester student hackathons and the hackNY Fellows Program, a structured summer internship at NYC startups. Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia he was a Courant Instructor at NYU (1998-2001) and earned his PhD at Princeton University (1993-1998) in theoretical physics. In 2014 he was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and is a recipient of Columbia’s Avanessians Diversity Award.

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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In an age of artificial intelligence, (AI) many allocators are realizing that humans alone, or software alone, can’t match or exceed the gains that occur when software and human expertise combine. Layer that into the ability of generative AI to do something better, faster, and more cheaply, and investors can begin to see a game-changing impact on business operations.

Join Michael Oliver Weinberg, host of the Improving Alpha: Innovation in Investing ESG, and Technology podcast and Olivier Toubia, Glaubinger Professor of Business Marketing Division, Columbia Business School, for a deep dive into how modern advancements, particularly generative AI, are reshaping the landscape of allocation strategies and more. Olivier shares his journey from early beginnings in math and engineering to the evolution of data science and how new analytical techniques (machine learning, natural language processing, and large language models), can be leveraged to better understand humans and optimize business operations.

Further highlights that Olivier shares:

• the +20 years of thought leadership and insight around innovation that went into his Columbia Business School course, Foundations of Innovation.
• what are some of the granular applications for artificial intelligence as it relates to Wall Street and other allocators.
• the training of artificial intelligence models and the output guardrails that get included in human stereotypes.
• can we remove human biases from training data when humans are tagging or labeling data that may be aligned to political affiliations, education, personal experiences, or more?
• emerging research of brainstorming with generative artificial intelligence and what is happening with screening or rating of the ideas that are pulled through brainstorming.
• And more

Resources:

• Living with Our Dead by Delphine Horvilleur
• The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
• Columbia Business School: The Business of AI: Shaping the Future of Business with Generative AI

Connect with Olivier Toubia:

• Columbia Business School: Olivier Toubia
• LinkedIn: Olivier Toubia

Olivier Toubia is the Glaubinger Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. His research focuses on various aspects of innovation, including preference measurement and idea generation. Specifically, he combines methods from social sciences and data science, to study human processes such as motivation, choice, and creativity. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief at the journal Marketing Science. He teaches a course on Foundations of Innovation and the core marketing course. He received his MS in Operations Research and PhD in Marketing from MIT.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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The portfolio diversification game takes a ton of time, energy, effort, and even during the best of times companies that you might be super bullish about can flame out, just as easily as those that are near death, can suddenly rebound. This is certainly the case in areas of venture capital (VC) or angel investing. In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg is joined by David Teten, Venture Partner, Coolwater Capital to discuss thoughts on becoming a serial builder of venture capital firms, how investment tools being used to generate alpha are evolving, and more.

Listen as David shares his journey from the early days as an investment banker to becoming a key player in building and scaling venture capital firms, emphasizing the pivotal role of technology and strategic asset allocation in modern investment practices.

Further highlights:

• why strategic allocators give money to investors, and why the answer is not as simple as the generation of alpha.
• what is so attractive about alternative VC models and could it be a way for VC investors to get a larger part of the investment pie?
• what sort of challenges exist today for VCs in achieving investment goals, and why Warren Buffet quotes like, “You should invest when there’s blood in the water”, don’t paint the full metaphoric picture for this type of investor.
• are family offices overestimating their competencies and what is one of the biggest secrets (as David sees it) in institutional investing today?
• macro trends in the VC universe and what is the most disruptive theme impacting investing today.
• And more.

Resources:

• iRobot by Isaac Asimov
• To University and Beyond by David Teten and Mandee Heller Adler
• PEVCtech.com
• Founders’ Next Move

Connect with David Teten:

• LinkedIn: David Teten
• Teten.com
• Coolwatercapital.com

David Teten is a Venture Partner with Coolwater Capital, known as “Y Combinator for emerging VCs”. Coolwater runs an accelerator for emerging VC fund managers and invests as a limited partner, in general partnerships, in fund management companies, and also directly into startups. He is the Founder of Versatile VC, backing “investment tech” companies which help investors generate alpha and succeed. He is Chair of PEVCTech, a community of private equity and VC funds working to generate alpha by leveraging technology and analytics.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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Navigating the world of technology innovations as a chief investment officer or portfolio manager is akin to a thrilling game of high-stakes poker or a graceful tango. Your success hinges on your ability to not just welcome incoming innovations but also effectively implement them, enhancing data transparency, boosting portfolio returns, and more.

