How Institutional Investors Think and What Emerging Managers Must Know

Jul 30, 2025

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Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

Wendy’s Origin Story and Entry into Allocator World (1:17)
Early Lessons as an Allocator (3:59)
Gravitating Toward Private Assets (6:39)
Founding Ivy Invest: The Problem and Vision (8:06)
Trends and Tailwinds in Asset Management (11:01)
Challenges Bridging Institutions and Individuals (13:55)
Bridging Institutional and Individual Experiences (16:47)
Is Retail Capital a New Institutional Staple? (19:58)
Why Early-Stage Venture “Math Still Works” (24:00)
Institutional Governance and Fund Size Trends (27:14)
Advice for Emerging Managers Approaching Institutions (29:45)
Where Alpha Will Come From in Venture (33:13)
Intangibles and Differentiation in Early-Stage Managers (36:26)
Final Thoughts and Takeaways (39:56)

Ivy Invest brings institutional-quality portfolios to individual investors using an endowment-style investment framework. Co-founded by Wendy Li, Ivy invests across equities, income, and diversifiers—partnering with experienced asset managers to deliver performance, discipline, and access. Learn more at www.ivyinvest.com.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world’s most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB’s parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.

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.