Shows
AAAIM High ELIWendy Li, Chief Investment Officer, Ivy Invest “Bringing Endowment Style Investing to Everyone”Our guest for today’s podcast is Wendy Li, Chief Investment Officer of Ivy Invest. Before founding Ivy Invest, Wendy spent her career as an institutional investor managing billions of dollars for some of New York’s largest endowments and foundations. Most recently, Wendy was Managing Director of Investments at the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (MCHF). At MCHF, she was responsible for developing the foundation’s investment strategy, sourcing and executing investments across asset classes, and exercising day-to-day management over MCHF’s $4B portfolio. Prior to MCHF, Wendy held similar responsibilities at UJA-Federation of New York. She began her...2025-06-111h 05
AAAIM High ELIRichard Chau, CIO, Tulane University Endowment, “Putting in the Work: My Journey to Tulane's CIO Seat”Our guest for today’s podcast is Richard Chau, Chief Investment Officer of the Tulane University Endowment. Richard joined Tulane in 2013 and was promoted to CIO in 2021. Prior to Tulane, Richard helped manage a multi-billion dollar global private equity portfolio in Bessemer Trust's Private Equity Funds Group. Before Bessemer, Richard worked in the investment office at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. His previous experience also includes investment banking at Houlihan Lokey and investment consulting at Cambridge Associates. Richard has a BA in Economics and Chinese from Williams College and an MBA from Columbia Business School....2025-05-2849 min
AAAIM High ELITina Suo, Head of Alternative Credit, Office of the New York City ComptrollerOur guest for today’s podcast is Tina Suo, Head of Alternative Credit for the Office of NYC Comptroller. Tina joined the Office of the NYC Comptroller as a Senior Investment Officer in the Alternative Credit Group in August 2019. In this role, she assisted in making investment recommendations and advising on the alternative credit portfolio consisting of public and private non-traditional credit-oriented investments that include below-investment-grade debt. In May 2022, she was promoted to Head of Alternative Credit to oversee the alternative credit portfolio for the five New York City retirement systems. Prior to the Office of t...2025-05-1451 min
AAAIM High ELISandor Hau, Managing Director and President, Charlesbank Credit “What it takes to be a builder of businesses, communities, and organizations”Our guest for today’s podcast is Sandor Hau, Managing Director and President of Charlesbank Credit. Sandor oversees the firm’s opportunistic Credit team and investing strategy. Sandor joined Charlesbank in 2016 from Nomura Securities, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Credit and Special Situations. Previously, he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Head of Credit Investing and Private Equity within the principal strategies group. Sandor was born and grew up in rural Lancaster, PA, and is a big Philadelphia sports fan. He currently lives in Rye, N...2025-04-3050 min
AAAIM High ELIMichel Lowy, CEO and Co-Global Portfolio Manager, SC Lowy “SC Lowy - Building a Private Credit business outside the US”Our guest for today’s podcast is Michel Lowy, who co-founded SC Lowy in 2009. SC Lowy specializes in non-investment grade credit opportunities outside the United States, focusing on opportunistic corporate lending. SC Lowy has deployed $4.8 billion in capital and manages $1.6 billion in assets, with a presence across nine offices in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Michel has focused on distressed, special situations and private credit investing for his entire career spanning more than 25 years. Before launching SC Lowy, Mr. Lowy founded Deutsche Bank’s distressed and strategic investments group for Asia Pacific in 1999. Based in Singapore, New Y...2025-03-1950 min
AAAIM High ELIPhilip Yau, Managing Director, GI PartnersOur guest for today’s podcast is Philip Yau who is a Managing Director at GI Partners. Phil serves as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and is head of the firm’s capital formation-business development team. His responsibilities include managing strategic relationships, developing new business initiatives, and overseeing the capital formation efforts. Prior to joining GI Partners, Phil spent over 24 years in investment banking, including 12 years as a senior leader of the UBS Private Funds Group. I met Phil at the most recent AAAIM National Conference held in Los Angeles. Phil sought me out an...2025-01-1045 min
AAAIM High ELIJenifer Vigilante and Maine Park, Counselors at College Labyrinth, “The First Step to Wall Street...Cracking the College Application Process Our guests for today’s podcast are Jen Vigilante and Maine Park, Counselors at College Labyrinth. College Labyrinth provides a highly personalized framework for students to pursue genuine interests, enriching the journey to college while finding the right next step. Most recently, Jen spent the past decade working in the Princeton University Undergraduate Admission Office, where she was an Associate Dean primarily responsible for the New York City schools, evaluating more than 2,000 applications each year. Maine is a long time friend AAAIM. During her own children’s college application processes, Maine recognize...2024-12-1151 min
AAAIM High ELITim Hsia, Founder and Managing Partner, Context VC, “Venture Investing in Military Veteran Founders”Our guest for today’s podcast is Tim Hsia, founder and Managing Partner of Context Ventures, a venture fund that invests in military veteran founders and also in consumer startups. Some of Tim’s startup investments prior to Context Ventures include Workflow (acquired by Apple), Morning Brew (acquired by Business Insider), The Hustle (acquired by HubSpot), and Thredup (which IPO’d). Tim is also the CEO & Founder of Media Mobilize (an online ad network, marketing agency, and media company). Tim is a distinguished honor graduate of West Point and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the U...2024-11-2551 min
AAAIM High ELIVishal Bhutani, CIO, AMS Children’s Fund, “Capitalizing on Indian Equity Markets with Downside Protection”Our guest for today’s podcast is Vishal Bhutani, Chief Investment Officer of AMS Children’s Fund (AMS), a new fund launching in early 2025. Together with David Gaynes, Vishal is forming AMS to capitalize on the growing interest by institutional investors in the Indian equity markets. Vishal believes that the middle market opportunity in Indian equities is one of the best investment opportunities available today. Leveraging his experience as an event driven portfolio manager, AMS believes it will be able to achieve superior risk adjusted returns. Vishal has spent the bulk of his 20 year investment career a...2024-11-1457 min
AAAIM High ELIDarren Xu, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, Questline CapitalOur guest for today’s podcast is Darren Xu, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Questline Capital. Questline Capital is a long/short equity fund focused on the gaming, media and communications sectors. After almost a decade as an investor at Farallon Capital Management, Darren decided to leave his job and will be launching his fund in the 1 st quarter of 2025. Darren started his career in investment banking in Mergers and Acquisitions at Citigroup after graduating with two degrees, one in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and the other in Business from th...2024-10-3048 min
AAAIM High ELIDave Lu, Managing Partner, Hyphen Capital, “Stand with Asian Americans”Our guest for today’s podcast is Dave Lu, Managing Partner of Hyphen Capital, an early stage venture capital firm focused on Asian American founders. Dave is a veteran of the technology industry, having founded two prior companies: Expo and Fanpop, as well as having worked at Apple, eBay, Cisco, Yahoo and Sony. Dave produced the Emmy-winning HBO documentary 38 at the Garden about Jeremy Lin. Amidst the rise of anti-Asian hate during the pandemic, Dave led a movement with an open letter signed by 8,000 leaders including President George Bush and the CEOs of Google, DoorDash, Zoom and others that wa...2024-10-0250 min
AAAIM High ELIRay Chan, Partner, Atalaya Capital Management, “Humility, Success and Paying it Forward”Our guest for today’s podcast is Raymond Chan, Partner at Atalaya Capital Management, a leading private credit firm. Ray is responsible for the firm’s investing in Financial Assets, which focuses on sourcing and executing specialty finance and other private asset-backed transactions. Prior to joining Atalaya, Ray was a Partner and Co-Founder of TTM Capital, LLC, an investment firm focused on acquiring and lending against portfolios of financial and other assets. Previously, he was a Managing Director and co-head of the Assets Group at Highbridge/Zwirn Capital Management. Earlier in his career, Ray was a membe...2024-09-2751 min
AAAIM High ELITem Tumurbat, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Nomadic Venture Partners, “Accelerating Decarbonization for a Sustainable Future”Our guest for today’s podcast is Tem Tumurbat, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Nomadic Venture Partners (NVP), where he focuses on fund strategy, fundraising, portfolio construction, valuation, and financial analysis. Prior to co-founding NVP, Tem was an investment professional at Resource Capital Funds (RCF), a mining focused private equity investment firm, managing early to late stage investments. He de-risked companies, commercialized their businesses and successfully completed M&As that delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to investors. Prior to RCF, Tem worked for Newmont Mining Corporation as a mining engineer and...2024-09-1156 min
