Tag: Portfolio Management

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Improving Alpha: How Frank Mihail Runs One of America’s Top Sovereign Wealth Endowments

Improving Alpha: How Frank Mihail Runs One of America’s Top Sovereign Wealth Endowments

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When looking at the latest oil and gas headlines across the United States, many immediately think of Texas. North Dakota ranks #3 among the largest oil-producing states in the nation and is home to the $9BN North Dakota Trust Lands sovereign wealth endowment. This streamlined team generates revenue from oil royalties and taxes and is one of the healthiest institutions in the nation. So what’s their secret against a world with higher inflation, volatility, and more?

In this episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, we welcome Frank Mihail, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, North Dakota Trust and Lands. In this discussion, Frank discusses his early beginnings as an oil and gas engineer, which quickly evolved into selling Beverly Hills real estate, and eventually into building out a hedge fund book and a portable alpha program, which presented him with the opportunity to join North Dakota Trust Lands.

Additional takeaways from this episode:

  • What is different in running a sovereign wealth endowment versus some of the other guests that we’ve had recently (Kevin SigRist, North Carolina Investment Authority, or Andrew Junkin, Virginia Retirement System)?
  • How are Frank and his team advocating for better benchmarks in private infrastructure, and what is their diversification approach with the portfolio to improve alpha?
  • Where does he see asset class opportunities for adding capital and generating liquidity for the portfolio?
  • How does Frank and his team navigate board discussions and manager red flags against current allocation decision-making?
  • What does Frank think about the debate surrounding the usage of a Total Portfolio Approach in institutional investing?
  • And more.

Resources:

Connect with Frank Mihail:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

About Our Guest:

Frank Mihail, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer of North Dakota Trust Lands, where he oversees the investment strategy for one of the state’s sovereign wealth funds. He leads the management of a multi-billion-dollar endowment that supports public education through long-term investing across public and private markets. Before joining North Dakota Trust Lands, Frank held investment leadership roles at New Mexico PERA and previously worked in private wealth management after beginning his career as a mechanical engineer and real estate professional. He is a CFA charterholder and earned his MBA from UCLA, bringing a disciplined, long-term approach to institutional portfolio management, strategic asset allocation, and investment governance.

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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Improving Alpha: Catherine Ulozas on Innovating a Billion Dollar Endowment

Improving Alpha: Catherine Ulozas on Innovating a Billion Dollar Endowment

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Information overload can occur in even the most skilled institutional investor when considering the amount of managers and intelligence competing for their time and attention. How can a leading endowment CIO or portfolio manager navigate the volume of financial statements, capital calls, risk/reward ratios, and more? How can they mentor junior analysts to find the diamonds in the rough to help generate alpha?

In our latest Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg sits down with Catherine Ulozas, Chief Investment Officer, Senior Vice President, Investment, Drexel University. Catherine shares her extensive background from the early years at ING Direct prioritizing safety in fixed-income investments and how that brought her to the CIO role at Drexel University.

 Additional highlights from Catherine’s podcast interview include: 

  • how is Catherine looking at the endowment risk today, especially in light of increased inflation, increasing spending rates by the university, and more.
  • why was it a critical mission of the endowment to save St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, and how did the $40 million line of credit get paid back in record time.
  • the innovations that her team is making both on an operational level and through advanced analytics.
  • how Drexel’s endowment considers ESG and why Catherine believes the “G” tends to drive a lot of progress across the environment and social aspects of this acronym.
  • positive aspects in real asset investing and the appeal of emerging markets for future asset allocation.
  • how was Drexel able to overcome the deployment challenges of assets in private markets and what are the red flags that her endowment team uncovers when considering investment opportunities.
  • and more

Resources:

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

Connect with Catherine Ulozas:

About Catherine Ulozas:

With over 30 years of investment experience, Catherine Ulozas is a senior executive who has managed pools of capital for endowments, insurance companies, the largest US thrift, and a state pension fund. Catherine is the Chief Investment Officer at Drexel University and has continued to improve the Drexel Endowment’s quality and returns, scoring in the top 10% in the Wilshire Consulting Foundations and Endowment Universe for the last 5 years. 

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.

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Improving Alpha: David Teten on the Future of VC Models, Tools for Improving Alpha and the Portfolio Diversification Game

Improving Alpha: David Teten on the Future of VC Models, Tools for Improving Alpha and the Portfolio Diversification Game

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The portfolio diversification game takes a ton of time, energy, effort, and even during the best of times companies that you might be super bullish about can flame out, just as easily as those that are near death, can suddenly rebound. This is certainly the case in areas of venture capital (VC) or angel investing. In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg is joined by David Teten, Venture Partner, Coolwater Capital to discuss thoughts on becoming a serial builder of venture capital firms, how investment tools being used to generate alpha are evolving, and more.

Listen as David shares his journey from the early days as an investment banker to becoming a key player in building and scaling venture capital firms, emphasizing the pivotal role of technology and strategic asset allocation in modern investment practices.

Further highlights: 

  • why strategic allocators give money to investors, and why the answer is not as simple as the generation of alpha.
  • what is so attractive about alternative VC models and could it be a way for VC investors to get a larger part of the investment pie?
  • what sort of challenges exist today for VCs in achieving investment goals, and why Warren Buffet quotes like, “You should invest when there’s blood in the water”, don’t paint the full metaphoric picture for this type of investor.
  • are family offices overestimating their competencies and what is one of the biggest secrets (as David sees it) in institutional investing today?
  • macro trends in the VC universe and what is the most disruptive theme impacting investing today.
  • And more.

Resources:

Connect with David Teten:

David Teten is a Venture Partner with Coolwater Capital, known as “Y Combinator for emerging VCs”. Coolwater runs an accelerator for emerging VC fund managers and invests as a limited partner, in general partnerships, in fund management companies, and also directly into startups. He is the Founder of Versatile VC, backing “investment tech” companies which help investors generate alpha and succeed. He is Chair of PEVCTech, a community of private equity and VC funds working to generate alpha by leveraging technology and analytics.

Connect with Michael Oliver Weinberg: 

The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.

The release date may not correspond to the recording date.