In this episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, Michael Oliver Weinberg is joined by Mazen Jabban, Chairman & CEO, Vidrio Financial. Mazen details his journey on what led him to create Vidrio Financial, and how allocators should look at the paradigm shifts occurring in innovations across the investment community.

Mazen further highlights:

• how the revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLM) could shape the landscape for institutional investors.
• the continued significance of transparency within the GP-LP relationship and the transformative influence of technology on these dialogues.
• the investment for allocators to dedicate resources towards purchasing or constructing infrastructure to enhance data management practices..
• how can institutional investors successfully implement a comprehensive portfolio strategy when faced with segmented teams spanning private equity, real estate, and hedge funds, each with their unique risk, data, and performance methodologies.
• insights on private credit and the transformative potential of technology advancements for this asset class.
• And more.

Resources:

• The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen

Connect with Mazen Jabban:

• LinkedIn: Mazen Jabban
• Vidrio

Mazen Jabban is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vidrio Financial, a New York-based company that provides institutional investors managing alternative investments with investment management solutions on a single platform. He is responsible for setting strategic direction and the firm’s product development roadmap.

As an entrepreneur at heart, with years of experience in investment strategies, IT systems, management consulting, real estate development, and investment he is always looking for new ways to grow.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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Can a culture of growth and experimentation in institutional investing unlock deeper-level benefits to improving alpha? Would you be able to risk the old conception of yourself or your organization by exploring new forms of action and inquiry to help identify the best talent through due diligence or to combine two cultures post-Merger & Acquisition?

In the latest installment of the Improving Alpha podcast, Michael Oliver Weinberg speaks with global organization leader and executive coach Karen Yeyinmen to unravel the intricacies of leadership psychology for asset managers (particularly Private Equity firms) and allocators.

Together, they delve into the transformative power of understanding one’s internal motivations and behaviors to foster sustainable organizational change. Through the lens of action inquiry, Karen provides listeners with a roadmap to align their developmental stage with the challenges of their leadership roles.

Karen highlights:

• her early intellectual awakening to the delicate balance between influencing behaviors and eroding trust.
• how a practice of action inquiry can be applied in the investment world to accelerate growth and create value through enhanced performance.
• versatility of the action-inquiry toolkit and how it can be applied holistically or modularly to address specific growth and performance challenges.
• Understanding center of gravity action logics and how these can be deployed and developed for team success.
• and more

Resources:

• Articles & Books Written by Karen Yeyinmen

Connect with Karen Yeyinmen:

• LinkedIn: Karen Yeyinmen

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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Is bitcoin a ‘safe-haven’ or still too risky for institutional investors to include as part of a larger portfolio allocation? How is systematic investing changing today with the influence of neural networks and artificial intelligence?

Michael Oliver Weinberg, host of the Improving Alpha: Innovation in Investing ESG, and Technology podcast invites Ciamac Moallemi, William von Mueffling Professor of Business Decision, Risk, and Operations Division, Columbia Business School, to unravel some of the mysteries behind decentralized finance (DeFi) and quantitative investing. Cimac will detail his expertise and how his ‘agnostic’ career interests have led him from early beginnings in science to financial applications in hedge funds, and more.

Ciamac discusses:

• the definition of stochastic control, and how it is applied to blockchains and decentralized finance.
• how neural networks have changed both in technological computing power and the investment costs to run that power today.
• what was the catalyst for writing the paper, “Monopoly without a Monopolist: An Economic Analysis of the Bitcoin Payment System”, and what Cimac believes Bitcoin really is at its core.
• the technology perspective of Ethereum and how that is different from the Bitcoin framework. Will one prevail over the other as we move forward?
• an academic and practitioner background when it comes to systematic investing today. What are the three main pieces of systematic investing, and why it shouldn’t be thought of as a black box.
• And more

Resources:

• Monopoly Without a Monopolist Bitcoin

Connect with Ciamac Moallemi:

• LinkedIn: Ciamac Moallemi
• moallemi.com/ciamac

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

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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Be careful what you wish for, is a critical statement for those entering the field of private equity, and venture capital today. As the industry accelerates, increased government scrutiny, regulation, and a greater need to prove that your business is providing a productive service to society will come into play.