AAAIM High ELIGlenn Hosokawa, Director of Fixed Income, CalSTRS, “Riding off into the sunset after 25+ Years at CalSTRS”Our guest for today’s podcast is Glenn Hosokawa, Director of Fixed Income at CalSTRS. After over 25 years serving CalSTRS, Glenn will be retiring at the end of August 2024 and riding off into the sunset. If you google or search for Glenn’s biography, you won’t be able to find anything. I tried. Glenn is as old school as they come and doesn’t have a social media profile. For those that know Glenn, he is credited for building a world class Fixed Income investment division at one of the most admired places to work. Glenn...2024-08-3046 min
AAAIM High ELIGino Reina, Principal, SECOR Asset Management, “Investment Management, Restaurant Entrepreneur and 100 mile Ultra Marathoner"Our guest for today’s podcast is Gino Reina, Principal at SECOR Asset Management. Gino is a portfolio manager and member of the client advisory team at SECOR, responsible for client relationship management and business development. Gino has over 20 years of investment management industry experience, including time at Segal Advisors as Director of Research, UBS Paine Webber, and Neuberger Berman as a portfolio manager on the mutual fund wrap platform. Gino holds a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) in Banking and Finance from Hofstra University. In addition, he is a member of the CFA Society New York and Vice Chai...2024-08-0745 min
AAAIM High ELIBordon Lai, Managing Director, Private Equity Beach Point Capital ManagementOur guest for today’s podcast is Bordon Lai, Managing Director at Beach Point Capital Management. Bordon joined Beach Point in 2021 to help build out the firm’s private equity and special situation investing capabilities. Bordon has been in the industry for over 20 years and was previously at Quilvest Private Equity, a global multi-family office with $5B of AUM. Prior to Quilvest, Bordon worked at Pegasus Capital Advisors and Vision Capital, where he invested under a flexible mandate in opportunistic investments in the middle market. Bordon started out his career as an inve...2024-07-1045 min
AAAIM High ELIIngrid Yin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, MayTech Global Investments, “Long Term Investing in Global Innovative Companies”Our guest for today’s podcast is Ingrid Yin, Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Majority Owner of MayTech Global Investments, a New York–based firm that specializes in managing global growth portfolios. Yin started her career as a research scientist and then made a leap to the finance industry, where she worked as an analyst and honed her focus to identifying investment opportunities in Asia and in healthcare. In 2017, with her extensive global investing experience, Yin launched MayTech with her business partner, Nels Wangensteen. The investment team, based in New York City, has been investing globally on average for...2024-06-2650 min
AAAIM High ELIPam Chan, Managing Partner and CIO, Mosaic at Lingotto, “Weird and Wonderful Return Streams”Our guest for today’s podcast is Pam Chan, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Mosaic, a new private market strategy within Lingotto that will invest across asset classes, industries, and capital structures, and will be anchored by Exor. Pam’s mandate will be to invest in what she calls “the weird and wonderful” as she believes that flexible capital will create differentiated opportunities and sustained performance over the long term. Prior to joining Lingotto, Pam was the Chief Investment Officer and Head of Direct Private Opportunities at BlackRock. While at BlackRock, Pam co-founded and led the firm’...2024-06-1240 min
AAAIM High ELIAlka Goel, Founding Partner, Alkemi Growth Capital, “Leveraging my McKinsey experience to launch a Venture Capital Firm in India”Our guest for today’s podcast is Alka Goel, Founding Partner of Alkemi Growth Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage healthcare and wellness focused companies based in Delhi. Alkemi became operational in 2018 and since then has committed to 10 companies in diverse sub-sectors such as hygiene, diagnostics, pharma supply chain, women’s reproduction, data digitization, etc. Prior to Alkemi, Alka was a partner in McKinsey’s global pharma and medical device practice & private equity practice based out of New York. At McKinsey, she worked for more than 100+ health care companies, advising them on a range of business issues - incl...2024-05-151h 03
AAAIM High ELIEunice McHugh, Director of Private Credit at San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, “My Path to Building a Leading Private Credit Portfolio”Our guest for today’s podcast is Eunice McHugh, Director of Private Credit at San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (“SFERS”). Eunice is responsible for the buildout and management of the Private Credit portfolio, which has a 10% target allocation for the fund. Eunice has led SFERS' Private Credit efforts (initially as part of the Fixed Income portfolio) since she joined SFERS in early 2013. Under Eunice’s leadership, the Private Credit portfolio has delivered an annual return of 11% over the past decade, surpassing its benchmark by over 500 bps. SFERS’ Private Credit portfolio is comprised of multiple alternative credit and credit...2024-05-0855 min
AAAIM High ELIJonathan Xiong, Former Asia Pacific Co-CEO of Millennium, “Creating an Asia Focused Multi-Strategy Asset Manager”Our guest for today’s podcast is Jonathan Xiong, former Asia-Pacific Co-CEO of Millennium. After a 20+ year career in portfolio management working for some of the top investment houses in the business including Millennium, GSAM, Mellon Capital and Franklin Templeton, Jonathan has taken the bold step to start his own asset management business. I was intrigued with Jonathan’s background after reading a Bloomberg article about him launching his own Asia multi-strategy fund. The platform model is dominated by the largest and most well established firms like Millennium, Citadel, and Point 72. How could a small guy ente...2024-04-1042 min
AAAIM High ELIAmanda Moore, CEO and Co-Founder, Aurora Peak Capital, “Building a Mission-Driven Investment Firm in Affordable Housing”Our guest for today’s podcast is Amanda Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of Aurora Peak Capital, a mission-driven investment firm, dedicated to alleviating the U.S. housing affordability crisis through investments in below market-rate multifamily housing communities. Amanda's first home in the United States was an affordable housing complex in Los Angeles County. Her family were Vietnam war refugees who were rescued by the U.S. Airforce from refugee camps and flown to California and placed in a Section 8 community. Amanda is grateful for the Section 8 housing complex because it filled her childhood with happy mem...2024-03-2850 min
AAAIM High ELISoo Kim, Managing Partner and CIO, Standard General, “What it takes to be an Independent Thinker…”Our guest for today’s podcast is Soo Kim, Managing Partner and CIO of Standard General, an investment firm he started in 2007. Soo also serves as Chairman of Bally's Corporation. Soo has been investing in special situations strategies since 1997, including as co-founder of Cyrus Capital Partners from 2005 to 2007 and at Och-Ziff Capital Management from 1999 to 2005, where he was a Principal and co-founder of its fixed income business. Before joining Och-Ziff, he was an analyst for the Capital Management Group at Bankers Trust Company from 1997 to 1999. Soo holds an A.B. from the Woodrow Wilson Sch...2024-01-241h 07
AAAIM High ELIEva Ho, General Partner, Fika Ventures, “My Path to becoming an early stage tech focused Venture Capitalist”Our guest for today’s podcast is Eva Ho, General Partner of Fika Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that invests in founders solving meaningful, systemic problems through the use of data, related AI-enabled technologies, and automation. While this horizontal thesis allows Fika Ventures to be fairly sector agnostic, the firm is especially drawn to innovations in enterprise software, fintech, marketplaces, and digital health. Fika is investing out of their Fund III and has committed capital of over $300 million life to date. Prior to Fika, Eva was a founding GP at Susa Ventures. She is a...2024-01-1057 min
AAAIM High ELIMarcie Frost, CEO, CalPERS, “A Role Model for the Investment Community”Our guest for today’s podcast is Marcie Frost, Chief Executive Officer of CalPERS. Marcie joined CalPERS as CEO in October 2016. She is the ninth CEO and second woman to head America's largest pension fund. As CEO, Marcie oversees an annual budget of $1.8 billion, an experienced team of 2,800 professionals, and three lines of business for the fund: pensions, health benefits, and investments. CalPERS administers a defined benefit retirement system for more than 1.9 million California public sector workers and their families. It is the nation's second-largest purchaser of health care benefits, covering more than 1.5 million lives. CalPERS' global inv...2023-10-2553 min
