Expanding Your Investment Strategy to Include Venture Capital with Kate Nevin
May 22, 2024
auto_awesome
Venture capital expert Kate Nevin discusses expanding investment strategies, including sourcing, early stage investments, supporting female managers, and diversity in venture capital. Highlights include simplifying SPVs, negotiating terms, sustainability in VC, impact investing, and empowering women in finance. She emphasizes the importance of mentoring female founders and advocating for diversity and community building in the investment world.
Kate Nevin focuses on investing in female managers to support underfunded sectors and promote gender equality in venture capital.
TSW2 Capital Advisors started as a family investment vehicle, expanded into private investments, and now serves various investors and foundations.
Kate encourages early financial literacy for women inheritors, emphasizing values-driven investments and normalizing money conversations.
Deep dives
Investing Approach and Firm Evolution
TSW2 Capital Advisors, led by President Kate Niven, invests in hedge funds, private equity, VC funds, and co-investments. Originally a family investment vehicle, the firm now serves family members, outside investors, endowments, and foundations over 30 years. Kate has been with TSW2 for two decades, witnessing investment shifts towards women-oriented opportunities.
TSW2 Capital Origin Story
Originally founded as Tennessee Stow Works, a wood burning stoves business, the family diversified into asset management after selling it in the late '70s. Kate's father invested in the legendary Tiger Hedge Fund, inspiring the family to create TSW2 to provide access to Tiger's success. TSW2 officially launched in 1991, expanding into a fund of funds structure and venturing into private investments.
Career Journey and Family Dynamics
Kate's career journey involved a transition from consulting to finance, joining Lehman Brothers and specializing in hedge fund prime brokerage. At TSW2, Kate balances the investment team in Charleston and back office in Chattanooga, mainly continuity with team members for over a decade. The family appears as the largest investor in the portfolios managed by Kate.
Focus on Women-Led Investments
Kate's commitment to investing in female managers spans over 500 meetings with emerging female GPs. She emphasizes a need for supportive structures for smaller funds and values alignment with investees. Kate's approach emphasizes exploiting underfunded sectors and empowering women through investment, aiming to merge values with solid financial returns.
Wealth Transfer and Women's Financial Empowerment
With the forthcoming 'great wealth transfer,' Kate advises women inheritors to engage in investing discussions early on, focusing on values-aligned investments. She stresses the importance of a diversified portfolio and discussions around values-driven investment choices. Kate advocates normalizing financial conversations and encouraging curiosity for future wealth managers.
Future of Wealth Management and Inheritance
To ensure the future generation's financial literacy, Kate recommends involving next-gen individuals gradually in wealth management discussions, fostering learning through exposure. She encourages open dialogue around money and investments, focusing on values alignment and fostering a culture of curiosity and proactive engagement. Kate's approach aims to democratize financial discussions for empowered, educated wealth inheritors.
Exploring the full spectrum of investments (15:14)
Sourcing and Early Stage Investment (18:58)
Investing in Female Managers (22:26)
Innovating for Parity (24:02)
Insider Segment: Simplifying SPVs for fund managers (26:47)
Trends in Special Purpose Vehicles (29:53)
Negotiating Terms and Warehousing Deals (32:34)
Sustaining Interest in Venture Capital (35:59)
Investing in Diversity and Community Building (36:41)
Solving Big Problems and Impact Investing (40:00)
Sourcing and Supporting Emerging Managers (43:03)
Wealth Transfer and Women's Investing (50:32)
Encouraging Women to talk about money and investing (55:31)
Final thoughts and takeaways (58:07)
Kate Nevin is President and Portfolio Manager at TSWII Capital Advisors, a role she has held for over 20 years. She is active with many industry groups (such as The Academy of Institutional Investors and Nexus) and community organizations focused on conservation and gender equality. She was a Riley Diversity Fellow. Both in her work at TSWII and as a diversity fellow, Kate has ensured that female founders have access to mentoring, networks, and coaching in order to thrive. Learn more: tswii.com.
Sydecar.io is a frictionless deal execution platform for venture investors. Our platform handles back-office operations for venture investors, automating banking, compliance, contracts, and reporting so that customers can focus on making deals and building relationships. Learn more at www.sydecar.io.
Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies.
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
