Capital Decanted

Jean Hynes is the CEO of Wellington Management, the $1.3T asset manager. We discussed Jean's 35 year progression from administrative assistant to health care industry savant to (originally reluctant) CEO. We explored how Jean had to develop and reinvent herself at each stage along that leadership journey; how they somewhat quietly incubated hedge fund and private equity strategies before their high-profile new partnership with Blackstone and Vanguard; what the Hartford funds acquisition will bring them; and the progression of talent needed in today's investment business

Wafra was founded in 1985 as a conduit for sourcing and executing investment activity in the US for their owner PIFSS, the public pension system of Kuwait.  But about a decade ago, their public posture, innovative spirit, and expanding investment capabilities begun to fully embody the Arabic meaning of Wafra - abundance.  Adel Alderbas, Wafra's CIO joined me to talk about the evolution of the firm from a narrow purpose beach head for the Gulf sovereign wealth fund towards a more coordinated eco-system of LP's and GP's.  We explored their current offering across strategic partnerships, real assets and real estate and...

Peter Madsen is the CIO for the $5B Utah School and Institutional Trust Funds Office or SITFO.  We discussed his formative years in the capital markets and how they contributed to his current philosophy of managing risk and return for this permanent fund: circumspect about equity beta, deep sensitivity to draw down risk, finding alpha in up and down markets, and ensuring each strategy is contributing to the total portfolio goals.  Finally, we discussed the inherent benefits of being located in Utah's Silicon Slopes and its burgeoning venture ecosystem.

Here we say goodbye to tired market takes and superficial sound bites to dive beneath the surface of capital allocation. This show attempts to challenge conventional wisdom and likely some of your own assumptions as we explore the nuances that can change how we understand an issue and its practical implications. Along the way, we draw on experienced voices from across the industry, allowing their perspectives to breathe and follow their thinking as it opens up in unexpected directions.

This season, we're serving Capital Decanted as a tasting flight, a series of focused conversations, each offering the...

What happens when governments can't fund infrastructure anymore? A $1.6 trillion private asset class that doesn't recognize itself in the mirror. In the 2020s, infrastructure has entered a battlefield where geopolitics, government agendas, and investor returns collide. We trace infrastructure's evolution from nation-building mechanism to one of the most integrated asset classes in modern investing. In this episode, we explore a central tension: is infrastructure still a stable, boring, income-generating asset, or has it become a bigger bet on which governments can actually execute their vision? Joined by Peter Blue of Franklin Templeton and Gautam Bhandari of I Squared, we...

In every tech supercycle, investors are good at identifying disruptive technologies, but bad at picking the winners. AI is no different, except for the pace and velocity of growth, investment, and hype. And this time the incumbents are leading the charge. This episode works through how to separate the hype from who actually captures the enterprise value, walking through four layers of the AI investment stack, and which of these layers will exist independently or get absorbed. Joined by Kai Wu of Sparkline Capital, Jerry Neumann, retired VC investor and writer, and David Haber of a16z, we synthesize...

Geopolitical change, product disruption, and technological transformation have all made this the most complicated moment in history to navigate capital markets. CAIA Association spent the last 12 months finding out why. After convening 120 global executives across eight financial centers we're proud to introduce: The World Rewired, a blueprint for the decade ahead. In this episode, we unpack the three structural shifts at its core with four practitioners who were in the room  with us, including Sebastian Mallaby, Stuart Wrigley, Yingwen Chin, and Muneera Aldossary.

Guests:

Sebastian Mallaby, Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow in I...

What happens when asset owners stop managing asset classes and start managing the whole fund? How do portfolios change, and how does the industry reorient their business models around them? In this episode, a practical sequel to Season 1's introduction, we break down how TPA changes investment processes, how portfolios differ under an SAA framework, and what this means for external managers. With insights from CPP Investments, NZ Super, Blue Owl, and Capital Group, the conversation highlights how partnership, transparency, and solution-oriented relationships reshape the manager-investor relationship in a TPA world.

Guests:

Listen in for a live recording of CAIA’s Capital Decanted Podcast that was hosted in New York City—where the conversation goes beyond surface-level takes to explore the deeper forces shaping capital allocation. Hosted by CAIA’s John Bowman and Aaron Filbeck, the podcast brings together leading voices in asset management to challenge perspectives and unpack today’s most important industry shifts.Guests:

Taylor Robinson, Partner, Lexington Partners

Kim Lew, President and CEO, Columbia Investment Management Company

Elizabeth Burton, Chief Strategist, Fortress Investment Group

Reed Rayman, Partner, Apollo Global Management

In every tech supercycle, investors are good at identifying disruptive technologies, but bad at picking the winners. AI is no different, except for the pace and velocity of growth, investment, and hype. And this time the incumbents are leading the charge. This episode works through how to separate the hype from who actually captures the enterprise value, walking through four layers of the AI investment stack, and which of these layers will exist independently or get absorbed. Joined by Kai Wu of Sparkline Capital, Jerry Neumann, retired VC investor and writer, and David Haber of a16z, we synthesize...