AAAIM High ELIArun Assumall, Global Head, Cross Asset QIS & Commodity Investor Products, Macquarie Group, "My Path to Building a Global QIS Business at Macquarie”Our guest for today’s podcast is Arun Assumall, Global Head of Cross Asset QIS and Commodity Investor Products at Macquarie Group. Since joining Macquarie in 2011, Arun has built an impressive global business within the bank by offering sophisticated investors access to beta and risk premia strategies commonly referred to as Quantitative Investment Strategies, QIS. In a recent article published by Bloomberg, they estimate that over $370 billion in investor assets are currently tied to QIS offered by investment banks. So what does it take to build a global business from scratch? And how did Arun, who started off i...2023-08-091h 06
AAAIM High ELIAndy Lee, Managing Partner, Parallaxes Capital, “Delivering the Holy Grail for Institutional Investors - Uncorrelated Returns”Our guest for today’s podcast is Andy Lee, Managing Partner of Parallaxes Capital, an investment firm he founded in 2017 at the age of 26. Previously, Andy was with Lone Star Funds and, with Lone Star’s support, he spun off to form Parallaxes Capital to take advantage of an esoteric and growing asset class – Tax Receivable Agreements (TRAs). Andy is as smart and talented as they come, having entered college at 15 and earning his Bachelors in Finance and Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He went on to earn his Masters in Accountancy before jo...2023-07-1956 min
AAAIM High ELIDavid Ng, Vice President, Avante Capital Partners, "Meet 2023 Norman Mineta Fellow and Rising Star: David Ng"Our guest for today’s podcast is David Ng, who is a Vice President at Avante Capital Partners, a boutique private credit firm with approximately $1 bn in AUM that harnesses the power of diversity and challenges the status quo. David joined Avante in 2022 and is responsible for identifying, underwriting, executing and managing investment opportunities. David has over 10 years of middle-market debt and equity experience. Prior to Avante, David worked as a Vice President in Partners Group’s NYC office, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring, and managing middle market credit investments across a divers...2023-06-1452 min
AAAIM High ELISarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Fellow of the Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, “A Learning Mindset and the Importance of Learning Agility in LeadeOur guest for today’s podcast is Sarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Fellow of the Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and who most recently served as Acting Secretary of the Dept of Banking for Commonwealth of PA and has now returned to her love for private capital investing and financial technology. She is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, teaching a course on financial regulation and alternative investments. No stranger to public service, she also previously worked at the...2023-05-3146 min
AAAIM High ELIPedro Ramos, CEO, Somar Capital Management, “Starting a Long/Short Hedge Fund is Hard…. But my timeline is infinite…”Our guest for today’s podcast is Pedro Ramos, CEO of Somar Capital Management, a consumer focused equity long/short hedge fund he started in 2015 after perfecting his craft as a portfolio manager at Tremblant Capital. Pedro combines strategy consulting, investment banking, entrepreneurial and buy-side public and private investing experience in multiple industries and countries. His investing activities have spanned multiple macro-economic and political scenarios (including the 1980s inflation, the 1990s dot.com bubble, the 2008 GFC, sovereign crisis, Brexit, and the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic). Joining me as guest co-host on this podc...2023-05-1750 min
AAAIM High ELIDamien Dwin, Founder and CEO, Lafayette Square, “Private Credit Investment With an Impact Lens”Our guest for today’s podcast is Damien Dwin, Founder and CEO of Lafayette Square, a national investment platform he founded in November 2020. Lafayette Square aims to create investment opportunities in overlooked places and underserved markets. We invest across asset classes and seek to provide robust risk-adjusted returns to investors while positively supporting people and communities. By increasing access to economic opportunity, Lafayette Square is helping to build a more inclusive American economy. Previously, Damien served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors for 10 years, and prior to that, Damien had a very successful Wal...2023-04-2651 min
AAAIM High ELIChris Shen, Co-Founder and COO, Revere VC, “Building the Morningstar of Venture Capital”Our guest for today’s podcast is Chris Shen, Co-Founder and COO of Revere VC, a start-up that he co-founded with Eric Woo, a veteran of the venture capital fund of fund business. Revere VC is looking to become “the Morningstar of Venture Capital” and is building the first rating system for evaluating early-stage venture capital firms. Chris’ professional work experience is deep and wide where he has spent time as an investor and lawyer for over 15 years in the US and Greater China across public and private investments, asset management, and financial products. 2023-04-1953 min
AAAIM High ELIVictor Hu, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Lumos Capital Group, "Growth Equity Investing to drive Human Flourishing through Education and Workforce Development"Our guest for today’s podcast is Victor Hu, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Lumos Capital Group, an investment firm focused on growth companies in the human capital development and education technology sectors globally. Lumos partners with companies that are creating better outcomes for individuals and institutions in the learning, teaching and talent markets. Victor believes deeply in the power of education to transform society and help people reach their full potential. Growing up in Asia and Africa, he saw how a commitment to investing in human capital is the foundation for lifting entire societies out of...2023-04-0555 min
AAAIM High ELIJonathan Grabel, CIO, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA), “Authenticity, Character, and Humility: CIO Superpowers”Our guest for today’s podcast is Jon Grabel, CIO of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, also known as LACERA. In his role, Jon has the responsibility for managing over $70 billion in AUM on behalf of LACERA’s active and retired members. Prior to LACERA, Jon was the CIO for New Mexico PERA and the Montgomery County Public Schools. In total, Jon has served the important role of CIO for over 12 years in the second act of his highly accomplished career. Previously, Jon was a general partner at a private equity firm focused on growth-s...2023-03-1753 min
AAAIM High ELIEllen Hung, Deputy CIO, State Universities Retirement System, “Meet the $22 billion pension with over 40% of the portfolio managed by diverse firms”Our guest for today’s podcast is Ellen Hung, Deputy CIO at the State Universities Retirement System (also knowns as SURS), which is based in Champaign, Illinois. As Deputy CIO, Ellen oversees over $22bn in fund assets and works closely with the CIO on asset allocation and implementing new initiatives across the fund. More recently, Ellen helped to develop SURS’ Crisis Risk sleeve which includes allocations to systematic trend following managers, long duration managers, as well as alternative risk premia managers. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ellen given we share many common experiences growing up as kids of Chinese immigra...2023-02-2256 min
AAAIM High ELIAnthony Chiu, Deputy CIO, Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, “My Path to becoming Deputy CIO of Kentucky Public Pensions Authority $22bn Pension Fund”Our guest for today’s podcast is Anthony Chiu, Deputy CIO at the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority based in Louisville, Kentucky. As Deputy CIO, Anthony is part of a team of 4 that oversees approximately $22 bn in fund assets. Anthony’s specific focus is on the fund’s private equity and alternatives program. Anthony is as talented as they come, having graduated as valedictorian of his high school, attending Stanford, and qualifying as a contestant on the game show, Jeopardy! In 2016, after spending his formative years learning the craft of private equity at GE, being an equity long/short analyst at a hedge fu...2023-02-0849 min
AAAIM High ELIGretchen Tai, VP, Investments, CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer, “Meet the woman who has done it all in finance…. Banker, Consultant, Corporate Development, CIO, Portfolio Manager, and Asset Allocator”Our guest for today’s podcast is Gretchen Tai, VP of Investments at CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer. In her role, Gretchen effectively serves as the CIO and has a team of 7 investment professionals that oversees $10 billion in assets. Gretchen joined CSAA in 2019 after serving as a portfolio manager at SECOR Asset Management, a boutique global asset management firm known for providing comprehensive and customized solutions to a wide array of institutional clients. Prior to that, Gretchen spent 13 years at HP, including the last 6 years as the CIO of HP’s pension and 401(k) assets. So what does it take for...2023-01-231h 08
