Investment Management Operations

Mike DeAddio is the Chief Operating Officer of Paloma Partners, the multi-manager platform founded by Donald Sussman in 1981 — one of the original seeders of firms like D.E. Shaw, Elliott, Canyon, and Caxton.   Mike takes us through a technical career that spans across Bell Labs, JPMorgan, Citadel and, Silver Point before bringing that entire playbook to Paloma.   We dig into what it takes to buil...

Glen Shields is the Founder and CEO of GP Fund Solutions., an independent fund administrator for private fund managers who want institutional-grade back-office operations without sacrificing the trust and partnership of a boutique firm. In today’s conversation, Glen takes us through 25 years in fund administration — from his early days at PwC and AYCO through the Goldman acquisition and spin-out,...

Adam Ciborowski, Principal – RCP Advisors (EP.77)Intro Copy: Adam Ciborowski is the head of Research, Portfolio Monitoring, and Data Management at RCP Advisors, an investment firm focused on investing in private equity funds in the lower middle market. In today’s conversation, we get into how RCP has built its data infrastructure in the fund of funds world across its central operating system, acco...

Cesar Estrada is the Head of Private Markets at Arcesium, the data and operations platform built to help private market firms scale their reporting, analytics, and oversight at an enterprise level. In today’s conversation, Cesar walks us through Arcesium’s role in private markets from its beginnings as a company spun out of DE Shaw. We discuss why “unifying the data” is front and center today and...

Matt Shaia is a Managing Director and the Director of Investment Operations at Brockenbrough, a Richmond-based wealth management and OCIO firm serving both institutional clients and ultra-high-net-worth families. One of the more interesting structural questions in investment management today is how a firm serves two very different client types – institutions that demand performance transparency an...

Sloane Payne and Dave Joerger are the COO and CCO respectively at WCM Investment Management, an independent investment firm managing $120 billion in assets.    WCM has built something unique – a firm culture that actually gets stronger as it grows.    Sloane and Dave share the team’s simple, trust-first approach to building organizations. They’ve stripped away unnecessary layers to create a repeat...

Henry Ward is the CEO and co-founder of Carta, the platform that began as a cap table tool and has since evolved into what Henry describes as the ERP for private markets.   His path to building private market infrastructure is a masterclass in knowing when to pivot and when to double down.   Given his product-led approach, I had to dig into Carta’s distinct chapters. Henry shares how he thinks abo...

Griff Norville is the Head of Technology Solutions at Hamilton Lane, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers. Today’s investment leaders are navigating a technology landscape that is moving faster than ever: from AI adoption to tokenization to digital investment workflows. I sat down with Griff to explore how Hamilton Lane has built a data and technology infrastructure that is reshap...

Stuart Chapman is a Director and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Strategic Investment Group, a $30B OCIO serving a mix of pension, endowment, and nonprofit clients. Operational due diligence doesn’t always get the spotlight, but it should. Stu shares his insight on his process that sits completely outside the investment function — giving ODD a genuine seat at the table and, veto rights when n...

Alex Harstrick and Jonathan Bronson are the co-founders of J2 Ventures.  J2 is an early-stage venture capital firm built at the intersection of the private sector and defense tech.   A common question we often get is “how do you get out of the gate, raise money, and launch”.  Every firm is different but there are common ingredients, so I turned to Alex and Jon to learn how it all came together for...

David Li is the CTO at Washington University Investment Management Company, where he’s led a lean, data‑driven build of the endowment’s tech stack. David’s path runs from Harvard Management Company to independent consulting to WashU, bringing a builder’s mindset to the role. For those not familiar with WashU’s concentrated, co-invest heavy approach, Ted sat down with CIO Scott Wilson a while back,...

Scott Wilson is the CIO at Washington University of St. Louis, where he oversees a $10 billion endowment. Scott joined Wash U three years ago from Grinnell College, where he learned a completely different style of endowment investing than is practiced by others. Our conversation covers Scott’s upbringing, early Wall Street career in equity research and derivatives across New York, London and Tokyo...

