ALO05: Better than Alpha ft. Chris Schelling

In this episode, Alan Dunne is joined by Chris Schelling, Chief Investment Strategist at Venturi Private Wealth and author of the book “Better Than Alpha”, to discuss asset allocation and how assets are managed in the private space vs institutional space, about disrupting the 60/40 model and formulating a new standard, the evolution of the industry over the years, the role of liquidity in asset allocation, the use of Alpha and Beta in investment, what it takes to be a skilled manager and the risk of manager selection.

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In this episode, we discuss:

• How are assets managed in the private space vs institutional space
• Biases in asset allocation and how to overcome them.
• Using Alpha, Beta and other investment strategies
• Due diligence and things to avoid in the process
• The risks of manager selection and what it takes to be a good manager.

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Episode TimeStamps:

00:00 - Intro

03:23 - About Chris’s background and his role at Venturi

12:45 - Disrupting the 60/40 model and formulating a new standard

17:54 - How the industry has evolved over the years

21:56 - Is private equity less risky?

23:43 - Is liquidity being more or less valued as it should be?

27:39 - Alpha, Beta and mapping strategies into categories

32:37 - Dispersion and persistence of returns

36:30 - How to set objectives and make decisions

40:14 - Overcoming biases

44:20 - Dealing with randomness

47:33 - Important skills managers need to have

54:29 - Timeframe for analysing a manager’s performance

57:46 - Things to avoid in the due diligence process

01:00:14 - Risks within manager selection

01:03:00 - How much experience do you need?

01:05:09 - Advice for working with asset allocation and manager selection

01:06:12 - Book recommendations

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