Dakota Live! Podcast: Doing the Research: Systematic Investing with Ken Frier of Atlas Capital

In this episode of the Dakota Live! Podcast, Robert Morier sits down with Ken Frier, Chief Investment Officer at Atlas Capital Advisors, to discuss the role of systematic investing in portfolio construction and decision-making. With more than three decades of experience managing institutional capital at Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Stanford Management Company, and the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, Ken brings a deep understanding of asset allocation, quantitative investing, and cost-conscious portfolio construction.

 

Whether you're an allocator evaluating systematic managers or a sales professional seeking insight into how data-driven investors think about portfolio construction and decision-making, this episode offers a unique window into how one investor has built a philosophy shaped by decades of experience across some of the most complex institutional portfolios.

 

Atlas Capital Advisors is a San Francisco-based registered investment advisor providing outsourced CIO (OCIO) and portfolio management services to high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions. The firm emphasizes systematic asset allocation and direct implementation, offering clients institutional-quality portfolios with a focus on transparency, liquidity, and long-term value.

 

The conversation delves into how Ken’s early background in mathematics and computer science laid the foundation for a career focused on developing repeatable investment algorithms. You’ll hear how a pivotal moment during the dot-com bubble crash reshaped his thinking about portfolio risk, leading to a career-long commitment to evidence-based decision making.

 

Ken shares how Atlas Capital uses a top-down, factor-based, algorithmic approach to investing across global markets, as well as his candid take on why investors can fail to adjust asset allocation, even in dramatically shifting environments. The episode also touches on the role of liquidity, the rise (and risks) of private credit, and the evolution of ETFs.

 

From lessons in risk management to the realities of cost, complexity, and governance, Ken offers a grounded perspective on what it takes to make disciplined, data-informed decisions in today’s investment landscape.