Our guest for today’s podcast is Victor Hu, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Lumos Capital Group, an investment firm focused on growth companies in the human capital development and education technology sectors globally. Lumos partners with companies that are creating better outcomes for individuals and institutions in the learning, teaching and talent markets. Victor believes deeply in the power of education to transform society and help people reach their full potential. Growing up in...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Jon Grabel, CIO of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, also known as LACERA.   In his role, Jon has the responsibility for managing over $70 billion in AUM on behalf of LACERA’s active and retired members.   Prior to LACERA, Jon was the CIO for New Mexico PERA and the Montgomery County Public Schools.  In total, Jon has served the important role of CIO for over 12 years in the second act of his highly accomplished career.  Previously,...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Ellen Hung, Deputy CIO at the State Universities Retirement System (also knowns as SURS), which is based in Champaign, Illinois.  As Deputy CIO, Ellen oversees over $22bn in fund assets and works closely with the CIO on asset allocation and implementing new initiatives across the fund.  More recently, Ellen helped to develop SURS’ Crisis Risk sleeve which includes allocations to systematic trend following managers, long duration managers, as well as...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Anthony Chiu, Deputy CIO at the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority based in Louisville, Kentucky.  As Deputy CIO, Anthony is part of a team of 4 that oversees approximately $22 bn in fund assets.  Anthony’s specific focus is on the fund’s private equity and alternatives program.   Anthony is as talented as they come, having graduated as valedictorian of his high school, attending Stanford, and qualifying as a contestant on the game show, Jeopardy!  In 2016,...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Gretchen Tai, VP of Investments at CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer.  In her role, Gretchen effectively serves as the CIO and has a team of 7 investment professionals that oversees $10 billion in assets.   Gretchen joined CSAA in 2019 after serving as a portfolio manager at SECOR Asset Management, a boutique global asset management firm known for providing comprehensive and customized solutions to a wide array of institutional clients.  Prior to that,...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Scott Chan, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (better known as CalSTRS).  CalSTRS is the largest teachers’ retirement system and second largest public pension fund in the United States.  A world-class financial services institution and state agency, CalSTRS is known for its unique organizational culture which emphasizes customer service, leadership and respect for its members and colleagues.   What a pleasure...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Amie Patel, CEO of Elevar Equity, a venture capital impact firm with headquarters in India.   Elevar Equity fuels the economic resilience and vibrancy of underserved customers and low income communities by investing early growth capital in entrepreneurs building at the intersection of inclusivity, affordability and massive scale. Led by an entrepreneurial emerging markets team passionate about addressing issues of access and inequity, Elevar invests in...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Brian O’Neil, Chief Investment Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Brian is a legend in the business and has been at the helm of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the past 20 years helping to grow its foundation to well over $14 billion in AUM.  Effective January 1st, 2023, Brian will be retiring from his role as CIO.   What a pleasure it was for me and AAAIM Executive Committee Board Co-Chair Brenda Chia to interview Brian, a long time...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Jane Ma who is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where she specializes in advising clients in the Asset Management and Wealth Management sector. She has over 15 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Jane worked at both Greenhill and Deutsche Bank focusing on M&A. Jane holds a B.S. in Applied Economics & Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. I met Jane at...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Eugene Zhang, Founder & Partner of TSVC, a venture capital firm he started in 2010 to focus on seed stage investing.  An engineer by training, Eugene spent his formative years working for a number of the top tech companies in our time including Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Juniper Networks.  After successfully selling his own side hustle tech startup, Eugene took an interest in angel investing, subsequently catapulting his second career as a venture...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Grace Chen, Founder and CEO of Upmarket.  Upmarket opens up alternative investment opportunities to qualified individual investors. Qualified investors now have direct access to selected private equity, hedge funds and other alternative private fund offerings with lower investment minimums, simplified online subscription and post reporting process. UpMarket aims to serve those who want to achieve a truly diversified portfolio by giving them exceptional...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Amy Chen, Chief Investment Officer at the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, educational and research complex.  Amy oversees overall investment strategy and management of the institution’s endowment.  Under Amy’s leadership since 2006, the investment office has grown from $800 million to $2.5 billion while distributing $1 billion along the way… not bad!   Amy credits the culture of the organization and why having the right governance...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Fiona Lui, who is the Chief Operating Officer for Financial Solutions at Bloomberg LP.   Over a 22+ year career in finance, Fiona has enjoyed amazing success climbing the corporate ladder at various investment banks as well as at Bloomberg, the market leader for financial data and news.  Capital markets, structured derivatives, structured product sales, market data specialist, Head of Sales, COO…. Fiona has thrived in all of these roles and shares some of...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Ying Cao, Founder and CEO, LIYT, an executive coaching firm and Co-Founder of Work in Fintech, an educational and recruiting firm launched to inspire and guide students, graduates, and young professionals to a career in fintech and web3.   After a 14+ year career on Wall Street, Ying wasn’t happy and, after some inner soul searching and helped by an executive coach, she decided to leave a lucrative job on Wall Street to start two different companies.  While...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Ying Hosler, who was most recently Director of Investments at Penn State University’s investment office.  Over a 13+ year career, Ying has been a major driving force behind Penn State’s success helping to grow total assets from $1B to over $6.5B.   Ying was the 3rd investment professional hired at Penn State and oversaw all investment activities for the endowment’s Private Equity and Venture Capital over the past six years.Previously, Ying was responsible...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Hailey Ji, Founder of HULA, a community-driven friend discovery platform that connects like-minded people and propels meaningful relationships through shared offline experiences.  Another way to think about HULA is a Bumble or Tinder app to find friends to attend cool events together, whether it be a Coldplay concert or an anime themed launch party.   I met Hailey at the Asian Hustle Network Conference in Las Vegas and I found her to be full of energy and...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Helen Hwang, Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales.  Helen is Head of the Institutional Investment Sales Group and is known as the most trusted commercial real estate advisor in NYC. Over a 23+ year career in commercial real estate in NYC, Helen has executed over 100 institutional sales and recapitalization transactions exceeding $30 billion in value. Prior to joining Meridian, in 2015, Helen spent 16 years at Cushman &...

