A long time ago, 33 years to be exact, Mike Milken pled guilty to 6 counts of violations of securities laws, went to jail for 2 years, and received a lifetime ban from the securities industry. He was at the time the most successful and powerful man on Wall Street and remains one of the smartest and most successful backers of talent in finance, cancer research and education.   Most of us have formed beliefs about Mike based on accounts in the media or books written like Den of Thieves. We might think Mike was guilty of insider trading, for example.  The way we form beliefs is problematic and rooted in survival from a time long past. We hear something and almost always immediately believe it is true. Danny Kahneman calls that System 1 thinking.  Here’s one example. We think Mike was guilty of insider trading. In fact, he was not. His plea of guilty did not touch insider trading.  And another, the Attorney who aggressively pursued Mike to bring him down and presumably catapult his own political ambitions was none other than Rudy Giuliani, himself indicted, arrested, and disbarred 30 years later.  Last week, Mike discussed how he emphasizes research and facts in his work. It is System 2 thinking - that requires us to think on our own without being infected by the beliefs of others. So what really happened to cause us to have such negative views about a man who has done so much for the world?  My guest on today’s show tells a very different story based on facts from being in the room where it all happened.  Richard Sandler has been Mike Milken’s personal attorney since 1983, having joined Drexel three years before the U.S. Attorney first subpoenaed Mike. He wrote a book last year entitled Witness to a Prosecution – the Myth of Michael Milken that describes his account of what happened based on the facts.  Our conversation covers Richard’s perspective on the history, motivations, and proceedings that led to both Mike’s imprisonment and the public perception of him that formed as a result.  I encourage you to set aside any preconceived notions you have about Mike Milken in listening to this conversation.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Richard Sandler – The Prosecution of Michael Milken (EP.372)

Michael Milken is a legendary financier and philanthropist. Mike is best known for his role in creating the high yield bond market in the 1970s and 1980s at Drexel Burnham Lambert, his guilty plea, and his remarkable philanthropic efforts over fifty years supporting medical research, education, and public health. Under Mike’s leadership, upstart Drexel became the most successful securities firm on Wall Street, enabled capital to become available for the 99% of companies that could not previously access the public market, and turned into the greatest breeding ground for talent in the industry. Approximately seventy investment firms are headed by leaders who worked for Mike, including founders and leaders of Apollo, Ares, Blackstone, Canyon, Cerberus, Crescent, GoldenTree, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Leonard Green, and Moelis.   Our conversation begins with Mike’s childhood and his early interest in democratizing access to capital. We discuss his career goals, the importance of capital structure, and his perspectives on markets today. We then turn to Mike’s long history of philanthropic work to improve education and advance cancer research, as described in his book Faster Cures: Accelerating the Future of Health.   I should note that we do not discuss Mike’s difficult years post-Drexel or his pardon in 2020. However, next week Mike’s longtime personal attorney, Richard Sandler, will join me to discuss just that.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Milken – Innovations in Finance, Medicine, and Education (EP.371)

Michael Mauboussin is the Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, a $70 billion equity manager. Michael is renowned for his ability to articulate important investment concepts backed by academic research. His first of three prior conversations on the show is replayed in the feed. You can find the rest at capitalallocators.com.  Our conversation explores Michael’s most recent piece on pattern recognition, including when it works and when it doesn’t. We then transition to discussing the changing nature of public markets, inspired by another of Michael’s recent research reports entitled Birth, Death, and Wealth Creation.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Michael Mauboussin - Pattern Recognition and Public Markets (EP.370)

Michael Mauboussin currently is the Director of Research at BlueMountain Capital, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund and asset manager. He spent the majority of his professional career thinking and writing about decision making, behavior and complex systems, with long stints at Credit Suisse and nearly a decade alongside Bill Miller at Legg Mason. Michael has been an Adjust Professor at Columbia Business School for 24 years. Our conversation covers Michael’s early career, the paradox of skill, academic research more favorable to active management, decision-making, optimal size and composition of teams, unsettling features in the market, data analysis in sports, career risk, the Santa Fe Institute, and Michael’s new research on the horizon. Every time I speak to Michael I come away thinking better and feeling smarter, and this time was no exception.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

