Discover how investment organizations are run from the industry’s top operating partners. We dive into the business of investment management by exploring functional areas across operations, investor relations, legal, finance, and technology. Key stakeholders provide insight on the business today and look to what the future may hold for capital allocators and their investment partners. Longtime operator, Scott MacDonald, hosts in-depth interviews with key non-investment principals across public and private markets. Learn more and join our community from www.capitalallocators.com.
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Stuart Chapman is a Director and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Strategic Investment Group, a $30B OCIO serving a mix of pension, endowment, and nonprofit clients. Operational due diligence doesn’t always get the spotlight, but it should. Stu shares his insight on his process that sits completely outside the investment function — giving ODD a genuine seat at the table and, veto rights when necessary. We cover how Stu thinks about operational risk, when to work with a manager to improve pro...
Alex Harstrick and Jonathan Bronson are the co-founders of J2 Ventures. J2 is an early-stage venture capital firm built at the intersection of the private sector and defense tech. A common question we often get is “how do you get out of the gate, raise money, and launch”. Every firm is different but there are common ingredients, so I turned to Alex and Jon to learn how it all came together for them. We discuss raising capital which began with what they call “tin cup” fundraising, finding first i...
David Li is the CTO at Washington University Investment Management Company, where he’s led a lean, data‑driven build of the endowment’s tech stack. David’s path runs from Harvard Management Company to independent consulting to WashU, bringing a builder’s mindset to the role. For those not familiar with WashU’s concentrated, co-invest heavy approach, Ted sat down with CIO Scott Wilson a while back, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. David shares how a modular architecture with Snowfla...
Scott Wilson is the CIO at Washington University of St. Louis, where he oversees a $10 billion endowment. Scott joined Wash U three years ago from Grinnell College, where he learned a completely different style of endowment investing than is practiced by others. Our conversation covers Scott’s upbringing, early Wall Street career in equity research and derivatives across New York, London and Tokyo, and his leap to Grinnell. We then turn to his applying the Grinnell model at Wash U, transitioning...
Bill Krueger is the CTO at Yale’s Investment Office. Bill’s unconventional path spans defense contracting, tech consulting, and a 13-year run at Bridgewater Associates before landing at Yale. Bill shares how to operate in a radically transparent culture, tighten feedback loops between decisions and outcomes, and managing the messy realities of growth, bureaucracy, and leadership. Those experiences shaped Bill’s views on trust, talent, and where technology truly differentiates. We turn to Bill’s ...
Graeme Faulds is the CEO of Bipsync, a leading provider of modern research management software. Graeme spent 15 years as a private markets investor before building and selling his first fintech company, then ultimately stepping into the CEO role at Bipsync in 2023. Bipsync works with clients across the investment management industry, from allocators like endowments, foundations, pension funds, and family offices to GPs including hedge funds and private equity managers, helping investors capture,...
Today’s Sponsored Insight highlights Bipsync , the research management software that helps asset owners and managers optimize pre- and post-investment decision making. We spoke with Annie Kerns and Blake Fischer from the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, known as UVIMCO. Annie leads investment operations and Blake oversees technology at the $14 billion endowment. Annie and Blake offer a detailed case study on how investment technology decisions are made, the importance of s...
Eric is the Chief Technology Officer at GCM Grosvenor, a global leader in alternative investments. Eric’s career path has taken him from starting as an ethical hacker at Deloitte, to leading technology and product innovation in fintech before playing a transformative role at GCM Grosvenor. I spent time with Eric unpacking how product management and automation are redefining technology’s impact on private markets. We discuss his CTO role, the shift to a product-driven strategy at Grosvenor, and h...
Ryan Eisenman is the CEO and co-founder of Arch, a tech platform redefining how allocators manage their private investments through what he calls the “Schwab for private markets”. Ryan shares his journey on how he met his co-founders, early challenges in selling to family offices, and the product’s evolution from automating K-1s to serving as a seamless digital hub for every private investment an LP holds. We explore Arch’s rapid growth to over 500 clients, their client-obsessed culture, why he ...