In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg, sits down with Russell L. Carson, Founder & General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, and Chairman of The Carson Family Charitable Trust.

Russ explores his own journey in both venture capital and private equity, what led him to create the Carson Family Charitable Trust, succession planning for his business, and why he’s become a student of improving the human condition.

Further highlights include:

• how his career evolved from managing $5 million in Citibank’s Venture Capital arm to leading his own firm managing over $31 billion in AUM through investments in healthcare and information technology sectors.
• the objectives and structure of the Carson Family Charitable Trust, and how Russ balances the investments that he’s making today and the returns he can expect to get to zero out the trust by the end of 2050.
• his involvement in the unique institution, Rockefeller University, and how he’s helping the university with funding solutions to mankind’s largest healthcare mysteries.
• how he helped to create the New York Genome Center and how the cost to sequence a human genome has declined from $10,000 to $500 in the course of 10 years due to things like Nvidia GPUs, cloud computing, and machine learning.
• his strategic view of making smaller acquisitions that create a much larger business out of a series of smaller parts and how it has been successfully applied to both healthcare and the information technology space.
• differences between a public market investor and being a venture capital or private equity investor, and how Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe combine the two disciplines at times.
• the creative tension between LPs and GPs across the Private Equity industry.
• the “red flag” of a manager being unfocused in his approach to investing, and how having focus gave Russ a competitive advantage in the sectors that he serves.
• thoughts on whether we’re getting too far when it comes to AI venture capital investments. Is it overvalued and overhyped?
• his thoughts on Elon Musk and the impact on our world.
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with Russ Carson:

• Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

About Russ Carson:

Russell L. Carson is Chairman of The Carson Family Charitable Trust, a private foundation that he started, along with his immediate family members, in 1991. The foundation is focused on New York City and supports non-profit organizations in the fields of education, poverty, healthcare, medical science, and culture. Mr. Carson is currently Chairman of The Rockefeller University, Chairman of the Partnership for Inner-City Education, co-Chairman of the New York Genome Center, Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a Director of the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum and a Director of the Coalition for Opportunity in Education. He is also Chairman Emeritus of Columbia Business School and a Trustee Emeritus of Dartmouth College.

Since 1978 Mr. Carson has been a Founding Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), one of the country’s largest private equity firms. Over the past 38 years, WCAS has raised sixteen institutionally funded limited partnerships with a total capital of approximately $20 billion and has invested in over 250 companies. He led the firm’s healthcare investment practice for many years and is currently the Lead Director of Select Medical Corporation, a NYSE listed owner of long-term acute care hospitals, physical rehabilitation hospitals, and outpatient rehabilitation clinics which was founded by WCAS and the company’s management in 1987.

Mr. Carson attended public high school in Toledo, Ohio prior to receiving a BA degree in Economics from Dartmouth College in 1965 and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1967. He received an honorary degree from Dartmouth College in 2015. He resides in New York City with his wife Judy and their two children, Cecily and Edward; all family members are Trustees of the foundation and active in its affairs.

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 it comes to geopolitical risk, company risk, or even balancing the costs of capital with the desire for quick profits, institutional investors are now taking a long-term approach to their future investments. How does this perspective impact the risk-reward dynamic for future returns, and are there sectors that may not be as flashy but offer better opportunities for generating alpha?

To answer these questions and more, Michael Oliver Weinberg, host of the Improving Alpha podcast invited Sandro Salsano, President of the Salsano Group, to get a sense of what he’s seeing in the world of emerging markets, private equity, philanthropy, and more.

Sandro discusses:

• the fascinating story behind his family office and Goldman Sachs interactions, and his insights into his innovative global strategies in the realm of private equity, emerging markets, and more.
• his core sectors and investment horizon, and how they’re delivering alpha and positive cash flows in this market.
• how he views partnerships with larger institutions to assist in putting capital to work for longer periods of time.
• his view of the Latin American markets (including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru) and how inflation plays a role in his strategic investments across the region.
• balancing investments across philanthropic ideas and how these moves led him to a seat on the Board of Trustees at the University of San Diego.
• how he applies a measure of psychology to investing, and how being humble in life and investing has led to his overall success.
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with Sandro Salsano:

• LinkedIn: Sandro Salsano
• Salsano Group

About Sandro Salsano:

