Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Nancy Zimmerman is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Bracebridge Capital, a $13 billion alternative asset manager specializing in fixed income arbitrage that she founded over 30 years ago, in 1994, alongside Gabe Sunshine with capital from David Swensen at Yale. 


Our conversation traces Nancy's evolution from pricing securities to investing and the enduring sources of inefficiency in fixed income markets. We discuss the nature of arbitrage opportunities and their persistence over time and then turn to hunting for mispricings today across developed market rates, structured credit, corporates, and emerging markets. Along the way, we cover Bracebridge's process for sourcing ideas, assessing relative value, determining position sizes, constructing a portfolio, and managing risk. We close with building a team, aligning the organization and its clients, investing in today's exciting and unusual environment, and transferring investment knowledge to work on the investment committee and brain science research at Nancy's alma mater, Brown University. 


Nancy is among the sharpest, most curious, funny, and deeply experienced investors in the hedge fund world.


 
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

André Perold is the co-founder and CIO of HighVista Strategies, an alternative asset manager overseeing $14 billion that searches for alpha opportunities in structurally inefficient markets. André has twice been a past guest on the show, starting way back with episode #2 and both conversations are replayed on the feed. 


 
This conversation starts with André's assessment of the most exciting and unusual investment environment he has experienced, alongside his thoughts on how to build capabilities and construct portfolios to navigate exponential change. We then turn to the beautifully inefficient markets where HighVista has built core capabilities across biotech, lower middle-market buyouts, early-stage venture, and specialty private credit.  


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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

André Perold, the Co-Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of HighVista Strategies, a $4B firm with roots in endowment-style investing that searches for inefficiencies across asset classes. André was the 2nd guest on the show, where we discussed his background as a renowned investment professor at HBS and the founding of HighVista.
 
Our second conversation covers the evolution of HighVista over the last few years. We discuss changes in the business and the firm's response by focusing on inefficient markets. We then dive into examples of opportunities in biotech, private credit and litigation finance, and close with a perspective on active management and private markets.
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André Perold is the Chief Investment Officer and Co-Managing Partner at HighVista Strategies, where for the last dozen years he has sat at the helm of a now $3 billion fund that takes a multi-asset class, endowment-like approach emphasizing broad diversification and risk management.

Over this period, André has definitively rebuffed the cliché that those who can't do, teach. In his prior career, he spent over 30 years teaching at the HBS, where he is the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking, Emeritus.

André had a distinguished career teaching investment management at Harvard and is a legendary master of the case study classroom. Just about everyone in the investment profession with Harvard Business School on their resume took a seat in his classroom at one point in time. André received numerous awards for teaching excellence, including being voted the School's most outstanding professor in a Business Week student survey.

While at Harvard, André authored and co-authored 27 articles in financial journals, two books, and over 100 case studies, all relating to investment management, capital markets, and the financial system. He literally chronicled the development of modern finance as it occurred through is work at HBS.

Among his directorships and trustee roles over the years, André currently is a Board member at The Vanguard Group.

In this episode, we spend the first 11:30 talking about teaching at Harvard, and then turn to the practice of investing: the active vs. passive debate, a risk-based approach to asset allocation, and what makes investing so hard.  I found it fascinating hearing how André takes all of his academic experience and knowledge and applies it the practice of investing at HighVista. His wisdom and clarity of thought are second to none, and his soothing South African accent only adds to the allure.

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AI is top of mind for everyone in the investment business. Our Summits are abuzz with curiosity about what others are doing.
I asked 8 CIOs to share how they're using AI today, including what's working and what isn't, the tools they've adopted, and where they're headed next. They range from a single-family office with one investment professional to one of the largest pension funds in the world with thousands.
What emerged is a range of use cases — from using AI as a personal productivity tool, to changing investment workflows, organizing institutional knowledge, improving decisions, and ultimately trying to generate alpha.
You'll also hear some consistency in the tools currently used and different views on how far AI should go in the investment process.
Featured in this interview: Abby Barlow, CIO of Westwood Management Laura Hill, CIO of Advocate Health Brian Sugrue, CIO of Shannonbridge Jenny Heller, President and CIO Brandywine Group Advisors John Lawrence, President of Rice Management Company Matt Bank, CIO of GEM Kristin Kallergis Rowland, Global Head of Alternative Investments for J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management Jon Webster, Senior Managing Director and COO of Technology & Operations at CPP Investments
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)