[REPLAY] Michael Mauboussin – Active Challenges, Rational Decisions and Team Dynamics (Capital Allocators, EP.36)

Magnus Grimeland is the CEO and founder of Antler, one of the world’s largest day zero investor. Antler’s pre-seed strategy canvasses 27 countries, 1,000 portfolio companies, 8,000+ founders, and over 120,000 annual applications for 2,000 spots in its residency programs. Magnus founded Antler in 2017 after serving as the co-founder of Zalora, a tech-enable fashion brand in Asia.  Our conversation covers Magnus’ journey from growing up in rural Norway to developing a global startup platform, characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, and the process for building the infrastructure for founders to solve important problems in the world. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Magnus Grimeland – Day Zero Investing at Antler (EP.369)

Brad Jacobs is a career CEO and the founder of Jacobs Private Equity (his family office). Brad created and grew three platforms using a roll-up strategy that resulted in seven multibillion-dollar publicly traded companies. He and his teams have raised $30 billion of capital, completed 500 acquisitions, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generated annual returns to shareholders in excess of 50%. Brad shares his playbook in his aptly named book, How to Make a Few Billion Dollars. In December, he announced a billion-dollar PIPE into a new platform opportunity, of which $900 million is his personal capital.  Our conversation is a master class in all aspects of leadership and management, including identifying an opportunity, acquiring businesses, assessing people, managing talent, running operations, leading electric meetings, motivating and compensating team members, and embarking on his next platform investment. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Brad Jacobs – Masterclass on Leadership and Management (EP.368)

Ron Biscardi, the CEO of iConnections, whose Global Alts conference in Miami is the largest capital introduction gathering in the industry. In addition to the annual event, iConnections hosts an annual charity cap intro event and provides its technology platform to connect the industry year-round.  Last week, I joined 6,000 industry peers in Miami at Global Alts. The main event at the conference were an incredible 15,000 one-on-one meetings between allocators and managers.  As a side show, I grabbed Ron on the podcast stage to get a closer look at how it all comes together.  In an industry that typically competes at every turn, iConnections is the opposite – they are the ultimate collaborators. Ron has provided the iConnections software to power most major industry events, including our Summits, and is generous in finding ways to connect people and add value.  I’ve been an advisor to Ron and iConnections since Ron created their first charity event, Funds 4 Food, in the midst of the pandemic. It’s been great fun to watch their growth and success in the years since.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ron Biscardi – Inside iConnections Global Alts (EP.367)

Sanjay Ayer is a portfolio manager at WCM Investment Management, the Laguna-based $80 billion equity manager profiled on three popular past episodes with CEO Paul Black, President Mike Trigg, and emerging market portfolio manager Mike Tian. Sanjay joined WCM in 2007, and alongside Mike Trigg, leads the firm’s research process that follows the mantra: think different and get better.  Our conversation is a fascinating exploration of the differentiated mindset at WCM. We discuss topics, including self-discovery, cognitive dissonance, thinking differently, getting better, compounding knowledge, reflection time, and feedback loops – all in the context of Sanjay’s path and the application of the concepts to WCM’s research process, investment examples, and business.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Sanjay Ayer – Think Different and Get Better at WCM (EP.366)

Paul Black and Mike Trigg from WCM Investment Management are both past guests on the show who have taken an investment philosophy focused on culture and moat trajectory to turn a once struggling boutique into a $100 billion powerhouse.  Paul came on the show a few years ago when WCM had quietly grown to $25 billion in assets, and Mike joined a year ago to dive into their research process. Their colleague Mike Tian shared another perspective earlier this year when he described applying WCM’s moat trajectory discipline to investing in China.  In this continued exploration of WCM, we start with the truly unique facts about the firm’s rebirth a decade ago and turn to key features of its success, including embracing change, the importance of culture - alongside some characteristics of toxic cultures, hiring practices, telling the truth, integrating new team members, managing turnover, and transitioning leadership to the next generation.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