Podcast Specific Introduction (unique for each podcast): Our guest for today’s podcast is Ed Cong, Principal at Marathon Asset Management, which was founded by Bruce Richards and Louis Hanover in 1998 and currently manages over $23bn as of this recording.  Marathon is among the few storied asset management firms that has built an amazing brand over the past 20+ years.   Ed joined the firm in 2006 and has risen to become a member of the investment committee.  Not only has Ed survived over...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Sadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner of I Squared Capital.  He is an American economist and investor who focuses on infrastructure investments. Sadek began his career as an economist for the World Bank, where he worked on the social dimensions of structural adjustment. He subsequently joined Lehman Brothers and then Morgan Stanley, where he worked on structured financing. While with Morgan Stanley, Sadek launched Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Cindy Chen Delano, Co-Founder and Partner of Invictus Global Management, an emerging and diverse manager focused on opportunistic large-scale special situations across credit, bankruptcy claims and litigation finance.  Along with her Co-Founder and former Whitebox Advisors colleague, Amit Patel, Cindy successfully launched Invictus Global Management in 2019 and the firm now manages $200 million in assets in private equity-like vehicles.   Cindy has been an...

Our guest for today’s podcast is James Liang, Founder of Skyline Ventures, a Shanghai-based venture capital firm that invests in outbound opportunities from China to the rest of the world.   James has an impressive background given his 10 year experience in venture capital, including almost 4 years at Sequoia Capital China in his formative years.  As many of you know, I am a big champion of the underdog and James’ story resonates with all of us that didn’t have all the advantages growing...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Seamon Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Palm Drive Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in early-growth companies with strong ideas and teams both in Silicon Valley and emerging tech centers around the world.  Along with his Co-Founder and Stanford classmate, Hendrick Lee, Seamon launched Palm Drive Capital in 2014 while still in their 20’s after being inspired by Warren Buffett who said that “his only regret was not starting Berkshire Hathway...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Gayatri Sarkar, Founder and General Partner of Advaita Capital, a venture capital firm she started in 2021.  Advaita’s mission is to put more women and minority entrepreneurs on a path to IPO leveraging their expertise in DEI and ESG in making mainstream tech investments.   Many of you may know Gayatri from her She-VC videos on youtube, a podcast she launched to quite simply get more women funded.  Through story telling and conversations, She-VC has featured...

Our guest for today’s podcast is David Chiang, Chief Investment Officer of Pritzker Family Foundations where he leads Ganesh Investments, the company that provides investment advisory services to the Funds and Partnerships group of PSP Partners and its affiliates. Ganesh Investments also provides investment advisory services to multiple Pritzker families and their foundations. Prior to joining Ganesh Investments in 2021, David was the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Idyllic Partners,...

Our guest for today’s podcast is Shuo Chen who is a General Partner at Innovation Overflow Venture Capital, also known as IOVC, where she has invested in 60-plus seed-stage startups focused on the future of work.  Shuo is also on the faculty of UC Berkeley College of Engineering and Singularity University, where she has taught and mentored hundreds of students since 2010.  Shuo’s investments have been acquired by companies from Goldman Sachs to Instacart, and she's helped close deals with the...