Sandro Salsano has been at the forefront of successful initiatives in investments, philanthropy, and education for more than two decades. Forbes called him the Warren Buffett of Central America on its cover and one of the world’s most iconic visionary and financial titans. The World Economic Forum named him Young Global Leader for his exceptional vision, courage, and influence to drive positive change in the world. In 2014 he formalized his philanthropy by co-founding the Salsano Shahani Foundation to focus on education. He is a Chairman of Global Dignity, a Member of the Judging Academy for the World’s Best School Prize, a Partner of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a Member of the Academy for Global Teacher Prize, a Steering Committee member of 1640 Society, and pledged his support to TerraCarta. Sandro is President of Salsano Group, a multi-billion dollar private conglomerate holding company investing in private equity, real estate, and technology globally and he is President of Salsano Family Office. Sandro serves as a Trustee for the University of San Diego California and is on the Investment Committee for the Endowment of the University. A graduate of Bocconi University Milan with full grades, he also studied at Harvard, Oxford, and Princeton University. He and his wife Johanna have been married since 2014 and have two children.

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 institutional investments become increasingly intricate, it is crucial to bring transparency (and perhaps even enlightenment) to both GPs and LPs. Large data sets and the scale of innovative technology shows no signs of decelerating for those seeking alpha. Serving as a cautionary tale for this installment of Improving Alpha, a famous quote by renowned British Economist Ronald H. Coase once said, “ if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything”.

Join Michael Oliver Weinberg as he sits down with William (Bill) J. Kelly, CAIA, President & CEO of the CAIA Association, in this captivating episode. In just :40 minutes, Bill shares his insightful perspectives on the ever-increasing regulation of private markets and the importance of data transparency. Dive into the fascinating world of AI and large language models, and explore the latest trends in ESG. Don’t forget to click on the audio play button at the top of this page to uncover even more valuable insights.

Further highlights cover:

• a brief overview of CAIA and FDP, explaining their origins and their roles in the alternative investments industry
• the critical importance of being able to upskill and cross-skill the cast of characters that define the investment process, and how the process has changed over the last 10 years.
• will artificial intelligence ever be able to build a comprehensive mosaic around cash flow, manager letters, and more.
• learning what’s on the minds of larger allocators when it comes to increasing regulation by the SEC, and would real opinions be presented better with a ‘truth serum’ cocktail on data transparency.
• the huge potential of doing well at one pillar of ESG, while simultaneously nuking another pillar.
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with William (Bill) Kelly:

• LinkedIn: William (Bill) Kelly
• Website: CAIA Association

About William (Bill) Kelly:

William (Bill) J. Kelly, CAIA is the President & CEO of the CAIA Association. Bill has been a frequent industry speaker, writer, and commentator on alternative investment topics around the world since taking the leadership role at the CAIA Association in January 2014. Previously, Bill was the CEO of Boston Partners and one of seven founding partners of the predecessor firm, Boston Partners Asset Management which, prior to a majority interest being sold to Robeco Group in Rotterdam in 2002, was an employee-owned firm. Bill’s career in the institutional asset management space spans over 30 years where he gained extensive managerial experience through successive CFO, COO, and CEO roles. In addition to his current role, Bill is a tireless advocate for shareholder protection and investor education and is currently the Chairman and lead independent director for the Boston Partners Trust Company. He has previously served as an independent director and audit committee chair for ’40 Act Mutual Funds and other financial services firms. He is also currently an Advisory Board Member of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute which strives to bring the highest levels of professionalism and governance to independent fund directors around the world. A member of the board of the CAIA Association, Bill also represents CAIA in similar capacities via their global partnerships with other associations and global regulators. Bill began his career as an accountant with PwC and is a designated Audit Committee Financial Expert in accordance with SEC rules.

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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Mastering the timing of investment markets is a formidable challenge that demands unwavering commitment to a well-defined methodology. It entails navigating through risks, optimizing volatility, and steering clear of managers who adopt a reckless “spray and pray” approach.

Today, allocators must carefully consider the current market cycle, strategically position their incentives, and strike the right balance between liquid and illiquid assets. By embracing this approach, they can shield themselves from the anguish of overallocating in underperforming asset classes.