John Polis is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Star Mountain Capital. John’s career path has led him to play a pivotal role in transforming Star Mountain in private credit in the lower middle market. I spent time with John unpacking how data and technology can meaningfully shape investment management operations. We discuss his dual role, the build over buy approach of Star Mountain’s tech stack, and how AI is transforming their investment and portfolio management proce...
Chester Dawes, COO and CFO at Palistar Capital, details his extensive career, from Big Four accounting and global manufacturing to leadership roles in private equity. He shares insights on applying Six Sigma for operational efficiency, navigating the challenges of launching a firm from scratch, the strategic use of affiliate structures, and the significant changes in portfolio company reporting over time. The discussion also covers the importance of cultural fit in hiring and Palistar's commitment to giving back.
Melissa Stolfi is the Executive Vice President and Global COO of TCW, a leading global investment management firm with over $200 billion in assets. Being competitive in the global asset management space is an ongoing effort. I really enjoyed sitting down with Melissa to talk about her career evolution to TCW and how they've built their platform for resilience and expanding credit alternatives under the current market environment. We discussed their product expansion using innovative vehicles, ke...
This episode features Brian Douglas, CEO of Graham Capital, who recounts his unique career progression from CFO to CEO at one of the longest-running macro investment firms. He delves into Graham's 25-year history, covering its evolution from a hedge fund to a diversified product offering, strategies for maintaining a strong, unified culture across growing global offices, and critical elements of founder-level succession planning and leadership development. Douglas also emphasizes the firm's philanthropic commitment and his personal leadership philosophy.
Running and scaling a global fund group has its challenges. So when I was asking who I should talk to, Lisa's name came to the forefront. Her lens on the industry from the sell side to the buy side is quite unique. Lisa's recognized not only for driving operational excellence and revenue growth, but also for her ability to guide teams through transformation. Whether it's optimizing operations, enhancing cross team synergy, or future-proofing with tech innovation, Lisa shares firsthand insights f...
This episode explores the operational intricacies of bringing alternative investments to the wealth channel, focusing on Flat Rock Global's use of interval funds. Ryan Ripp details how this structure streamlines advisor access with daily NAVs and 1099 reporting, contrasting it with traditional private funds. The discussion also covers robust service provider coordination, liquidity management, and the broader market trends driving the growth of retail alternatives.
Ryan Teal is a Partner and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Albourne, a global investment consulting firm. Ryan and I talk about the role of AI within the ODD lens. Whether you’re an ODD practitioner or a manager trying to understand current trends you will want to take a listen. Ryan shares their approach on using AI as well as some recent survey data about adoption rates, common hurdles, and where the low hanging fruit is. We also discuss the growing trends and benefits of meeting transcri...
Ashley Sweren is the COO and CCO at Standard Crypto, a venture capital firm focused on crypto, Web3, blockchain, and DeFi. With institutional investing, we are all keenly focused on finding uncorrelated assets. But here’s the catch: when you go beyond the fundamentals, things get interesting with diligence, operations and finding best in class service providers. To learn more about running a crypto fund, I sat down with Ashley to get her perspective. There are nuances with building, running and ...
David Brenner is the COO of TIFF Investment Management, an OCIO for nonprofit organizations. Stepping into the COO role of an established manager takes a unique set of skills so I turned to David for his insight. We discuss the common challenges of assessing culture, talent, and legacy; and the importance of timing of when to listen and when to take action. We then turn to David’s perspective on his four pillars framework as TIFF shifts from what he calls going from TIFF 1.0 to TIFF 2.0. We talk...
Heather Kennedy Miner, COO of Advent International, shares her journey from investment banking and two decades at Goldman Sachs to leading operations at one of the largest private equity firms. She details Advent's unique pure-play private equity commitment, its global growth strategy including expansion into Asia, and significant investments in talent development through programs like ALPS. The discussion also covers the firm's comprehensive AI adoption, from cloud migration to proprietary tools and data science applications, and valuable advice for emerging managers.