AAAIM High ELIScott Chan, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)Our guest for today’s podcast is Scott Chan, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (better known as CalSTRS). CalSTRS is the largest teachers’ retirement system and second largest public pension fund in the United States. A world-class financial services institution and state agency, CalSTRS is known for its unique organizational culture which emphasizes customer service, leadership and respect for its members and colleagues. What a pleasure it was for me and fellow AAAIM Board member, Susan Soh, to hear Scott’s background and his path to becoming one of the most po...2022-12-221h 05
AAAIM High ELIAmie Patel, CEO, Elevar Equity, "No Trade-Offs: Aligning Impact with Financial Returns"Our guest for today’s podcast is Amie Patel, CEO of Elevar Equity, a venture capital impact firm with headquarters in India. Elevar Equity fuels the economic resilience and vibrancy of underserved customers and low income communities by investing early growth capital in entrepreneurs building at the intersection of inclusivity, affordability and massive scale. Led by an entrepreneurial emerging markets team passionate about addressing issues of access and inequity, Elevar invests in businesses that demonstrate a direct correlation between high impact and returns. So far in its 15-year journey, the Elevar Method of investing has democratized essential prod...2022-12-0757 min
AAAIM High ELIBrian O’Neil, CIO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, "What a privilege it's been to serve the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation"Our guest for today’s podcast is Brian O’Neil, Chief Investment Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Brian is a legend in the business and has been at the helm of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the past 20 years helping to grow its foundation to well over $14 billion in AUM. Effective January 1st, 2023, Brian will be retiring from his role as CIO. What a pleasure it was for me and AAAIM Executive Committee Board Co-Chair Brenda Chia to interview Brian, a long time supporter of AAAIM since its founding in 2006. In addition to being...2022-11-231h 01
AAAIM High ELIJane Ma, Managing Director, Moelis & Company, “What it takes to become a Successful M&A Banker”Our guest for today’s podcast is Jane Ma who is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where she specializes in advising clients in the Asset Management and Wealth Management sector. She has over 15 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Jane worked at both Greenhill and Deutsche Bank focusing on M&A. Jane holds a B.S. in Applied Economics & Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. I met Jane at AAAIM’s National Conference in September and I found her to be pleasant, confident and...2022-11-1652 min
AAAIM High ELIEugene Zhang, Founder & Partner, TSVC “The Art Behind VC Seed Investing and Finding 9 Unicorns”Our guest for today’s podcast is Eugene Zhang, Founder & Partner of TSVC, a venture capital firm he started in 2010 to focus on seed stage investing. An engineer by training, Eugene spent his formative years working for a number of the top tech companies in our time including Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Juniper Networks. After successfully selling his own side hustle tech startup, Eugene took an interest in angel investing, subsequently catapulting his second career as a venture capitalist. TSVC is now on its 5th fund in 12 years. It’s first fund is known for having i...2022-10-1956 min
AAAIM High ELIGrace Chen, CEO, Upmarket, “Unlocking Private Markets for Accredited Investors”Our guest for today’s podcast is Grace Chen, Founder and CEO of Upmarket. Upmarket opens up alternative investment opportunities to qualified individual investors. Qualified investors now have direct access to selected private equity, hedge funds and other alternative private fund offerings with lower investment minimums, simplified online subscription and post reporting process. UpMarket aims to serve those who want to achieve a truly diversified portfolio by giving them exceptional alternative investment opportunities. Some of upmarket’s past deals include pre-IPO shares in Space X and Bytedance and one of their current deals provides access to And...2022-09-1454 min
AAAIM High ELIAmy Chen, Chief Investment Officer, Smithsonian Institution “Wisdom from one of the top CIOs in the business...”Our guest for today’s podcast is Amy Chen, Chief Investment Officer at the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, educational and research complex. Amy oversees overall investment strategy and management of the institution’s endowment. Under Amy’s leadership since 2006, the investment office has grown from $800 million to $2.5 billion while distributing $1 billion along the way… not bad! Amy credits the culture of the organization and why having the right governance structure is key to being successful and maintaining the high level of success over time. Fun fact: her senior leadership team’s average tenure is over 1...2022-08-311h 03
AAAIM High ELIFiona Lui, COO, Financial Solutions, Bloomberg LP - "My secret to achieving long term career success - the art of Curling"Our guest for today’s podcast is Fiona Lui, who is the Chief Operating Officer for Financial Solutions at Bloomberg LP. Over a 22+ year career in finance, Fiona has enjoyed amazing success climbing the corporate ladder at various investment banks as well as at Bloomberg, the market leader for financial data and news. Capital markets, structured derivatives, structured product sales, market data specialist, Head of Sales, COO…. Fiona has thrived in all of these roles and shares some of the secrets to her success on this podcast. Without further ado, please enjoy o...2022-08-1745 min
AAAIM High ELIYing Cao, Founder and CEO, LIYT and Co-Founder, Work in Fintech “Leaving Wall Street, Finding Purpose, and Making More Money”Our guest for today’s podcast is Ying Cao, Founder and CEO, LIYT, an executive coaching firm and Co-Founder of Work in Fintech, an educational and recruiting firm launched to inspire and guide students, graduates, and young professionals to a career in fintech and web3. After a 14+ year career on Wall Street, Ying wasn’t happy and, after some inner soul searching and helped by an executive coach, she decided to leave a lucrative job on Wall Street to start two different companies. While the decision didn’t come easy, Ying is now living her best lif...2022-08-031h 01
AAAIM High ELIYing Hosler, Former Director of Investments, Penn State Endowment, “My Path to becoming an Endowment Allocator”Our guest for today’s podcast is Ying Hosler, who was most recently Director of Investments at Penn State University’s investment office. Over a 13+ year career, Ying has been a major driving force behind Penn State’s success helping to grow total assets from $1B to over $6.5B. Ying was the 3rd investment professional hired at Penn State and oversaw all investment activities for the endowment’s Private Equity and Venture Capital over the past six years.Previously, Ying was responsible for leading the endowment’s Global Public Equity portfolio. Ying has been instrumental in setting up...2022-07-2052 min
AAAIM High ELIHailey Ji, Founder HULA, “Entrepreneur Spotlight: Why I started HULA - helping people find like-minded new friends to attend events together"Our guest for today’s podcast is Hailey Ji, Founder of HULA, a community-driven friend discovery platform that connects like-minded people and propels meaningful relationships through shared offline experiences. Another way to think about HULA is a Bumble or Tinder app to find friends to attend cool events together, whether it be a Coldplay concert or an anime themed launch party. I met Hailey at the Asian Hustle Network Conference in Las Vegas and I found her to be full of energy and optimism, two attributes that are definitely necessary for a start-up entrepreneur. Hailey is a...2022-07-0636 min
AAAIM High ELIHelen Hwang, Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales, “$30 Billion and Counting… Becoming the Most Trusted Commercial Real Estate Advisor in NYC”Our guest for today’s podcast is Helen Hwang, Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales. Helen is Head of the Institutional Investment Sales Group and is known as the most trusted commercial real estate advisor in NYC. Over a 23+ year career in commercial real estate in NYC, Helen has executed over 100 institutional sales and recapitalization transactions exceeding $30 billion in value. Prior to joining Meridian, in 2015, Helen spent 16 years at Cushman & Wakefield as an Executive Vice President, as the head of NYC Investment Sales. I truly enjoyed interviewing Helen for this podcast as...2022-06-011h 06
AAAIM High ELIEd Cong, Principal, Marathon Asset Management, “My Path to becoming a Hedge Fund Portfolio Manager”Podcast Specific Introduction (unique for each podcast): Our guest for today’s podcast is Ed Cong, Principal at Marathon Asset Management, which was founded by Bruce Richards and Louis Hanover in 1998 and currently manages over $23bn as of this recording. Marathon is among the few storied asset management firms that has built an amazing brand over the past 20+ years. Ed joined the firm in 2006 and has risen to become a member of the investment committee. Not only has Ed survived over 16 years at a top hedge fund, but he has thrived, helping the firm navigate the globa...2022-05-1834 min
