ALO30: The Quiet Rewire of Portfolio Construction ft. Cian Walsh

Cian Walsh, Head of Hedge Funds and Private Debt at Formue, joins Alan Dunne to explore what it means to allocate capital when the macro regime, client expectations, and the structure of markets are all in flux. He explains why the 60/40 model obscures more than it reveals, how he is adapting institutional frameworks for thousands of private clients, and what changes when you view hedge funds not as a bucket, but as a function. From the discipline of sizing trend in a sideways regime to the slow shift from vintage private credit to evergreen, this is a conversation about building portfolios that can hold together when the ground moves.

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Episode TimeStamps:

02:12 - Introduction to Cian Walsh

05:30 - How does institutional asset allocation stand out?

06:39 - Asset allocation in a shifting regime

09:33 - A move towards mass customization

10:26 - The 60/40 portfolio is dying - what is next?

13:28 - The challenges of implementing a total portfolio approach

17:16 - Dealing with underperforming strategies

20:09 - More growth or more all-weather?

23:30 - Why Walsh believes in systematic trading

28:51 - Do Walsh hold any long volatility strategies?

30:04 - Walsh's process for selecting managers

36:55 - Managing fees and the rise of Pod Shops

39:54 - Their approach to early stage allocation and risk

42:03 - How manager selection differs from asset allocation

44:32 - Their process of upholding expected returns and performance

46:55 - Balancing hedge fund allocation and private credit

50:20 - Does hedge fund allocation call for more caution?

52:46 - How to avoid sitting short on liquidity

54:48 - The pitfalls of the private credit space

58:19 - Will credit markets outperform growth equity markets?

01:00:27 - Walsh's key advice and book recommendations for other investors

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