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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This episode features Ashok Raju, COO of VR Capital Group, discussing his unique career path from equity research to overseeing both internal operations and investor relations. He delves into VR Capital's distressed and event-driven strategy in emerging markets, detailing the operational complexities and the firm's strategic approach to building investor relationships. Raju also offers valuable career advice, highlighting the importance of relationships, patience, and aligning operational support with investment goals.
Danielle Roseman is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Lazard Family Office Services, a multifamily office that started managing capital for some of the world’s most sophisticated families over 175 years ago. Danielle started her career at Goldman Sachs where she worked on the mortgage desk during the Great Financial Crisis. Danielle joined Lazard following the acquisition of Truuvo Partners. If you work with family offices or want to learn more about it, this is the episode. Danielle goes deep ...
Bryan Corbett is the president and CEO of the Managed Funds Association, which represents the global alternative asset management industry. With offices in Washington DC, New York, Brussels, and London, MFA has over 170 members, including hedge funds, credit funds, and crossover funds that collectively manage over 3 trillion in AUM. Bryan joined the MFA in January of 2020 after spending 11 years in private equity at The Carlyle Group. Before Carlyle, Bryan worked on Capitol Hill for the US Treas...
Maarika Paul is the Chief Financial & Operations Officer at CDPQ, a global investment firm that manages Quebec’s pension and insurance assets overseeing $424b billion Canadian in AUM. Prior to joining CDPQ in 2011, Maarika worked for Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) for almost two decades overseeing various functions across investor relations, M&A, and corporate development. Maarika discusses her career leading up to CDPQ, her current responsibilities and what makes CDPQ unique. We touch on...
Gordon Barnes is the Executive Vice President and the Head of Portfolio Group on the Bain Capital Partnership Strategies team, a group that manages assets primarily for Bain Capital’s partners in strategies that diversify away from the equity-orientation of the firm’s core. Colin Campbell, the group’s co-head, was a previous guest on Capital Allocators, and that conversation is replayed in the feed for context on the group’s approach to investing in esoteric assets. Prior to Bain Capital, Gordon...
Colin Campbell is a Partner at Bain Capital and co-head of the Partnership Strategies team that manages assets primarily for Bain Capital’s partners in strategies that diversify away from the equity-orientation of the firm’s core. In its search for attractive, uncorrelated assets, the Partnership Strategies team became an early mover in environmental markets. Both Tom Steyer and Bill Orum cited carbon credits and offsets as a necessary and important near-term component to effect climate transiti...
Sean Arp is the Chief Operating Officer of the University of Wisconsin Foundation. He oversees all investment operations, analytics, reporting, technology, personnel, and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining UWF in 2022, Sean spent eight years at Washington University in St. Louis Investment Management Company (WUIMC) where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Before WUIMC he was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Temujin Fund Management and a Director at Thales Fund Man...
Byron Pavano is a Managing Director of Fund Strategy and Counsel for Audax Group, one of the most active private equity firms in North America with $36B in assets under management. Our conversation covers Byron’s path from outside counsel for private funds to inside counsel at Audax, insourcing vs outsourcing, the regulatory landscape across countries, and managing communications. We discuss AI disruption and use cases, the Audax deal process, and the operational interplay between the operations...
Ken Meister, a founding partner and COO at Evanston Capital Management, shares insights from co-founding the firm in 2002, detailing their commitment to institutional-grade operations and transparent investor communication. He emphasizes the rigorous operational due diligence process, highlighting common pitfalls and the importance of strong, independent operational leadership. Ken also provides valuable advice for emerging fund managers on business setup and for aspiring COOs on developing key skills like strategic thinking and emotional intelligence.
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 sou...
Scott Pomfret has seen every angle of the investment fund regulatory landscape. Scott spent 8 years as a branch chief for the SEC Division of Enforcement, leading teams investigating traditional and alternative asset managers. After a brief stint at PwC thereafter, Scott was the Chief Compliance Officer at Highfields Capital Management, a $12 billion value-oriented investment manager. Today, Scott advises private funds and vendors on regulatory, legal, and business issues. Our conversation cover...
Jenn Birmingham is a Managing Director at the Princeton University Investment Company (or PRINCO), one of the world’s largest and most prestigious university endowments, where she has been leading efforts in finance and operations since 2010. Prior to PRINCO, Jenn spent over eight years at Deutsche Bank Asset Management where she was a Managing Director and Global CFO of DB Advisors and Deutsche Insurance Asset Management. Jenn and PRINCO are a prime example of how operations can provide leverag...
Andy Golden is the President of Princeton University’s Investment Management Company (PRINCO). Having grown from $3B at the time of his arrival in 1995 to $22.5B today, PRINCO has been among the highest performing endowments in the world. Andy came to PRINCO from Duke Management Company, where he was an Investment Director, and received his formative training in the business working for David Swensen at the Yale University Investments Office. Andy currently serves on the fund Advisory Boards of ...
Antoine Forterre is the CFO for Man Group, a $140 billion asset manager focused on liquid alternative hedge funds. Since recording, Antoine has passed off the official title of COO but still maintains responsibilities in HR, risk, and communications. Our conversation covers Antoine’s career path to Man Group, the dynamic history of the firm, and managing regulations across a large global footprint. We discuss managing human capital, interfacing with clients and investment teams, and driving diff...
Jennifer Choi is the CEO of Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), a non-profit that engages, empowers, and connects limited partners to maximize their performance. Jennifer leads the implementation of ILPA’s responses to emerging issues impacting the industry. Prior to ILPA, she served as Vice President of Industry and External Affairs for the EMPEA. Our conversation covers ILPA’s mission, engagement with LPs and GPs from an operations perspective, and pertinent topics to each. We d...
Lauren Dillard is the CFO of Vista Equity Partners , a private equity firm with over $96 billion in assets under management and over 20 years investing exclusively in enterprise software. Before joining Vista, she was the Executive Vice President of Nasdaq’s Investment Intelligence Division, where she oversaw the company's data, index, and analytics divisions. Prior to Nasdaq, Lauren spent 17 years at Carlyle where she served as the Head of the Investment Solutions unit and was a member of the M...
It’s our pleasure to bring you Investment Management Operations. This show explores the inner workings of the most sophisticated institutions in the industry. We’ll share conversations with key operating partners who don’t typically get in front of the microphone. In each episode, we’ll profile executives across operations, compliance, legal, finance, and other non-investment roles to better understand how the world’s most sophisticated investment institutions run their businesses. Whether you’r...