AAAIM High ELISadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner, I Squared Capital Title: “Doing Good and Doing Well by Investors”Our guest for today’s podcast is Sadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner of I Squared Capital. He is an American economist and investor who focuses on infrastructure investments. Sadek began his career as an economist for the World Bank, where he worked on the social dimensions of structural adjustment. He subsequently joined Lehman Brothers and then Morgan Stanley, where he worked on structured financing. While with Morgan Stanley, Sadek launched Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and was Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure. In 2012, Sadek made the entrepreneurial leap and formed I Squared Capital, a U.S.-based priv...2022-05-0444 min
AAAIM High ELICindy Chen Delano, Co-Founder and Partner, Invictus Global Management, “Grit, Hustle, Perseverance: my entrepreneurial path”Our guest for today’s podcast is Cindy Chen Delano, Co-Founder and Partner of Invictus Global Management, an emerging and diverse manager focused on opportunistic large-scale special situations across credit, bankruptcy claims and litigation finance. Along with her Co-Founder and former Whitebox Advisors colleague, Amit Patel, Cindy successfully launched Invictus Global Management in 2019 and the firm now manages $200 million in assets in private equity-like vehicles. Cindy has been an underdog all her life and her story really hits home for all of us chasing the American dream. From her early days as an immigrant settling in New York...2022-04-201h 01
AAAIM High ELIJames Liang, Founder, Skyline Ventures, “PDD, SHEIN, TikTok… Why Venture in China continues to thrive?”Our guest for today’s podcast is James Liang, Founder of Skyline Ventures, a Shanghai-based venture capital firm that invests in outbound opportunities from China to the rest of the world. James has an impressive background given his 10 year experience in venture capital, including almost 4 years at Sequoia Capital China in his formative years. As many of you know, I am a big champion of the underdog and James’ story resonates with all of us that didn’t have all the advantages growing up. Like many families growing up in the 1980’s in rural China, James’ fami...2022-04-1145 min
AAAIM High ELISeamon Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Palm Drive Capital. “Channeling Buffett: Why we started our Venture Capital in our 20’s”Our guest for today’s podcast is Seamon Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Palm Drive Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in early-growth companies with strong ideas and teams both in Silicon Valley and emerging tech centers around the world. Along with his Co-Founder and Stanford classmate, Hendrick Lee, Seamon launched Palm Drive Capital in 2014 while still in their 20’s after being inspired by Warren Buffett who said that “his only regret was not starting Berkshire Hathway earlier in this career.” Seamon takes us through his upbringing and early influences and shares his story about how he bro...2022-03-3138 min
AAAIM High ELIGayatri Sarkar, Founder and General Partner, Advaita Capital “A Venture Capital Firm focused on Minority Entrepreneurs in Tech”Our guest for today’s podcast is Gayatri Sarkar, Founder and General Partner of Advaita Capital, a venture capital firm she started in 2021. Advaita’s mission is to put more women and minority entrepreneurs on a path to IPO leveraging their expertise in DEI and ESG in making mainstream tech investments. Many of you may know Gayatri from her She-VC videos on youtube, a podcast she launched to quite simply get more women funded. Through story telling and conversations, She-VC has featured women GPs, women LPs, and managers all around the world. Gayatri is as unique a...2022-02-2355 min
AAAIM High ELIDavid Chiang, Chief Investment Officer, Pritzker Family Foundations. “Career Success, Family, Community Impact and a decent golf game...who says you can't balance it all?"Our guest for today’s podcast is David Chiang, Chief Investment Officer of Pritzker Family Foundations where he leads Ganesh Investments, the company that provides investment advisory services to the Funds and Partnerships group of PSP Partners and its affiliates. Ganesh Investments also provides investment advisory services to multiple Pritzker families and their foundations. Prior to joining Ganesh Investments in 2021, David was the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Idyllic Partners, an outsourced CIO firm. Previously, David served as Head of External Funds at Soros Fund Management, Managing Director at Wilshire Private Markets and has also worked for GIC.2022-02-0940 min
AAAIM High ELIShuo Chen, General Partner at IOVC and Faculty at UC Berkeley “Early Stage Venture Capital Investing”Our guest for today’s podcast is Shuo Chen who is a General Partner at Innovation Overflow Venture Capital, also known as IOVC, where she has invested in 60-plus seed-stage startups focused on the future of work. Shuo is also on the faculty of UC Berkeley College of Engineering and Singularity University, where she has taught and mentored hundreds of students since 2010. Shuo’s investments have been acquired by companies from Goldman Sachs to Instacart, and she's helped close deals with the likes of Amazon and NASA. Shuo serves as one of 13 voting members on California's Mental Health...2022-01-261h 01
AAAIM High ELICynthia Tseng, Partner, Fairview Capital Partners “Diversity as Source of Competitive Advantage”Our guest for today’s podcast is Cynthia Tseng who is a Partner at Fairview Capital Partners, one of the longest running private equity fund of funds in the business. I hold Fairview in very high regard given that diversity has been woven into the fabric of their organization since the firm’s beginning. Fairview was founded in 1994 by Laurence Morse and Jo-Ann Price and prides itself on being one of the top managers for sourcing, evaluating and partnering with emerging managers in the venture capital space. I’ve known Cindy through our time together serving on AAAIM’s b...2022-01-1259 min
AAAIM High ELIRoger Sit, CEO, Sit Investment Associates, Inc. “40+ Years of Excellence in Money Management”Our guest for today’s podcast is Roger Sit, CEO, Sit Investment Associates, Inc which manages $16.6 billion in assets for institutional and individual clients with investments in both domestic and international markets. As the global chief investment officer, Roger leads the firm’s Investment Policy Committee and directs investments in custom separately-managed accounts, private investment funds, and mutual funds portfolios. Prior to joining Sit Investment Associates, Roger was vice president and senior equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York for seven years. He joined Goldman Sachs & Co. after receiving an M.B.A. degree...2022-01-0544 min
AAAIM High ELISarah Chen, Co-Founder & Investor, The Billion Dollar Fund for Women / Beyond the Billion. “Finding My Passion: Unlocking the Female Potential in Venture Capital”Our guest for today’s podcast is Sarah Chen, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of The Billion Dollar Fund for Women/ Beyond The Billion (BTB), a global consortium of 100+ venture capital funds and limited partner investors that have now pledged to and are actively deploying beyond US$1Bn to be invested into women-founded companies. Previously, Sarah pioneered a corporate venture capital spin-out within a $13Bn Asian conglomerate, investing into later-stage biotechnology companies. Determined to see more women at the helm, Sara sits on multiple boards, including 131 & Counting, a bipartisan effort to fete the unprecedented number of women serving in the House and Sena...2021-12-2954 min
AAAIM High ELISoo Chuen Tan, Founder and President of Discerene Group. "Channeling Buffett: Never Overpaying, Being Patient, Holding Stocks Forever..."Our guest for today’s podcast is Soo Chuen Tan, Founder & President of Discerene Group, an investment firm he started in 2010 channeling core investment principles practiced by the great value investors of our time. If you were to sketch out how a value investor should invest: never overpaying for stocks, being greedy when others are fearful, not being afraid to be contrarian, being patient, having an ownership mentality, understanding moats and competitive advantages, holding stocks forever…. Soo Chuen has implemented all of these disciplines and more at his firm. As an Asian American founder of an investment firm t...2021-12-011h 09
AAAIM High ELICarey Lai, Founding Member and Managing Director, Conductive Ventures, “My Path to starting my own Venture Capital Firm”Our guest for today’s podcast is Carey Lai, Founding Member and Managing Director at Conductive Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in expansion stage companies with a focus on software, hardware, and technology enabled services. In 2016, after a 12 year career in venture capital working for two of the best in the business: Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Intel Capital, Carey left his job in pursuing the dream of most venture capitalists, starting his own venture capital firm. After over a year, 150+ investor meetings, and failing to secure enough capital to run their strategy, Care...2021-11-2459 min
AAAIM High ELIAaron Yoon, Assistant Professor of Accounting & Information Management, Northwestern University “Becoming a Leading Academic on ESG Investing”Our guest for today’s podcast is Aaron Yoon, Assistant Professor of Accounting & Information Management at Northwestern University. According to the Financial Times, his research on ESG was a turning point on how investors viewed and integrated ESG information and the methodologies suggested in his research have been widely implemented by asset owners and investment managers. He has presented his research to academics, regulators, and practitioners around the World and his work has been regularly cited in outlets such as Barron's, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He also received multi...2021-11-171h 00
