Capital Allocators

On Investment Management Operations, Scott MacDonald speaks with Amit Bajaj from The World Bank. With thanks to Intelligo.

Nailing the narrative. My conversation with Jennifer Prosek from Prosek Partners. With thanks to 10 East.

Top quotes from my conversation with John Connaughton from Bain Capital. 1. "In the early years, the rest of the industry primarily hired from investment banks. We hired consultants, who are risk-averse, and found that we had a unique advantage in recruiting talent." 2. "Why are we going to be able to buy a business and yet deliver a better return than anybody else that's looking at it? The only reason you can do that is to create some form of inflection." 3. "We were one of the first firms that got into credit, public equity, and venture. We were one of the first to expand globally with our own people putting feet on the street. We wanted to find ways to provide opportunity for our people so we could keep our talent." 4. "We have had 48 leaders of our businesses who have come from a different part of the firm; 20% of them have come back to the firm to lead businesses after they've left." 5. "Our culture is about your long-term arc of impact and track record as well as your collaboration and work with the rest of the firm." 6. "We have a saying: who are the 10 mentees over the course of your career who are incredibly successful 10 years later." 7. "Partnership is a double-edged sword. Consensus can be terrific to vet outcomes and get to better answers, but sometimes consensus can yield less nimble decision making." 8. "Our reward system aims to be long-term investment-rich, which leads to a desire to reward patience and continuity." 9. "We're 40 years in the narrative for our industry, and it’s still not that far away from the Barbarians of the Gate stereotype. We need to turn that around." With thanks to 10 East.

Bain Capital's 40-year history as an industry training ground. My conversation with John Connaughton. With thanks to 10 East.

Top quotes from my conversation with bestselling author Charles Duhigg. 1. "Communication is Homo Sapiens' superpower. It's the thing that has allowed our species to succeed far beyond every other species." 2. "Once you learn the principles of communication, you can use them with anyone. Any of us can become a super communicator." 3. "Some of the core principles of super communication are asking deep questions, listening carefully, and proving you are listening." 4. "The three types of conversations are practical, emotional, and social." 5. "If you're not having the same kind of conversation at the same time, then conflict can grow very easily." 6. "When we acknowledge a conversation is going to be uncomfortable, we are going to make mistakes, and everyone belongs at this table, we get to 90% of the goal of making it safe to have a difficult conversation." 7. "Persuasion is a secondary tactic to communication. Unless you get the basic of communication down right, the persuasion probably won’t work." With thanks to 10 East.

On Investment Management Operations, Scott MacDonald speaks with Nicole Adrien, NACD.DC from Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. With thanks to Intelligo.

The secrets of communication. My conversation with bestselling author and business writer, Charles Duhigg. With thanks to 10 East.

Top quotes from my conversation with Ben Hunt, creator of Epsilon Theory: 1. " Epsilon in econometrics is the error term. I named my blog Epsilon Theory because Epsilon is what's not in your econometric formula. It's not an error; it's what you don't know." 2. "My professional edge is seeing how narratives wax and wane and understanding storytelling.” 3. "There are two kinds of stories: stories of why to explain something that probably happened by chance or for idiosyncratic reasons and stories that are created to change your mind or behavior." 4. “Narrative is always reactive; it’s not predictive.” 5. “What makes for a successful CEO today is the ability to create and sell a story.” 6. “When following the media and the news, it’s so important to ask yourself, why am I reading this now? Why is this being presented to me? Why am I being told this story and what stories are not being told to me?” 7. “The hardest thing for a portfolio manager to say is, ‘I don't know.’ But that's the most important thing in learning how to manage other people's money. You must be profoundly agnostic.” With thanks to 10 East and Inflection Point Partners LLC.

Top quotes from my conversation with Yann Robard at Dawson Partners. 1. "We call ourselves the Google of private equity because we are always coming up with new ideas, new financial products, and new financial technologies." 2. "You need to be a half-step ahead of the market, but you can't be a full step ahead. Markets needs evolutions, not revolutions." 3. "The age-old debate is whether private equity has outperformed public markets. The answer for me is clear: yes it has." 4. "With grit, patience, passion, and persistence humans can do a lot more than they think they can." 5. "You can be a good person and win. I have to look at myself in the mirror every day and be proud of not just what, but how." 6. "There's no destination on this journey so you have to enjoy the ride." With thanks to 10 East and Inflection Point Partners LLC.

Top quotes from my conversation with Graham Weaver at Alpine Investors: 1. "To have returns that are different you need beliefs that are different. We believe we can put a young, high attribute person into a high senior leadership role, and in a short period of time they will eclipse a more experienced person." 2. "We are deploying talent into private equity, but we are first and foremost in the talent business." 3. "If someone is willing to put in the work, be coachable, and throw their soul into a business then we probably have a role for them somewhere at Alpine." 4. "We need to get the industry right and we need to get the leadership right. That's it." 5. "We're going to do the hard work operationally, so the investing decision is easy." 6. "Where the magic really happens is when we start aggregating companies in the industry." 7. "Your body, your soul, your inner voice knows your answer. In my whole lifetime it's never guided me wrong." With thanks to 10 East and Inflection Point Partners LLC.