Dakota Live! Podcast

Joe Marenda, Partner, and Head of Digital Assets Investing with Cambridge Associates shares his experience through this masterclass on blockchain technology and digital assets investing. Joe specializes in discovering and diligencing blockchain-related funds across all fund formats.  He also serves as the Head of the firm’s San Francisco office.  Joe contributes to firm research on alternative assets in portfolios and crypto-blockchain more broadly. Join us in this fascinating and informative episode as Joe takes us through his experience in building the first blockchain portfolio for a Cambridge client beginning in 2018 and how they approached the firm’s first due diligence on a crypto fund in 2017. Cambridge is a privately held global investment firm providing advisory and investment solutions to institutional investors, including foundations and endowments, pensions, private families, and corporate and government entities.  Founded 50 years ago, the firm has eleven offices around the world with over $540 billion in assets under advisement. Learn more about how Joe and his colleagues at Cambridge Associates continue to innovate for their clients in the exciting world of blockchain technology. 

Greg Leonberger is the Director of Research for Marquette Associates. Greg is responsible for creating the firm’s capital markets research and directing the investment strategies and policy. He also serves as the chair of the investment committee. A partner of the employee-owned firm, Greg has been with the company since 2008. Greg joins us at Dakota Live! to take us through Marquette Associates’ manager research process and how to approach the firm and their clients with private markets through fixed income investments and what they look for in asset management partners. Marquette was founded thirty-seven years ago with the sole objective of providing investment consulting at the highest caliber of client service. As of March 31, 2023, the firm is advising over $351 billion in assets with over 400 clients and 135 employees. Join us to learn how the firm’s approach to client service has made Marquette Associates so successful over the years. 

Kate Pizzi, Partner and Senior Consultant of Fiducient Advisors joins us at Dakota Live! to take us through her experience from actuary to portfolio manager to investment consultant and what she has learned over the years to help her deliver success for clients and colleagues. Kate services institutional clients by providing advice and counsel on all areas of fund oversight including investment policy development, asset allocation, manager research, portfolio structure, rebalancing, and performance monitoring. Fiducient Advisors is a full-service asset advisory business founded in 1995. With over 200 professionals and $230 billion in assets under advisement (as of June 30, 2022), Fiducient is one of the premier consultancy businesses in the US with providing investment consulting services to retirement plans, endowments and foundations, private clients, and financial institutions. Tune in to this informative and wide-ranging discussion with one of the leading investment consultants in the financial services industry.

Chenae Edwards, Partner with NEPC, LLC shares her investment consulting experience as she discusses the NEPC manager research process, how clients are maneuvering through the current market environment, and her experience in working with non-profit institutions. NEPC is one of the industry’s largest independent, full-service investment consulting firms, serving more than 400 clients with over $1.4 trillion in assets under advisement. With over 350 employees and over 400 clients across channel, NEPC’s five distinct practices and eight regional offices make it one of the more important consultants in the industry. Learn more about what has made NEPC so successful over the years, and how Chenae and her colleagues research and select their investment management partners.

Andy Spellar, Chief Investment Officer for the Fairfax County Employees' Retirement System shares his journey over his two decades for the $5.0 billion Plan located in the suburbs of Washington, DC.  Andy started with Fairfax County in June 1998 as a Senior Investment Manager and has been an important aspect of the Plan’s innovative and insightful approach to asset allocation and manager selection over his successful career. Andy shares his process on manager sourcing, due diligence, selection, and how he and his team consider asset allocation decisions. Watch and listen to this insightful episode where Andy shares many of the attributes that have helped him stay in the fairway and continue to deliver for Fairfax County.

Ernst Knacke, Head of Research at London-based, Shard Capital Partners as well as its subsidiary, LeifBridge Investment Management joins the Dakota Live! Podcast to share his nearly twenty years of experience in manager research and selection. Shard Capital is a leading wealth and asset manager advising over $1.6 billion on behalf of high net worth and institutional clients in both the European and US markets. Ernst shares how he and his colleagues are developing their growing OCIO business through the sourcing of asset managers globally. Ernst in his role as Head of Research, shares how he attempts to minimize the home country bias that permeates through investment portfolios both domestically and abroad. Whether you are a US-based asset manager looking to penetrate the UK/European markets or a UK/European manager looking to penetrate the US market, this is a can’t miss episode.  

Chris Brockmeyer is the Director of Employee Benefit Funds for the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry. Join us in this informative and insightful episode as Chris shares how he navigates his role, serving as the Employer Co-Chair on 11 multi-employer pension funds, 6 health funds and 6 annuity/401(k) funds with approximately $9 Billion in assets, covering 140,000 current or future retirees and providing health care coverage for more than 31,000 employees, plus dependents, in the entertainment industry. Chris shares his experience working with both investment consultants and Outsourced CIOs, as well as his work with asset managers across traditional and alternative asset classes. Throughout the conversation, Chris guides us through his philosophy on negotiating and relationship management from the perspective of both unions and employers. If you’re looking to better understand the Taft Hartley landscape, be sure to tune into this episode. 

John Tassone is the Director of Investments for Forbes Family Trust. Forbes Family Trust is a multi-family office serving institutions and single-family offices as an outsourced investment advisor. The firm represents over 250 families and 50 institutions globally. John is senior member of the investment team responsible for manager due diligence and monitoring of both public and private investments, as well as asset allocation, portfolio construction, and risk management for client families. John takes the Dakota Live! team in this special edition episode through Forbes Family Trust’s approach to asset allocation, the firm’s manager research and underwriting process, and what a potential client partnership looks like with their firm. Join us as we come to better understand Forbes Family Trust and their allocation to various asset classes and investment strategies.  

Doug MacBean, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the California Institute of Technology’s Investment Office (Caltech) joins us at Dakota Live! to share the ingredients from his career and how he approaches his role as an endowment allocator. Like any good recipe, Doug shares the steps to help us better understand his team’s approach to asset allocation and underwriting process as it relates to investment manager research and selection. Sit down for this insightful and informative conversations with one of the industry’s leading investors.

Raz Der-Tavitian, Chief Investment Officer with SLK Private Wealth joins us at Dakota Live! to share his experience as CIO of an independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). SLK Private Wealth is a $1.6 billion RIA based in Los Angeles. Raz walks us through the investment opportunities he and his colleagues are currently evaluating and how to work with SLK as an asset management partner. Raz takes us from his work with Wilshire, leading their hedge fund and liquid alternatives research efforts to his role today as CIO of a newly launched wealth advisor. Along the way, Raz goes deeper into his underwriting process as it relates to investment manager research and selection. Join us in this wide ranging and informative discussion.