AAAIM High ELITanya Kemp, Managing Director, Private Markets at SFERs/ Anita Ng, Managing Director, Private Investments at Cambridge Associates "Private Equity Perspectives from Two Female Powerhouse Allocators"We have two special guests for our podcast today: Anita Ng, MD for Private Investments @ Cambridge Associates and Tanya Kemp, MD and Head of Private Markets at San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. Anita has more than 25 years of investment experience, 15 of those managing client portfolios at Cambridge Associates (a global advisory investment firm responsible for advising on over $500B in aum). She is a trusted advisor to a broad group of institutional clients, including endowments and foundations, public pension plans, and private clients. In 2020, Anita was named in Chief Investment Officer’s annual list of Knowledge Brokers, a list of the...2021-11-031h 01
AAAIM High ELIRandy Cohen, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer and Co-Founder, PEO Partners “Building the Holy Grail: Liquid Private Equity Replication”Our guest for today’s podcast is Randy Cohen, Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. Randy is one of the most likeable professors in the business and has been at the top of teaching profession for over 20 years at HBS and MIT.More recently, along with his co-founder, Jean-Louis Lelogeais, Randy launched PEO Partners, an asset management firm that specializes in liquid private equity alternative offerings. I truly enjoyed my wide ranging conversation with Randy as he shares his perspective on the path to becoming a professor, the obstacles he has overcome being bl...2021-10-201h 05
AAAIM High ELILes Baquiran, Founder at Alpine Capital Advisors “Building Relationships and Connections”Our guest for today’s podcast is Les Baquiran, Founder of Alpine Capital Advisors, a leading placement agent that advises and raises assets for asset managers and businesses. Les is well known in the industry and, during the early months of the COVID pandemic in 2020, launched the Alpine Annual Asian Leaders in Investment virtual summit that has taken place the last two years in honor of Asian Awareness Month and in the support of UNICEF. I found Les to be particularly insightful and humble and a real master at cultivating and building relationships. Les takes us through his...2021-10-061h 01
AAAIM High ELIChristina Qi, Chief Executive Officer, Databento “Not being Afraid to Fail”Our guest for today’s podcast is Christina Qi, Chief Executive Officer of Databento, an on-demand market data platform she co-founded after spending several years running a high frequency trading hedge fund. Earlier this year, Christina and her co-founder raised $7.5 million in seed funding to build out “their data-as-a-service” solution for the financial industry. I very much enjoyed interviewing Christina as I found her to be quite authentic and transparent about her failures and missteps in her career. But as the great Winston Churchill once said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss in enthusiasm...2021-09-2957 min
AAAIM High ELIDave Liu, Author, The Way of the Wall Street Warrior “What 30 Years on Wall Street and Silicon Valley has taught me as an Entrepreneur, Advisor, Investor, and Philanthropist”Our guest for today’s podcast is Dave Liu, a 30-Year Veteran of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Dave is an entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, advisor who has raised over $15 billion for hundreds of companies, and investor in multiple billion dollar exits. He is passionate about advancing new ideas in technology and entertainment, and supporting philanthropic causes for disadvantaged groups. He is a creator who enjoys writing books and drawing cartoons. I asked Bennett Kim, one of AAAIM’s founding board members, to conduct this podcast with Dave as they have been good friends since atten...2021-09-221h 01
AAAIM High ELISona Menon, Partner Head of North American Pensions and Outsourced CIO at Cambridge Associates, “My Path to becoming Outsourced CIO"Our guest for today’s podcast is Sona Menon who is a Partner at Cambridge Associates. Sona serves as an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer and adviser to institutional clients such as pensions, endowments, and healthcare institutions. She is directly responsible for overseeing over $20 billion in assets. Cambridge Associates is a global investment firm that focuses on building and managing investment portfolios for institutional clients such as endowments, foundations, pensions, and private clients. They have over $500 billion in assets under management/advisement. As a woman and minority, Sona is a role model for us...2021-09-0851 min
AAAIM High ELIEric Nierenberg, Chief Strategy Officer, MassPRIM, “Building a Diverse Team and the Value of Diversity”Our guest for today’s podcast is Eric Nierenberg, Chief Strategy Officer for the $80 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (MassPRIM) where he has been responsible for hedge funds and low vol strategies and over time, became the CSO. He is a “jack of all trades”, leading a team in asset allocation, risk mgmt., research, Real Assets and the Portfolio Completion Strategies effort. PRIM is known for a more active investment approach oftentimes including more esoteric strategies but also direct investments and SMAs allowing them to invest with and support highly talented but smaller, emerging managers. Eric...2021-09-0155 min
AAAIM High ELIPooja Malik, CEO & Founder Partner, Nipun Capital “From BGI to Nipun: Path to starting my Hedge Fund"Our guest for today’s podcast is Pooja Malik, CEO & Founding Partner of Nipun Capital. Pooja founded Nipun Capital in 2011 after a very successful career at Barclays Global Investors (BGI) where she was promoted quickly to become one of the youngest Managing Directors at the firm after successfully turning around BGI’s active small cap equity strategy. I very much enjoyed interviewing Pooja given she has been a perenial “underdog” all her life but has tackled every conceivable obstacle and overcome them by leaps and bounds. As the middle child and daughter of a strong Indian mother who raised...2021-08-2551 min
AAAIM High ELIJ.Dennis Jean-Jacques, Founder & CIO, Ocean Park Investments, “Betting on Yourself, Why I started my Hedge Fund”Our guest for today’s podcast is Dennis Jean-Jacques, Founder & CIO of Ocean Park Investments. Dennis is what I would characterize a “Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, Michael Price, and John Rogers” influenced value ninja… as he has spent the last 25 years perfecting his craft: studying, working with, and being mentored by these investment legends. Starting a hedge fund without seed capital is hard. In fact, the probability for success is miniscule. Despite these odds, Dennis took the leap in 2016 to launch Ocean Park, given his prior 10 year successful track record running equity long/short absolute return portfo...2021-08-1852 min
AAAIM High ELIDr. Ranjan Bhaduri, Founder & CEO, Bodhi Research Group, “Why I started my own Independent Alternative Investment Consulting Firm”Our guest for today’s podcast is Dr. Ranjan Bhaduri, Founder & CEO of Bodhi Research Group. After spending 15 years as a researcher and asset allocator in alternative investments working with a number of top investment firms, Ranjan decided to hang up his own shingle and start Bodhi Research Group to provide advisory, research and education in the alternatives investments space. Bodhi’s clients include some of the leading institutional investors and family offices in the field, including past assignments with top Canadian pension plans and Sovereign Wealth funds. Bodhi prides itself as being independent and completely unconflicted. I found...2021-08-1159 min
AAAIM High ELIBarbara Byrne, Former Vice Chairman of Investment Banking, Barclays and Lehman Brothers “Shattering the Glass Ceiling”Our guest for today’s podcast is Barbara Byrne, Former Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Barclays and Lehman Brothers. I had the good fortune of getting to know Barbara during my time at Barclays and she is quite simply a legend in the business. Inspirational leader, money maker, glass ceiling breaker, relentless motivator, role model, and comedian – these are all things I think about when I think about Barbara. Not many can say that they survived almost 40 years in the ultra competitive world of investment banking, but Barbara can and she did it with grace and character, leaving behind...2021-08-041h 09
AAAIM High ELIDeepak Gurnani, Founder and Managing Partner, Versor Investments and Thiago de Freitas, Senior Portfolio Manager, Liquid Alternatives, UPS Group Trust “The Search for Uncorrelated Alpha: Systematic Global Macro”Our guests for today’s podcast are Deepak Gurnani, Founder and Managing Partner, Versor Investments (formerly known as ARP Investments) and Thiago de Freitas, Portfolio Manager for Liquid Alternatives, UPS Group Trust. Alpha is hard to come by, but uncorrelated alpha is even more rare. I wanted to dive deep into a hedge fund strategy that was truly uncorrelated to equity beta as well as long duration rate/credit beta. When discussing the topic with Thiago, one of the best in the business with a keen eye for uncorrelated alpha, he suggested a conversation with Deepak Gurnani who r...2021-07-281h 02