Bill Krueger is the CTO at Yale’s Investment Office.  Bill’s unconventional path spans defense contracting, tech consulting, and a 13-year run at Bridgewater Associates before landing at Yale. Bill shares how to operate in a radically transparent culture, tighten feedback loops between decisions and outcomes, and managing the messy realities of growth, bureaucracy, and leadership.  Those experienc...

Graeme Faulds is the CEO of Bipsync, a leading provider of modern research management software. Graeme spent 15 years as a private markets investor before building and selling his first fintech company, then ultimately stepping into the CEO role at Bipsync in 2023. Bipsync works with clients across the investment management industry, from allocators like endowments, foundations, pension funds, and...

Today’s Sponsored Insight highlights ⁠Bipsync⁠, the research management software that helps asset owners and managers optimize pre- and post-investment decision making. We spoke with Annie Kerns and Blake Fischer from the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, known as UVIMCO. Annie leads investment operations and Blake oversees technology at the $14 billion endowment. Annie and Bla...

Eric is the Chief Technology Officer at GCM Grosvenor, a global leader in alternative investments. Eric’s career path has taken him from starting as an ethical hacker at Deloitte, to leading technology and product innovation in fintech before playing a transformative role at GCM Grosvenor. I spent time with Eric unpacking how product management and automation are redefining technology’s impact on...

Ryan Eisenman is the CEO and co-founder of Arch, a tech platform redefining how allocators manage their private investments through what he calls the “Schwab for private markets”. Ryan shares his journey on how he met his co-founders, early challenges in selling to family offices, and the product’s evolution from automating K-1s to serving as a seamless digital hub for every private investment an...

John Polis is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Star Mountain Capital.  John’s career path has led him to play a pivotal role in transforming Star Mountain in private credit in the lower middle market. I spent time with John unpacking how data and technology can meaningfully shape investment management operations. We discuss his dual role, the build over buy approach of S...

Chester Dawes is the COO and CFO at Palistar Capital, an alternative asset manager focused on investing in the future of mission critical digital infrastructure. Launching and growing a private equity firm is not easy. I enjoyed sitting down with Chester to discuss how his experience going from ‘big four’ accounting to industrial to private equity gave him a sense on how to navigate large and smal...

Melissa Stolfi is the Executive Vice President and Global COO of TCW, a leading global investment management firm with over $200 billion in assets. Being competitive in the global asset management space is an ongoing effort. I really enjoyed sitting down with Melissa to talk about her career evolution to TCW and how they've built their platform for resilience and expanding credit alternatives unde...

Brian Douglas is the CEO of Graham Capital, one of the longest running macro investors. Going from CFO to the CEO seat is not a common route in our business so I was excited to talk to Brian. Brian’s career path started public accounting and he has spent the last 20 years at Graham moving from the CFO role to becoming CEO in 2019.Brian discusses how Graham has built and sustained its culture over...

Running and scaling a global fund group has its challenges. So when I was asking who I should talk to, Lisa's name came to the forefront. Her lens on the industry from the sell side to the buy side is quite unique. Lisa's recognized not only for driving operational excellence and revenue growth, but also for her ability to guide teams through transformation. Whether it's optimizing operations, enh...

Ryan Ripp is the co-president and COO at Flat Rock Global, an alternative credit manager specializing in the junior tranches of CLOs. If you read anything about the industry, the headlines are often about how alternatives are making their way to the wealth channel. The thing I always turn to is how is this going to work operationally. There are so many aspects to explore like access, education, in...

Ryan Teal is a Partner and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Albourne, a global investment consulting firm. Ryan and I talk about the role of AI within the ODD lens.  Whether you’re an ODD practitioner or a manager trying to understand current trends you will want to take a listen. Ryan shares their approach on using AI as well as some recent survey data about adoption rates, common hurdles, an...

Ashley Sweren is the COO and CCO at Standard Crypto, a venture capital firm focused on crypto, Web3, blockchain, and DeFi. With institutional investing, we are all keenly focused on finding uncorrelated assets. But here’s the catch: when you go beyond the fundamentals, things get interesting with diligence, operations and finding best in class service providers. To learn more about running a crypt...