Join Michael Oliver Weinberg as he engages in a captivating conversation with Paul C. Sohn, Chief Investment Officer at Mont Alto Capital, in the latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast. Paul provides his front-row insight and expertise on what he has observed over the last 20 years in hedge fund investing, macro portfolio management, and the formation of his family office, Mont Alto Capital. Listen to Paul as he discusses:

• his background and what strategies he’s specifically leveraging to capitalize on ‘fat pitches’ in institutional investing.
• his thesis on the Greek recovery trade, what Kyriakos Mitsotakis leadership means for the future of the country, and what the US could learn from his examples.
• how his family’s timber business influenced Paul’s beliefs on ESG and why ESG in its current form is very similar to child brain thinking.
• where is private equity allocations moving now that the wind in the sails has died down in comparison to the last decade of returns.
• if commercial real estate will be a ‘whimper’ or a ‘bang’ in the coming years and does that create an opportunity for distressed buyers.
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with Paul C. Sohn:

• LinkedIn: Paul C. Sohn
• Website: Mont Alto Capital

About Paul Sohn:

Mont Alto Capital is the family office of Paul Sohn. Paul spent 15 years as a portfolio manager at Soros Fund Management, Kingdon Capital Management, and Duquesne Capital Management. Areas of focus included tech, media, consumer, and macro. Mont Alto Capital seeks out proprietary deal flow in early and growth-stage private companies. Basic investment tenets include a search for asymmetric return profiles, a contrarian desire to be active in areas where other pools of capital are not, and an ability to execute a time arbitrage strategy that can focus on long-term returns.

Paul Sohn takes an active role in a variety of investment projects. Vertical areas of focus include tech, media, natural resources, intellectual property, and real estate. The portfolio page includes a sample of projects where Paul Sohn has either a founding, board, investment, or advisory role.

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.

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Since its establishment in 1913, CalSTRS has been fully committed to maximizing the retirement benefits for its extensive network of educators throughout California. With a staggering $310 billion in assets under management through its defined benefit plan, the pension scheme continuously strives to strike a harmonious balance between achieving targeted returns and addressing industry-wide challenges such as diversification, innovation, potential warning signs from managers, global investment prospects, and much more.

Experience the latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, where Michael Oliver Weinberg is joined by Christopher J. Ailman, Chief Investment Officer, CalSTRS. With an impressive 40 years of experience in the business, Christopher’s unwavering passion for constant learning in the face of market volatility and seeking alpha strategies shines through. Don’t miss out on this insightful podcast episode – click on the media player above to hear Christopher’s valuable insights on:

• what is the true essence of ESG and how will it impact CIOs in the next seven or twenty years? Explore the potential opportunities, risks, and the global CapEx needed so we don’t fry the planet. Discover Christopher’s perspective on whether exclusion or engagement is the preferred approach when navigating these waters.
• why governance experiences natural fluctuations and how CIOs can play a crucial role in driving the movement towards enhanced investment board diversity. According to Christopher, it’s the concept of “iron sharpens iron” that fuels this dynamic process.
• how is technology being leveraged across CalSTRS portfolio, especially being a division of the state of California, and how is an environment of continual learning helping their investment teams in approaching the next Tesla.
• how he navigates the world of venture capital investments in California, where stringent disclosure laws prevail.
• the insights into CalSTRS’ perspective on the role of China in institutional investments – friend or foe? .
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

Connect with Christopher Ailman:

• LinkedIn: Christopher Ailman
• CalSTRS

About Christopher Ailman:

Christopher Ailman has been the chief investment officer of CalSTRS since October 2000. He leads an investment staff of more than 200 and oversees a portfolio valued at $307.9 billion as of September 30, 2023​​​​. He has more than 37 years of institutional investment experience.

He has served on several boards and advisory boards in the U.S. and U.K. He represents institutional investors on the MSCI Index Editorial Advisory Board, the PRI Asset Owners Advisory Committee, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group, and the Toigo Foundation. He is the chair of the 300 Club and co-chair of the Milken Global Capital Markets Committee. In 2016, he was part of the first cohort to achieve a Fundamentals of Sustainable Accounting (FSA) credential.

Ailman is recognized as one of the top CIOs both in the U.S. and globally. He has received numerous awards and recognitions: the Institute for Fiduciary Education’s CIO of the Year in 2000, the Richard Stoddard Award for service in the investment of public pensions in 2003, the Distinguished Service Award for Advancement of Latinos in Business from the New American Alliance in 2006, and Institutional Investor magazine’s Large Public Fund Manager of the Year Award in 2011. In 2013, aiCIO magazine named Ailman the No. 3 CIO in the world and Investment Innovator of the Year. In 2017, Ailman received Institutional Investor magazine’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018, he was named the top CIO in the world by Chief Investment Officer magazine. He is a regular guest on television and radio and is frequently quoted in major financial publications.