Kent Collier is the CEO of Octus, the leading voice in data and intelligence for the credit markets. It was exciting to sit down with Kent to hear about his role as an investor and how he saw an opportunity in the market to create something bigger with the way Wall Street accessed critical information. Kent shares his experience on how they expanded from a single product to developing a full product roadmap, the tradeoffs of organic versus inorganic growth and why he is particularly excited abou...
Reena Jashnani-Slusarz is the chief operating officer and General Counsel at Juniper Hill, a multifamily office based in Menlo Park, California. I had fun sitting down with Reena to talk about her non-linear career arc to find herself in a GC and COO role. This was a wide-ranging conversation touching upon some of the legal and operational complexities of investing in crypto from a VC perspective and how one gets up to speed on new asset classes like catastrophe reinsurance. This is all about th...
Letti de Little is the Chief Compliance Officer for Grain Management, a private equity firm that invests in telecom, infrastructure, and wireless spectrum assets. Today’s LP is focused on finding uncorrelated assets more than ever. But doing so often requires an understanding of the operational nuances which are different from buying traditional, tradable securities. I spent some time with Letti to unpack some of the common legal and operational elements for investing in this asset class. We cov...
John Fitzpatrick, Blackstone's CTO, discusses how data, AI, and strategic technology adoption drive competitive advantage in alternative asset management. He shares insights on building a robust tech ecosystem, zero-based budgeting for innovation, and effectively managing non-technical leadership. The episode offers valuable takeaways for technologists and business leaders navigating the evolving FinTech landscape.
Melissa Dickerson is the Managing Director of Operations and CFO at Genstar Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco and founded in 1988. In today’s competitive market, a common road map to revenue diversification is product expansion or adding a new office overseas. This conversation is a case study on having one strategy and one office. Melissa shares her thoughts on how the industry has changed and how their operations, reporting and service provider model have evolved while expa...
Scott Farden is the COO of Nonantum Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm that spun out of Charlesbank Capital Partners in 2018. Launching a first-time private equity fund has a myriad of challenges from leaving your old firm, raising capital, finding talent and activating operations, so I turned to Scott to share his experience. We also cover topics like proper preparation and common pitfalls when pitching LPs, building a team that can evolve with future organization complexity a...
Kathleen Servidea, GC & CCO at Gallatin Point Capital, discusses her career journey through various legal and compliance roles, highlighting the challenges of building compliance programs and legal departments in emerging firms. The conversation then shifts to the increasing role of AI in investment management, focusing on developing an AI policy, vendor due diligence for AI service providers, and navigating the legal and compliance implications of integrating AI tools for efficiency while ensuring investor protection and regulatory adherence.
Rob McGrail is General Counsel and CCO for DUMAC, the management company for Duke University As one of the world’s leading endowment managers, Rob shares his career evolution from being the first lawyer at DUMAC, how to create strong team dynamics when closing deals and how the operational investment process has evolved over time. We cover best practices when working with established and emerging managers and the evolution of the technical and reporting requirements across direct fund investing,...
Emi Larson is the COO of UCLA‘s endowment. Emi shares what it’s like going from an ops role at an emerging market manager to a hedge fund of funds and how it led to a COO role of a well-known university. We cover how to make that leap from Director of Operations to the COO seat and the key skills needed for that position. We tackle how non-profits keep up with growing business complexity, the challenges with West Coast hiring and how overbuilding select parts of your tech stack can help you scal...
Eric Wortman is the COO and CCO of Stable, a GP stakes firm with over $4.5B in assets. If you are an emerging manager or thinking about spinning out, this is the episode for you. As people will tell you, building your own firm and team is vastly different than managing a portfolio. We cover the fuzzy topic of what it means to be “institutional”, how to select the right service providers, critical tech, talent acquisition and other foundational areas of launching a firm. We then tackle best pract...
Mike Peltier is the COO of VCU Investment Management Company, supporting Virginia Commonwealth University and its related entities in Richmond, Virginia. Virginia Commonwealth University is pioneering what it means to be a public research university while remaining focused on innovation, diversity, and access in the Commonwealth and beyond. Mike shares lessons learned from his audit and tax background helped him lead the operations of the investment office. We discuss the key pillars of the tech...
