Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

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

Jan 8, 2024

Ana Marshall, CIO for the $14B William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, discusses her book 'The Climb to Investment Excellence.' Topics include overcoming challenges, separating opportunity set and manager selection, delusions in investment decision-making, executing investment strategies, challenges and collaboration in the investment industry, and lessons learned from influential figures in the industry.

49:18

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Ana Marshall

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Quick takeaways

The first step in the investment journey is to identify the mountain you want to climb and understand the skills needed for success.

Selecting the right managers is crucial for a successful investment journey, involving due diligence, building relationships, and continuous monitoring.

Deep dives

Setting the Mountain and Team

The first step in the investment journey is to identify the mountain you want to climb and understand the skills needed for success. This involves honest discussions with the board and investment committee to determine the objectives and needs of the organization. Building a team that trusts the CIO and vice versa is crucial, as collaboration and different skill sets are necessary for a successful climb.

The Worry Basket

00:54

Separate Opportunity Set from Manager Selection

01:30

Introduction

2min

Introduction and Capital Allocation

20min

Managing a Portfolio: Climbing the Technical Mountain

4min

The Significance of Separating Opportunity Set and Manager Selection

2min

Delusions in Investment and Climbing

3min

Challenges in executing investment strategies

15min

Challenges and Collaboration in the Investment Industry

3min

Lessons Learned from Influential People in the Industry

3min

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

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Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

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

Episode guests