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.

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In today’s ever-changing investment landscape, not all institutional investors can conform to a one-size-fits-all approach. This is particularly evident in the healthcare endowment sector, where our esteemed specialist oversees a staggering $2.3 billion portfolio of endowed funds and long-term capital. When you add in the support for insurance-related assets, totaling approximately $4.0 billion, and benefit plan assets amounting to around $6 billion, it becomes clear that strong investment convictions are essential for navigating diversification challenges and driving innovation.

In this highly anticipated episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, join Michael Oliver Weinberg as he engages in a compelling conversation with Scott Pittman, SVP and Chief Investment Officer at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Gain valuable insights into Scott’s visionary objectives for the future and discover how he strategically harnesses the power of research, fundamental and quantitative analysis to drive exceptional performance and unlock investment value.

Scott discusses:

• his career evolution and how his passion for investing and science led him to Mount Sinai’s endowment.
• how a medical endowment compares and contrasts against other allocators and how the complexity of the healthcare industry impacts the team’s investment decisions.
• where do directional risk taking strategies help to improve alpha across public and private markets, non-equity markets, and even credit.
• his insightful perspective on diversification and its correlation with manager relationships, encompassing market exposure and active fees.
• what sort of sector and industry trends does Mount Sinai research before diving into the regional investments in Europe, Asia, and other areas.
• the significance of ESG considerations and the effective two-step process employed to align Mount Sinai’s views on ESG with their future investments
• And more!

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

To learn more about our host visit: https://www.vidrio.com/blog/improving-alpha-podcast-scott-pittman-convictions-diversification-mount-sinai-portfolio

Connect with Scott Pittman:

• LinkedIn: Scott Pittman

About Scott Pittman:

Scott Pittman joined the Mount Sinai Health System as the SVP and Chief Investment Officer in December 2008. The Investment Office is charged with managing the institution’s $2.3 billion endowment and long-term capital. The office also helps advise on $5.0 billion of insurance-related assets and $5.5 billion of benefit plan assets. Scott serves as the Chairman of the FOJP Investment Committee as well as the Investment Committee Chairman for Healthfirst. Scott also serves on the Investment Council for TIAA-Nuveen.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Scott was the Director of Investments at Baylor University. He also served as an instructor in the Hankamer School of Business and taught Baylor’s Portfolio Practicum course where students actively managed a $6.5 million investment portfolio. Before joining Baylor’s Investment Office, Scott taught Corporate Finance and Economics at the University’s business school, and he spent several years in the healthcare industry.

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.

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Warren Buffet has been quoted in the past about what happens to investors when the tide goes out and we see who’s been swimming naked. This quote can be aligned quite well to the environment that many institutional investors find themselves in today, given inflation, net zero regulations, fiduciary responsibilities, and more. In our latest … Read More Read More

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Given the continued volatility and inflationary pressures in the financial markets, many family offices are looking to shift their asset allocation to help provide better performance and lower overall risk. With pressures mounting, we wanted to get a sense of how global family offices are answering the innovation question for not only their current technology … Continue reading Improving Alpha: Jose Eduardo Siman on Succession Planning Challenges and Innovating the Family Office →

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How can leaders in asset management and strategic asset allocators help improve the collective intelligence at their organizations by leveraging the power of diversity? It’s a challenging issue that goes beyond simply checking a box in the hiring process.

In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, Michael Oliver Weinberg speaks with Gitanjali Swamy, PH.D., Senior Legislative and Policy Advisor, Massachusetts State Senate, Managing Partner, IoTask on how leaders approach the more social aspects of ESG and disrupt the ‘funny tribes’ that humans can fall back into when avoiding the harder diversity discussions.