[REPLAY] Paul Black and Mike Trigg – How to Build a $100B Money Manager (Capital Allocators, EP.227)

You may remember my popular first meeting from a few years ago with Paul Black of WCM, then a $25 billion asset manager in Laguna Beach, CA. Since then, WCM has gone up and to the right in every way, they sold a minority piece of the business to Natixis, continue to put big numbers on the board, and have grown to north of $66 billion, defying the fade of active management outflows.  My guest on today’s show is Mike Trigg, a partner and portfolio manager of WCM’s Focused International Growth strategy that comprises the majority of the firm’s assets. We discuss Mike’s background, arrival at WCM in 2005, near implosion of the firm shortly thereafter, and the rising of the international strategy from those ashes. We then dive in deeper to the core tenants of WCM’s approach, discussing how the firm analyzes widening moats and cultures tied to competitive advantage. Lastly, we talk about how WCM’s growth has impacted the firm.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

[REPLAY] - Mike Trigg – Defying the Fade at WCM (Capital Allocators, EP.162)

Paul Black is Co-CEO and portfolio manager at WCM Investment Management, a $26 billion manager of global equities that he joined when it was a $200 million boutique in 1989.  With so much of the institutional world, including my own training, focused on value investing, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a large, high performing growth stock manager located in a non-descript building in Laguna Beach, California.   Our conversation starts with Paul’s trial-by-fire entry into the business and turns to growth stock investing, including defining a great growth company, searching for widening moats, assessing a culture tied to competitive advantage, creating a positive culture, learning from mistakes, identifying tailwinds, and protecting the downside.   Paul embodies the principals he preaches and offers some tasty food for thought.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

[REPLAY] Paul Black - Gratitude, Fun, and Growth Stocks (Capital Allocators, EP.51)

Raphael Arndt is the CEO of the Future Fund, Australia’s 200 billion AUZ ($135B) sovereign wealth fund that his team manages alongside 55 billion AUZ of other sovereign pools of capital. Raphael assumed the CEO seat in 2020 after serving as Chief Investment Officer for six years. Our conversation from five years ago about the Fund’s total portfolio approach is replayed in the feed.  Our conversation focuses on the significant changes in the Future Fund over the last few years. Raphael and his team spent a year analyzing changes in the global economy, demographics, and markets and concluded the Future Fund needed substantial turnover to prepare for the coming period. We discuss these changes in the external environment and the governance and culture internally required to do something about it.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Raphael Arndt – The Death of Traditional Portfolio Construction? (EP.365)

Raff Arndt is the Chief Investment Officer of Australia’s AUZ$145 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Future Fund.  He trained as an engineer and dove into infrastructure policy at the beginning of Australia’s privatizations in the late 1990s. After investing in the space for six year, he joined the Future Fund in 2008 to head the infrastructure team. Six years later, Raff became CIO. Our conversation spans all aspects of the management of a next generation institutional portfolio, including a one team, one portfolio philosophy, disaggregating beta and factors from skill in public markets, separating the impact of leverage and timing from skill in private markets, venture capital and co-investment opportunities in a large pool of capital, the option value of flexibility, the team required to make decisions in this format, compensation, fees, views on China, and the current market environment. Australia created the Future Fund only eleven years ago with a mandate to compound capital for 20 years before even contemplating withdrawals. It has been described to me as a pool of capital with the size and transparency of CalPERS and the sophistication of Yale. I’m sure you’ll soon understand why.  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

[REPLAY] Raphael Arndt – Australia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund CIO (EP.70)