Unprecedented geopolitical instability, the invasion of AI, and the convergence of public and private markets are causing a system-level reset for the investment profession. An endowment CEO, a global private capital partner, a Chief Investment Strategist, and a secondaries veteran walk into a room and each is experiencing and responding to this reset differently. Join CAIA Association on June 16 for our first live version of its signature Capital Decanted Show. With the help of these industry leaders and friends and a whole lot of fun and surprises, we'll try to bring clarity to what many have deemed the most c...

Geopolitical change, product disruption, and technological transformation have all made this the most complicated moment in history to navigate capital markets. CAIA Association spent the last 12 months finding out why. After convening 120 global executives across eight financial centers we're proud to introduce: The World Rewired, a blueprint for the decade ahead. In this episode, we unpack the three structural shifts at its core with four practitioners who were in the room  with us, including Sebastian Mallaby, Stuart Wrigley, Yingwen Chin, and Muneera Aldossary.

Guests:

Sebastian Mallaby, Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow in I...

What happens when governments can't fund infrastructure anymore? A $1.6 trillion private asset class that doesn't recognize itself in the mirror. In the 2020s, infrastructure has entered a battlefield where geopolitics, government agendas, and investor returns collide. We trace infrastructure's evolution from nation-building mechanism to one of the most integrated asset classes in modern investing. In this episode, we explore a central tension: is infrastructure still a stable, boring, income-generating asset, or has it become a bigger bet on which governments can actually execute their vision? Joined by Peter Blue of Franklin Templeton and Gautam Bhandari of I Squared, we...

The asset management industry is knocking on the door of the 401(k) system in the U.S.. While it has been the driving argument for inclusion, access alone doesn’t answer the harder questions. We step back from product hype to examine whether defined contribution plans are structurally equipped to handle illiquidity, complexity, and risk at scale. Joined by Dan Cahill of Partners Group and Drew Carrington of iCapital, we explore how global pension models, governance trade-offs, and participant behavior complicate the debate.  

Guests:

Drew Carrington, CFA, CAIA, Managing Director, Alternatives in Retire...

What happens when asset owners stop managing asset classes and start managing the whole fund? How do portfolios change, and how does the industry reorient their business models around them? In this episode, a practical sequel to Season 1's introduction, we break down how TPA changes investment processes, how portfolios differ under an SAA framework, and what this means for external managers. With insights from CPP Investments, NZ Super, Blue Owl, and Capital Group, the conversation highlights how partnership, transparency, and solution-oriented relationships reshape the manager-investor relationship in a TPA world.

Guests:

...

Growth equity has evolved from the “middle child” between venture and buyout into a distinct and increasingly institutionalized part of the private markets ecosystem. Its role in capital formation, the characteristics of the companies it targets, and the ways value is created have sharpened its identity in a post-COVID market. In this episode, we are joined by Steve McCourt of Meketa and Suzanne Gauron of General Atlantic as they unpack the modern growth equity playbook, how managers compete and differentiate themselves today, and why the strategy’s repositioning matters for investors.

Guests:

Suzanne...

Space exploration has historically been viewed as a lofty and prideful goal of governments and the old space economy has been led by legacy private sector telecom companies. But what happens when innovation and competition heats up, launch costs are dramatically pushed down, and geopolitical tensions arise amongst nations? Are we in a new space race? What will the outcome be? Join us and guests Luke Ward of Baillie Gifford and Emma Norchet of T. Rowe Price as we explore what the future space economy might entail.

Guests:

Luke Ward, Investment Manager...

Say goodbye to tired market takes and superficial sound bites. Because here, instead of skimming the surface, we dive into the heart of capital allocation — striking the perfect balance and exposing the subtleties that reveal the topic’s true essence.
Prepare to have your perspectives challenged as we open up the issues that resonate with the hearts and minds of those shaping capital allocation.

Today’s asset management business has quickly transformed into a race to build out a stable of thoroughbreds--investment strategies across a spectrum of conventional public equity and debt as well as offerings across the continuum of private capital--equity, credit, secondaries, real estate, infrastructure etc. What makes recent history particularly unique are the crossover deals from traditional managers with alternative managers.  For several decades, traditional long only mutual fund shops and institutional firms stayed in their lane and idiosyncratic, complex private capital partnerships lived in a different world---there was a peaceful co-existence and mutual exclusivity. Those distinctions and parallel worlds hav...