Gitanjali further discusses:

• How the meritocracy in her early educational career helped shape her outlook on diversity across various startups and businesses.
• How competing human tribalism can interfere with a true diverse collective intelligence.
• Why DE&I is so scary today and why she prefers the term collective intelligence.
• What is the 3-stage process that can help the asset community build a better collective for diversity.
• How does your customer base and the avoidance of simply checking a diversity box assist leading allocators wishing to improve their collective intelligence.
• And more

Connect with Gitanjali Swamy:

• LinkedIn: Gitanjali Swamy

About Our Guest:

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Swamy has founded, grown, or served as a board director in innovation enterprises and new investment funds for clients like MIT Corp and Fabindia. As a professional, she has led the investment sourcing, structuring, and transaction of seed to over a billion USD deals, in her investment or management consultant roles at The Carlyle Group Booz Allen & Hamilton, and IoTask, where she is Managing Partner. Dr. Swamy has also served in line-management roles at The Mathworks and Mentor Graphics. She is also a representative to the EQUALS Global Partnership (a Joint Venture of the ITU, GSMA, UNU, UN Women). . She has also served as faculty at Harvard and Columbia University, where she taught classes in finance and policy

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Host:

For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.

Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations and business schools.

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.

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For those working on asset allocations in today’s volatile markets, are there ways to differentiate between sustainability and ESG? Furthermore, how do you create a harmonization in a triple bottom-line approach that deals with job growth and creation, taking care of your employees and the planet, and ensuring profitability?

In this episode, Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series, is joined by Tensie Whelan, Clinical Professor of Business and Society and Director, Center for Sustainable Business, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, NYU, to discuss more on the topic of sustainability, and how companies can look at their own profiles in the market when considering risk, competitor analysis, competitor advantage and more.

Tensie further discusses:

• Her background including work with the Rainforest Alliance, building that organization to a $50 million in revenue across 60 countries.
• Embedding sustainability as a core to any business strategy which equates to driving better financial performance.
• What is the “Rosie Return on Sustainability Investment” and the 9-mediating factors that drive better performance as it relates to the core of your business.
• The ability of companies to quantify sustainability risk, and how a scale can be applied for investors looking at a given sector.
• What is the materiality matrix, transparent reporting (against KPIs as well as international standards), and strategic imperative of the company as it relates to sustainability investment methodology
• And more

Resources:

• American Institute of Charter Public Accountants Conference 2023

Connect with Tensie Whelan:

• Tensie Whelan
• NYU Stern

About Our Guest:

Tensie Whelan (NYU ‘80), Clinical Professor for Business and Society, is the Founding Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, where she is bringing her 25 years of experience working on local, national and international environmental and sustainability issues to engage businesses in proactive and innovative mainstreaming of sustainability.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Host:

For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.

Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations and business schools.

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.

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When considering some of the richest people in history, you may immediately think about names like Buffet, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller and more. However, there are two others that could be pulled from the pages of history that helped to shape the financial landscape that investors navigate today. They are Jacob Fugger and Jay Gould.

In this episode, Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series, is joined by Greg Steinmetz, Author & Securities Analyst, Ruane, Cunniff and Goldfarb to discuss his latest research into the world of Fugger and Gould and how that research shaped Greg’s books, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived and American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune.

Greg discusses:

• How did Jacob Fugger’s calculated wealth of $400 billion make him indispensable to the Pope and Habsburg family.
• How can allocators today learn the importance of due diligence by reviewing the cold-blooded calculations that Fugger used to evaluate his business and those of his competitors.
• Did Fugger’s fortune survive the periods of extreme market volatility through today.
• Switching to Jay Gould, how have lessons of the past, like buyer beware, be applied to a Madoff discussion or even cryptocurrency.
• Why don’t we hear more about the Gould legacy in comparison to those of Vanderbilt, Carnegie or Rockefeller.
• And more

Resources:

• The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Greg Steinmetz
• American Rascal by Greg Steinmetz
• The Same Old Song and Dance by Michael Oliver Weinberg

Connect with Greg Steinmetz:

• Greg Steinmetz
• Ruane, Cunniff and Goldfarb

About Our Guest:

Greg Steinmetz is an analyst for the New York City money manager Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, which manages the Sequoia Fund mutual fund. They invest in public equities across a variety of sectors based on deep fundamental research. Greg has written two books: American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built America’s Biggest Fortune (Simon & Schuster, 2022) and The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger (Simon & Schuster. August, 2015). Before joining Ruane, Cunniff, Greg was a reporter and editor with The Wall Street Journal.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Host:

For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.

Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations and business schools.

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.