Today's Sponsored Insight features Chad Summe and Mike Veith, Partners at eGateway Capital, a Cincinnati based, thesis-driven firm that focuses on growth stage, enablement technologies that drive the future of digital supply chains, marketing, and commerce.  Our conversation covers their path to creating eGateway, their investment strategy and process. Chad and Mike highlight the firm’s regional and relationship-based sourcing and value add opportunities that benefit from the importance of the Midwest in supply chains and commerce.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Chad Summe and Mike Veith – Corridor of Commerce at eGateway Capital (EP.364)

Tilly Franklin is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer at University of Cambridge Investment Management, where she oversees the £4.0B Cambridge University Endowment Fund. UCIM applies an endowment model approach primarily investing in managers and with an overall emphasis on sustainability.  We discuss Tilly’s background that canvasses operating roles, direct private equity, at Apex, investing at Yale cub Alta Advisors, and the perspectives she brought to Cambridge four years ago. We cover her work at UCIM across developing the team, portfolio, manager selection, and sustainability. Lastly, we talk about Tilly’s experience with GAIN, or Girls Are Investors, a non-profit organization that introduces women to careers in finance.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Tilly Franklin – Endowment Model at Cambridge University (EP.363)

George Michelakis is the Chief Investment Officer of Gladstone Management, a $2 billion long/short equity hedge fund based in London. George founded Gladstone in 2006 with seed capital from, well me at Protégé Partners, and six years later bought back the stake when still managing less than $100 million. In the dozen years since Gladstone has won awards for European Hedge Fund of the Year and the top performing five-year fund for three years in a row.   Long before that, George became an International Chess Master and took third in the 1992 World Under-20 Chess Championships.   We discuss George’s path from chess to investing, alongside his college friend Roelof Botha of Sequoia, the challenges of the fundamental long-short equity model, the culture required to make it work, and how he does at Gladstone.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

George Michelakis – Chess Master’s Approach to Long-Short Equity at Gladstone (EP.362)

How will we generate returns to meet important spending needs in an increasingly unforgiving world? One answer is “Internal Alpha’ – making fewer mistakes alongside making great investments. Generating internal alpha is rarely taught in the investment field, which is why we created Capital Allocators University.  Read Ted’s blog here.

WTT: The Next Alpha Frontier

Brian Christiansen is Executive Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Sands Capital, a growth-focused public and private equity manager that oversees $50 billion in assets.   Our conversation covers Brian’s journey to Sands Capital, the firm's investment philosophy and approach to growth investing, six key investment criteria, portfolio construction, competitive advantage, and investment examples.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership   Capital Allocators was compensated in connection with participation in this interview, which creates a conflict of interest that should be considered.

Brian Christiansen – High-Conviction Growth Investing at Sands Capital (EP.361)

Ana Marshall is the CIO for the $14 billion William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a two-time past guest on the show. This time around, we discuss Ana’s recently published book, The Climb to Investment Excellence. It is an outstanding, thorough guide for any leader overseeing a pool of institutional capital. But don’t take my word for it – the book jacket has praise from perhaps the best list of investment luminaries to ever adorn a cover: Seth Klarman from Baupost, Sir Christoper Hohn from TCI, Paul Singer from Elliott, Doug Leone from Sequoia, Lei Zhang from Hillhouse and Marc Andreessen from a16z.  Our conversation offers a walkthrough of the mountain investors must climb to reach their summit, following the metaphors of identifying the goal, preparing to embark or establishing governance, getting started or setting the investment strategy, working up the mountain or manager selection, and reaching the summit.  Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Ana Marshall – The Climb to Investment Excellence (EP.360)

Ana Marshall is the CIO for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she oversees a $13 billion pool of capital. Ana joined Hewlett eighteen years ago after spending the same amount of time as a direct investor. She was a past guest in 2019 describing her approach, and that conversation is replayed in the feed.    We caught up to discuss what is on Ana's mind going into the new year. We cover inflation, private equity secondaries, liquidity management, China, emerging markets, and ESG. We close discussing where Ana is looking around corners, what's filling her basket of worries, and her plan for the next five years.     Access Stream by AlphaSense Free Trial     For full show notes, visit the episode webpage  here.     Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership 

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