How does a legacy private capital partnership who has thrived solely in the institutional draw down LP ecosystem, assemble the apparatus to begin distributing those strategies to the individual investor? When client acquisition and conversations, investor sophistication, product design, culture, operational support etc. are all fundamentally different...where do they start in this overhaul? What challenges and pitfalls have they experienced along the way? What battle scars and advice can they share with others that are considering the same or in the early stages themselves. Join us as we draw a blueprint in a very applied and practical manner.

What do co-investments, secondaries, joint ventures, and NAV lending have in common? To some, they sound like complex investment vehicles - to us, they represent the cutting-edge tools reshaping how asset owners build portfolios. Gone are the days of relying solely on the binary choice between insourcing or outsourcing investment capabilities. Today’s institutional investors have a dynamic, customizable toolkit at their fingertips, empowering them to craft strategies that truly serve their stakeholders. Join industry leaders Scott Chan and Molly Murphy as they dive into this exciting evolution, unpack the innovative investment vehicles driving change, and discuss the challenges an...

After many booms, busts, and shakeouts in crypto markets, the pump seems primed for broader adoption in institutional portfolios. Are we really doing this? How might a seemingly crypto-friendly Trump Administration fuel further adoption in the largest capital market in the world? In this episode, we use history as a guide, exploring the phases of crypto adoption and wrestling with whether we're truly in a new era or if the headlines are overhyping reality. Join us and our guests, Robbie Mitchnick of BlackRock and Greg Tusar of Coinbase, to explore further.

Introduction: (2:03)

...

Despite being thousands of years old, China’s current economic and political system began to take shape only in the late 20th century, particularly following the economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s. Today, China represents one of the largest economies in the world, a breeding ground for innovation, and an exciting capital market increasingly open to foreigners. However, recent policy swings and geopolitical events have called many items into question - is China investable? Is it possible to develop a long-term view despite short-term geopolitical headwinds? And, most importantly, will the many years of progress toward economic and po...

Asset-based lending has come of age, but its evolution has made it challenging to put it in a homogeneous category or asset class, given its complexity and diversity of the underlying universe. From receivables and real estate to royalties and R&D, the range of collateral backing these loans raises questions about ABL's position within the broader private credit complex. In this episode, we attempt to define the history and parameters of ABL, including how loans are structured, as well as crucial due diligence and portfolio construction considerations. To help us explore these topics, we're joined by Greg Turk...

Live from the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, we sat down with three of the earliest pioneers in the space to discuss the unprecedented political, regulatory and market momentum of crypto and blockchain. Franklin Templeton’s Jenny Johnson, SALT and Skybridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci, and Pantera Capital’s Dan Morehead joined us to explore the need for bipartisanship, the current use cases for the technology platform, and more. 

Guests:

Jenny Johnson, CEO, Franklin Templeton

Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner, Skybridge Capital; Founder and Chairman, SALT

Dan Morehead, Founder and Man...

Financial engineering or operational value add? As private equity's growth has evolved over several decades, the mechanics of deal structure, capital structure, and motivations have undergone changes across several eras. No longer just the barbarians at the gate anymore, many private equity firms have turned their attention from balance sheet gymnastics to delivering actual operating expertise for portfolio companies. In this episode of Capital Decanted, we answer important questions - what is driving this evolution? How are deal structures different today vs. in the late 1980s? And what is the playbook for a segment of the industry trying to...

Asset-based lending has come of age, but its evolution has made it challenging to put it in a homogeneous category or asset class, given its complexity and diversity of the underlying universe. From receivables and real estate to royalties and R&D, the range of collateral backing these loans raises questions about ABL's position within the broader private credit complex. In this episode, we attempt to define the history and parameters of ABL, including how loans are structured, as well as crucial due diligence and portfolio construction considerations. To help us explore these topics, we're joined by Greg Turk...

Despite being thousands of years old, China’s current economic and political system began to take shape only in the late 20th century, particularly following the economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s. Today, China represents one of the largest economies in the world, a breeding ground for innovation, and an exciting capital market increasingly open to foreigners. However, recent policy swings and geopolitical events have called many items into question - is China investable? Is it possible to develop a long-term view despite short-term geopolitical headwinds? And, most importantly, will the many years of progress toward economic and po...

With the tectonic plates in trade, geopolitics, economics, and national security seemingly shifting under our feet in real time, we stepped back to talk about some of the major themes defining the future of this industry. With a lens towards the current uncertainty and risk of global regime change, we examined where our profession, and particularly private capital, is likely to evolve. No one was better equipped to guide us than Casey Quirk co-founder and current Global Head of Investor Relations at Bain, Kevin Quirk.

Introduction: (0:48)

Guest: (6:50)

...

After many booms, busts, and shakeouts in crypto markets, the pump seems primed for broader adoption in institutional portfolios. Are we really doing this? How might a seemingly crypto-friendly Trump Administration fuel further adoption in the largest capital market in the world? In this episode, we use history as a guide, exploring the phases of crypto adoption and wrestling with whether we're truly in a new era or if the headlines are overhyping reality. Join us and our guests, Robbie Mitchnick of BlackRock and Greg Tusar of Coinbase, to explore further.