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In the world of finance, there are many discussions around the topics of economic challenges or inequality when it comes to how asset managers or asset owners navigate the market. The volume certainly increases on this theme around bonus time when performance incentives are being paid out despite market volatility and declining returns.

In this episode, Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series, is joined by Shai Davidai, Assistant Professor, Management Division, Columbia Business School, to go under the hood of economic behavioral psychology at work across asset managers and owners.

Shai discusses:

• How economic inequality is different from economic mobility and why we tend to overestimate upward mobility.
• How philanthropy factors into the internal attributions that people assume about the person that is promoting their Giving Pledge.
• How does the hypothesis of a zero-sum game factor into an asset manager or owner’s strategic plan?
• How does the zero-sum game tie itself into organizations and retaining talent by offering either a zero-sum incentive program vs. a non-zero-sum program.
• And more!

Connect with Shai Davidai:

• Shai Davidai
• Shai Davidai Blog

About Our Guest:

Shai Davidai is Assistant Professor in the Management Division of Columbia Business School. His research examines people’s everyday judgments of themselves, other people, and society as a whole. He studies the psychological forces that shape, distort, and bias people’s perceptions of the world and their influence on people’s judgments, preferences, and choices. His topics of expertise include the psychology of judgment and decision making, economic inequality and social mobility, social comparisons, and zero-sum thinking.

His work has been published in top-tier journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Perspectives on Psychological Sciences, and the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.

Shai received his PhD from Cornell University in 2015. Prior to joining Columbia Business School, Shai spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University and 3 years as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at The New School for Social Research

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Host:

For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.

Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations and business schools.

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.

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Allocators today can’t predict the future state of the market, especially given recent volatility, needing to rely on several viewpoints and data benchmarks to reach their goal. This is true in the case of LACERA where Jonathan Grabel and his team manage over $70 billion in AUM.

In this episode of Improving Alpha – Innovation in Investing, ESG & Technology, Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series, is joined by Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer, LACERA. Learn about Jonathan’s career journey and how he has achieved a high degree of professional happiness by working in a public pension like LACERA.

Jonathan discusses:

• How LACERA addresses market volatility today and how innovation plays into that strategic allocation focus.
• How LACERA views ESG in a three-dimensional space and what factors help optimize LACERA’s fiduciary duties for their members.
• The intersection between technology and ESG and how human capital helps evaluate new investments.
• Moving from a monthly close to a daily NAV, and how it helped LACERA improve portfolio monitoring.
• LACERA’s co-investment program and the growth it has seen in outpacing its private equity allocations.
• Investment inefficiencies and innovating through investment seeding, and how it can provide a new revenue stream to LACERA.
• Observing investment teams that support DE&I and the performance impact to their investment strategies.
• And more

Resources:

• The End of the World is just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

Connect with Jonathan Grabel:

• Jonathan Grabel
• LACERA

About Our Guest:

Mr. Grabel manages the multibillion-dollar defined benefit pension fund on behalf of LACERA’s active and retired members. He also oversees the investments for the LACERA-administered healthcare benefits program.

Prior to LACERA, Mr. Grabel was the CIO for New Mexico PERA, where he oversaw the investments for the agency’s $15 billion defined benefit fund and the associated PERA SmartSave deferred compensation plan.

Previously, he was a general partner at a private equity firm focused on growth-stage investments in technology, networking industries, and digital communications. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grabel was an investment banker and licensed CPA (inactive). He received his Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg:

• Michael Oliver Weinberg
• Vidrio

About Our Host:

For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.

Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations and business schools.

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.

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How does a sovereign wealth fund navigate the current investment waters for over 35 million Australians, in relation to governance, investment decisions, technology, data and more? We take a deep dive into the Future Fund and how a blank paper mentality helps drive innovation on a total portfolio level basis. In this episode, Michael Oliver … Continue reading Ben Samild, Future Fund on Innovating Portfolio Investments for Over 35 Million Beneficiaries (Ep 2) →

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As allocators continue to navigate these volatile investment waters, endowments find themselves wrestling with questions around sustainability, ESG investing, innovation, and how to pass along their strategies for success to the next generation. In this inaugural episode, Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series, is joined by Jeff Mindlin, Chief Investment Officer of ASU … Continue reading Jeff Mindlin, ASU Enterprise Partners on Engineering a $1.3 billion Endowment for the Future (Ep 1) →

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