AAAIM High ELISeema Hingorani, MD, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Founder & Chair, Girls Who Invest. "Paving the Way and Inspiring tomorrow's Women Investment Leaders"Our guest for today’s podcast is Seema Hingorani, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Founder/Chair of Girls Who Invest, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry. As part of the senior leadership team at MSIM, Seema is focused on strategic client relationships, investment talent development and diversity initiatives; She is part of the Diversity Council and Diversity and Inclusion Senior Leaders Advisory Council. Seema brings a unique perspective as she had been on the sellside as a banker and research analyst the...2021-07-221h 32
AAAIM High ELIElizabeth Burton, CIO, Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii and Lindsay Burton, Founder and President, Kayo Conference Series “The Burton Sisters: Trailblazers and Leading by Example”Our guests for today’s podcast are Elizabeth Burton, Chief Investment Officer, Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii and Lindsay Burton, Founder and President of the Kayo Conference Series. Elizabeth and Lindsay are two trailblazers and extraordinary women in the finance industry and they happen to be sisters. As CIO for Hawaii, Elizabeth is responsible for overseeing over $17 billion in assets for over 145,000 beneficiaries. That is a lot of responsibility, but for those who know Elizabeth, she is a task master and just knows how to get stuff done! Equally as impressive is the succ...2021-07-1548 min
AAAIM High ELIGinger Lew, Co-Founder of AAAIM and CEO, Three Oaks Investments, LLC - “What it took: Achieving Career Success in both the Public and Private Sectors”Our guest for today’s podcast is Ginger Lew, who along with Maeley Tom, conceived and co-founded AAAIM in 2006. Not surprising, it took two awesome Asian women to get AAAIM started! Ginger has enjoyed amazing success in her career in both the public and private sectors, having served under the Clinton and Obama administrations in key roles and more recently having helped to start, operate and sell a very successful infrastructure company. I asked Bennett Kim, one of AAAIM’s founding board members, to conduct this podcast with Ginger given their long and special relationship togethe...2021-07-0555 min
AAAIM High ELICarrie Lo, CFA, CAIA, Portfolio Manager, CalSTRS' Risk Mitigating Strategies "The Woman behind CalSTRS' $25 billion+ uncorrelated portfolio"Our guest for today’s podcast is Carrie Lo, Portfolio Manager for the $25B Risk Mitigating Strategies group at CalSTRS (one of the largest public plans in the US) where she has led the venture into hedge funds, specifically those uncorrelated strategies to equities especially in global macro, trend following strategies and systematic risk premia. Carrie takes us through her personal and professional path from investment banker turned venture startup to hedge fund investor before landing at CalSTRS over 12 years ago. Her journey took her from CA to NY to London (with some time in HK) an...2021-06-2948 min
AAAIM High ELIDeborah Way, Managing Director, Global Markets & Fintech, Sheffield Haworth “An Asian Female MD Perspective: When to leave, how to get promoted, getting paid fairly, taking ownership of your career”Our guest for today’s podcast is Deborah Way, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Markets Recruiting for Sheffield Haworth, a leading global executive search and talent advisory firm. After spending over 20+ years in various roles in Global Markets both as a producer and desk head, Deborah made the transition to become a recruiter after leaving Barclays in 2019. From her early days growing up in Wyoming to the campus of Princeton University to the trading floors of Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Barclays, Deborah takes us through her journey rising to MD and heading up hig...2021-06-2358 min
AAAIM High ELIJosh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, Harvard Business School “AAAIM Bella Research Study of AAPI Representation and Performance in the Asset Management Industry”Our guest for today’s podcast is Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School. This podcast is a replay of an AAAIM Virtual Webinar held in late 2020 and discusses the findings from an AAAIM commissioned study by Bella Private Markets, a consulting firm led by Professor Lerner. The AAAIM Study is the first in the market to quantify AAPIs’ representation, AUM, and performance. The results uncover a disturbingly low representation of AAPI ownership compared to the community’s population in the U.S. and other relevant benchmarks. In addition, the returns delivered by AAPI-spo...2021-06-1429 min
AAAIM High ELIJason Hsu, Founder and CIO, Rayliant Global Advisors “Taking my Shot: Leaving Research Affiliates to build Rayliant”Our guest for today’s podcast is Jason Hsu, Founder and CIO of Rayliant Global Advisors. Jason spun Rayliant out of Research Affiliates in 2016 after a very successful stint as co-founder of Research Affiliates with legendary thought leader and finance guru, Rob Arnott. At present, Rayliant has $26+ billion in AUM linked to its strategies and, beginning in 2021, launched an ETF in the US, symbol: RAYC, the Rayliant Quantamental China Equity ETF which is designed to give US investors access to beta in China A shares market. Jason takes us through his path attending top universities including Caltech, Stanford and UCLA culmin...2021-06-0756 min
AAAIM High ELIGeeta Kapadia, Associate Treasurer, Investments, Yale New Haven Health “My Path to leading a $5 billion Pool of Investment Assets”Our guest for today’s podcast is Geeta Kapadia, Associate Treasurer, Investments at Yale New Haven Health where she leads a team of 5 that manages a $5 billion pool of investment assets. Geeta takes us through her personal and professional path globetrotting the world before landing at Yale New Haven Health over 12 years ago. In 2020, Geeta was named the Associate Treasurer for Investments effectively the CIO, a highly coveted position in the allocator world. I found Geeta to be very personable, approachable, and welcoming. Geeta is a role model for investment professionals aspirin...2021-05-311h 06
AAAIM High ELIRendel Solomon, Strategic Advisor to Goalsetter and Founder of One Stock One Future “Sharecropper to Shareholder”Our guest for today’s podcast is Rendel Solomon, Strategic Advisor to Goalsetter and Founder of One Stock One Future. I sought out Rendel after watching his TedXChicago Talk called “Sharecropper to Shareholder.” One word comes to mind when I think about Rendel, his vision for the future, and his selflessness to make his vision a reality: PROFOUND. Rendel is the rare example of someone who has actually left high finance and a high paying job in private equity in his pursuit to change the trajectory of future generations: the mission for One Stock One Future is...2021-05-241h 05
AAAIM High ELILorence Kim, Venture Partner, Third Rock Ventures / Former CFO, Moderna “A Lifetime of Preparation and Hard Work / My Role in Fighting COVID-19”Our guest for today’s podcast is Lorence Kim, Venture Partner, Third Rock Ventures and Former CFO of Moderna. If there was ever someone you wanted to picture as having a perfect life, that’s Lorence. Lorence graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, then went on to earn a dual degree (Doctor of Medicine and MBA) from Penn. Upon graduation, he joined Goldman Sachs and rose through the ranks becoming a Managing Director and co-head of the Biotechnology Investment Banking division. In 2014, Lorence pivoted and joined a little known biotechnology firm called Moderna. The rest is history!!! What I admire about Lore...2021-05-1753 min
AAAIM High ELISammy Suzuki, Co-CIO of Strategic Core Equities, AllianceBernstein “My Path to becoming Co-CIO and Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling”Our guest for today’s podcast is Sammy Suzuki, Co-CIO of Strategic Core Equities at AllianceBernstein, also known as AB, a $686 billion research driven, asset manager. Over a 26+ year career at AB, Sammy shares his perspective and experience on what it took for him to climb the corporate ladder at AB, shattering the bamboo ceiling, and building out a new $12 billion AUM business. I tried to get Sammy to pound his chest a bit more on the podcast but he wouldn’t take the bait being his Asian self, ha ha. Note to audience, what he has accomplished at AB is no s...2021-05-1057 min
AAAIM High ELIEvelyn Chen, Founder and Portfolio Manager, Grand Alliance Asset Management “The Secret Required to be a Great Stock Picker: Patience and Dissecting Insects”Our guest for today’s podcast is Evelyn Chen, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Grand Alliance Asset Management, an asset management firm focused on growth equity in Asia with a specific expertise in Taiwan and China. What I love about interviewing different portfolio managers is the individual stories on what it takes to be the best at their craft. Growing up, Evelyn’s initial interest was to become a biologist given her love of insects and the patience required to be an expert in dissecting insects and understanding how they function. Luckily for investors, she pivoted...2021-05-0356 min
