Andrew Golden, President of Princeton University's Investment Management Company (PRINCO), shares insights from his impressive career managing one of the world’s top endowments. He discusses the transformation of asset allocation strategies over the years and emphasizes the value of team dynamics and collaborative decision-making. Listeners will find his thoughts on talent cultivation, navigating market challenges, and the importance of long-term investment perspectives particularly engaging. Golden’s subtle humor and personal reflections add a delightful touch to the conversation.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
From Photographer to Financier
Andy Golden's career began unconventionally as a photographer pursuing artistic aspirations.
This led him to management, sparking an interest in organizational dynamics and economics.
insights INSIGHT
Success as a Hindrance
Princeton's past investment success, driven by a volunteer and later a trustee committee, ironically hindered its development.
This structure delayed the establishment of a professional investment office until 1987.
insights INSIGHT
Core Investment Beliefs
Focus on your inherent advantages, build acquirable advantages, and acknowledge unchangeable disadvantages.
This principle guides investment strategies and portfolio construction.
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In 'The Selfish Gene', Richard Dawkins presents a gene-centred view of evolution, arguing that genes are the primary units of selection and that they behave selfishly to ensure their own replication. The book explains concepts such as kin selection, inclusive fitness, and the evolutionarily stable strategy, highlighting how these mechanisms can lead to altruistic behaviors in organisms. Dawkins emphasizes that the 'selfishness' of genes is a metaphorical concept, describing their evolutionary consequences rather than any intentional behavior. The book has been influential in shaping modern evolutionary thought and remains relevant today[1][3][5].
Andy Golden is the President of Princeton University’s Investment Management Company (PRINCO). Having grown from $3B at the time of his arrival in 1995 to $22.5B today, PRINCO has been among the highest performing endowments in the world. Andy came to PRINCO from Duke Management Company, where he was an Investment Director, and received his formative training in the business working for David Swensen at the Yale University Investments Office. Andy currently serves on the fund Advisory Boards of several well-known private equity and venture capital managers, including Bain Capital, General Catalyst Partners, and Greylock Partners. He was a founding member of the Investors’ Committee of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and serves as a Trustee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation and Rutgers Preparatory School. Andy holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Duke University and an M.P.P.M. from the Yale School of Management.
Our conversation discusses Princeton’s endowment two decades ago and today, including its strategic advantages as an institution, shifts in thinking about asset allocation, decision making, team development, and partnership with managers. Andy’s long tenure in his seat, insight, and wisdom provides a treasure trove of information about how a top endowment manager practices his craft, and his subtle wit always keeps things light.
For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here.
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