Introduction: (0:48)

...

Greedy sinners or enterprising saints? The growth of private equity's influence on the economy can no longer be ignored. Like it or not, private equity's reach surrounds our daily lives and its impact on society can be felt across all sectors of the economy. In this episode, we outline a more balanced middle between the extremes of proponents and detractors and highlight two virtuous examples of how private capital is being used for social and financial good.

Introduction: (0:48)

Halftime: (46:25)

Guests: (52:13)

Guests:

Pete Stavros...

What do co-investments, secondaries, joint ventures, and NAV lending have in common? To some, they sound like complex investment vehicles - to us, they represent the cutting-edge tools reshaping how asset owners build portfolios. Gone are the days of relying solely on the binary choice between insourcing or outsourcing investment capabilities. Today’s institutional investors have a dynamic, customizable toolkit at their fingertips, empowering them to craft strategies that truly serve their stakeholders. Join industry leaders Scott Chan and Molly Murphy as they dive into this exciting evolution, unpack the innovative investment vehicles driving change, and discuss the challenges an...

How does a legacy private capital partnership who has thrived solely in the institutional draw down LP ecosystem, assemble the apparatus to begin distributing those strategies to the individual investor? When client acquisition and conversations, investor sophistication, product design, culture, operational support etc. are all fundamentally different...where do they start in this overhaul? What challenges and pitfalls have they experienced along the way? What battle scars and advice can they share with others that are considering the same or in the early stages themselves. Join us as we draw a blueprint in a very applied and practical manner.

AI dominates headlines and investment conferences these days…often to excess.  Sensational stories like “Here’s the robot that will steal your job” and charges of “Disrupt, transform or die” fill our feeds and raise fearmongering narratives that channel Issac Asimov’s I-Robot or James Cameron’s Skynet--of course from the Terminator series.  Quant shops, hedge funds, and algorithmic trading firms have embedded AI in their models for over a decade.  But have we hit a tipping point where applications of these accelerated computing capabilities are ready to invade the more traditional asset management business?  What are those use cases and which are...

Today’s asset management business has quickly transformed into a race to build out a stable of thoroughbreds--investment strategies across a spectrum of conventional public equity and debt as well as offerings across the continuum of private capital--equity, credit, secondaries, real estate, infrastructure etc. What makes recent history particularly unique are the crossover deals from traditional managers with alternative managers.  For several decades, traditional long only mutual fund shops and institutional firms stayed in their lane and idiosyncratic, complex private capital partnerships lived in a different world---there was a peaceful co-existence and mutual exclusivity. Those distinctions and parallel worlds hav...

No investor claims to be short-term but in the face of the seductive siren call of the emotionally volatile markets, even the most disciplined of investors buckles at the knees.  The apparatus and systems in which we work---governance, investment policy, benchmarks, asset allocation frameworks, compensation systems along with the behavioral spiral that haunts us all in times of market trauma tend to perpetuate herd mentality.  With the help of some of the best minds on the subject, we work to define long term investing more precisely, explore the virtues of a multi-cycle horizon, and warn of the common pitfalls th...

Welcome back to season 2 of Capital Decanted… well, almost! John Bowman, CFA teases the episode and the “greatest asset in investing” – can you guess what it is? Find out on September 30!

Private Credit has risen from obscurity within the private equity financing world to a greater than $2T asset class in just over a decade.  In this episode, we examine the conditions (M&A, debankification, regulation, staying private longer) that accelerated post the GFC that created a torrent of issuance and demand for private credit across direct lending, asset backed credit, structured credit, and innovative special situations.  And more importantly, we debate whether we’ve come a little too far, too fast, and if some rationalization and refining is needed before this exciting space continues its upward trajectory.

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Private Markets Valuations…do these quarterly marks properly represent fair value or are they make believe…contrived from the fictional world of GP machinations?  Do these interim valuations, as one commentator put it, “not matter;” or as another proclaimed provocatively, are they simply a case of “volatility laundering.”  Is the gap or “lag” with public market equivalents relevant…are we anchoring to the right bogey…or arbitrarily comparing objective value to an emotionally manic patient, to paraphrase Warren Buffett?  In today’s episode, our inaugural episode of Capital Decanted, we are going to lean in to this divisive and complex topic with some h...

After a four decade relative period of global stability, the world order has fractured and grown more unpredictable. The new multi-polar reality poses a major problem for leaders and investors as our traditional guardrails, narratives, and structures seem less useful. How should an investor integrate geopolitical trends into their investment thesis and what pitfalls and common mistakes should we watch out for?

Guests:

Anastasia Titarchuk, CIO, New York State Common Retirement Fund

Marko Papic, Partner, Clocktower Group