AAAIM High ELIMaeley Tom, California State Legislature Extraordinaire and Founding Co-Chair of AAAIM “I’m Not Who You Think I Am…”Our guest for today’s podcast is Maeley Tom, California State Legislature Extraordinaire and Founding Co-Chair of AAAIM. I stepped aside for this podcast and asked Gordon Liao, AAAIM Board Vice-Chair and ELI Committee Chair, to conduct this interview given their long history and friendship. In listening to Maeley’s story, I have to admit that a few (happy) tears came to my eyes, after hearing about her upbringing. Maeley touches upon many important topics including being on her own from the age of 16, how she developed the grit to be successful, her views on the cur...2021-04-2655 min
AAAIM High ELISusan Oh, Director – ESG Research and Currency Hedging at PA PSERS “Put Yourself in the CIO’s Shoes and Be the Change You Want to See”Our guest for today’s podcast is Susan Oh, a 25 year veteran at the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System, a $64 billion defined benefit pension plan. Over her career at PSERS, Susan has been a serial entrepreneur and a true innovator for the fund including 1) establishing their $13 billion swap overlay program, 2) building out their currency hedging program, 3) launching their internally managed risk parity program leveraging Bridgewater, and 4) now taking on the new challenge of implementing ESG for impact and returns. Susan is the epitome of GSD (Getting Stuff Done!) Away from her personal accomplishments, we were...2021-04-191h 03
AAAIM High ELISuzanne Yoon, Founder and Managing Partner, Kinzie Capital Partners “Asian Female Founder led Private Equity Firm – Oh Yeah!”Our guest for today’s podcast is Suzanne Yoon, Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on providing creative solutions through equity investments in lower middle-market businesses going through transitions. Suzanne openly takes us through her personal journey overcoming tragedy at a young age after the death of her father and jumping head first into world of finance. Through grit, determination, and a strong belief in “diversity and inclusion”, Suzanne successfully navigates the ultra competitive world of private equity, culminating in launching her own private equity firm in 2017. Her story...2021-04-1251 min
AAAIM High ELISyed Haque, Director of Public Markets and Roxton McNeal, Director of Multi-Asset Investment Strategy & Allocation “The UPS Pension Way”My guests for today’s podcast are Syed Haque, Director of Public Markets, and Roxton McNeal, Director of Multi-Asset Investment Strategy & Allocation, for the UPS Investment Trust. UPS has long been known as one of the more progressive pensions in the business and my conversation with Syed and Roxton tell the story on why the Trust has been successful both on the investing side as well as the talent development side. LDI, Factor Investing, Risk Premia, Tail Risk Hedging, Paying for Alpha but not for Beta, QIS – you’ve heard it, UPS has implemented it. I was fired up by the end o...2021-04-051h 02
AAAIM High ELIKim Lew, CEO, Columbia Investment Management Company - “The Role Model of Role Models”Our guest for today’s podcast is Kim Lew, Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia Investment Management Company, where she oversees over $11 billion in endowment and university assets. Kim needs no introduction as she is by far one of the most admired investors and leaders in the world of investment management. Kim joined Columbia in late 2020, a groundbreaking moment for the industry and something I applauded as a 2x graduate of the university. Kim is a great “storyteller” as she is authentic and her leadership qualities just makes you want to follow her. If there is ever a leader...2021-03-291h 12
AAAIM High ELIAndrew Chen, Portfolio Manager, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Company And Marcos Veremis, Partner, Evanston Capital “An Institutional Investor Perspective: How we think about Blockchain and Cryptocurrency”My guests for today’s podcast are Andrew Chen and Marcos Veremis. Andrew is a Portfolio Manager at Lockheed Martin Investment Management Company where he focuses on the Absolute Return portfolio. Andrew is an engineer by training and I was happy that he agreed to participate in this podcast given how much time he has spent learning and thinking about blockchain and the potential for the new technology. Marcos is a partner at Evanston Capital, a leading fund of funds that he joined in 2020. Previously, Marcos spent 14 years at Cambridge Associates where he led Cambridge Associ...2021-03-2254 min
AAAIM High ELIDanny Lee, Partner, Blue Pool Capital “Private Equity: humble beginnings, achieving success and paying it forward”My guest for today’s podcast is Danny Lee who is a Partner at Blue Pool Capital, one of the most highly regarded investment firms in the business. As a private equity investor, Danny has seen and experienced it all, building an awesome career that many of us would be envious about. Danny talks about his early days after moving to New York from China at the age of 13, attending Brooklyn Tech, a highly competitive magnet high school and his decision to attend Columbia College. We then turn to his formative years at Lehman Brothers in investment banking before his move...2021-03-1551 min
AAAIM High ELITroy Dixon, Founder and CIO, Hollis Park Partners and Greg Maddox, Head of Global Manager Research, Wells Fargo Investment Institute “Designing an Emerging and Diverse Manager Program from Scratch”My guests for today’s podcast are Troy Dixon, Founder and CIO of Hollis Park Partners, a $750mn+ independent alternative asset manager that specializes in structured products and Greg Maddox, Head of Global Manager Research at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. I took a different approach for this podcast by asking my two guests to follow along with role playing the following scenario: Let’s pretend that the three of us have recently started the “Emerging Manager Impact Fund” (EMIF), a new $1 billion fund focused on investing in top emerging and diverse managers. We are being seeded by Priscilla...2021-03-011h 04
AAAIM High ELIJames Chen, Founder and CIO, Ovata Capital “The nice guy on the verge of making it big..."My guest for today’s podcast is James Chen, Founder and CIO of Ovata Capital, a $600mn+ multi-strategy, market neutral equities hedge fund headquartered in Hong Kong. James takes us on his journey from being born in Mongolia to growing up in Long Island, NY through his formative years as a proprietary and customer trader at Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, JP Morgan and Barclays. In 2014, James made the decision to join Bluecrest where he established their equities business in Hong Kong. Following Bluecrest’s decision to convert to a family office, James made the decision to start Ovata Capital, personal...2021-02-1554 min
AAAIM High ELIPuneet Kohli, Head of Alternative Investments team, HOOPP “Meet the man who has done it all.”My guest for today’s podcast is Puneet Kohli, Head of the Alternative Investments team at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, also known as HOOPP, a $100bn+ Canadian pension fund well known for being one of the top performing investors globally over the past 20 years. Puneet is one of those rare breeds in asset management where he has literally done it all: trader, portfolio manager, proprietary trader, hedge fund manager, equities, fixed income, derivatives, and alternatives. I’ve known Puneet almost 20 years and it was a pleasure to interview him and hear his background from how he grew up in...2021-02-011h 08
AAAIM High ELIKirk Sims , Head of Emerging Managers, Teachers Retirement System of Texas “The VIP every emerging manager wants to know."My guest for today’s podcast is Kirk Sims who is the Head of the Emerging Manager Program at the Teachers Retirement System of Texas (TRS), one of the leading public retirement systems in the US with over $160 billion in assets under management. Since being established in 2005, TRS has committed $3.7 billion to one of the largest programs of its kind. An additional $2 billion has been invested directly with EM Program graduates. Each graduate was selected as a result of consistent outperformance among a group of more than 160 EM managers. Recognizing the Program’s success, in early 2019, TRS rolled out a plan...2021-01-131h 04
AAAIM High ELIMonica Hsiao, Founder and CIO, Triada Capital “The industry’s next $1bn female led hedge fund, why not?”My guest for today’s podcast is Monica Hsiao, Founder and CIO of Triada Capital, an Asian Credit Long/Short Fund. Monica is as amazing as they come, having launched Triada after a successful career as a corporate lawyer, proprietary trader, and portfolio manager. We talk about Monica’s grandmother’s early influence on her life, the initiative she took to see the world outside of Guam, and learn about her path from lawyer to proprietary trading to starting her own fund, globetrotting from Guam to California to New York to London to Hong Kong. Along the way, Monica shares so...2020-12-311h 07
Growth & FailureGrace Reyes - President of AAAIM on Being Comfortable with Who You AreThis is the story of Grace Reyes. She is the President of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM).In this episode, you'll hear about Grace's journey. She immigrated from the Philippines and grew up in California's Central Valley, raised in Stockton by a single mother with her two younger siblings. She got a degree in Economics from UCLA and went on to get her MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Over the last two years, Grace has done such a wonderful job of marketing and strengthening AAAIM's brand and has doubled corporate sponsorships...2019-03-0227 min