Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Scott Wilson – Concentrated Investing at Washington University-St. Louis (Capital Allocators, EP. 159)

Oct 5, 2020

Scott Wilson, Chief Investment Officer at Washington University-St. Louis, oversees a massive $10 billion endowment. He discusses his transition from Grinnell College’s unique investment approach to a concentrated strategy at Washington University. The conversation dives into navigating hedge funds, frontier markets, and the rigorous process of underwriting investment ideas. He shares personal insights, lessons learned from past mistakes, and the evolution of his investment philosophy, emphasizing collaboration within his team for optimal returns.

54:24

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Episode guests

Scott Wilson

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Episode notes

Intro

4min

From Court to Career: A Journey in Finance

13min

Strategic Overhaul of Investment Approaches

14min

Navigating Private Markets: Strategies and Opportunities

10min

Navigating Underwriting Skills for Endowment Success

5min

Navigating Investment Complexities

8min

Personal Insights and Life Lessons in Investing

4min

Scott Wilson is the CIO at Washington University of St. Louis, where he oversees a $10 billion endowment. Scott joined Wash U three years ago from Grinnell College, where he learned a completely different style of endowment investing than is practiced by others. Our conversation covers Scott’s upbringing, early Wall Street career in equity research and derivatives across New York, London and Tokyo, and his leap to Grinnell. We then turn to his applying the Grinnell model at Wash U, transitioning an endowment model portfolio to a concentrated book. We touch on hedge funds and frontier markets and turn to the process of underwriting individual ideas and managers in the context of a concentrated endowment portfolio.

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