Helen Hwang, Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales, “$30 Billion and Counting… Becoming the Most Trusted Commercial Real Estate Advisor in NYC”
Release Date: 06/01/2022
Arun Assumall, Global Head, Cross Asset QIS & Commodity Investor Products, Macquarie Group, "My Path to Building a Global QIS Business at Macquarie”
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Arun Assumall, Global Head of Cross Asset QIS and Commodity Investor Products at Macquarie Group. Since joining Macquarie in 2011, Arun has built an impressive global business within the bank by offering sophisticated investors access to beta and risk premia strategies commonly referred to as Quantitative Investment Strategies, QIS. In a recent article published by Bloomberg, they estimate that over $370 billion in investor assets are currently tied to QIS offered by investment banks. So what does it take to build a global business from...
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Andy Lee, Managing Partner, Parallaxes Capital, “Delivering the Holy Grail for Institutional Investors - Uncorrelated Returns”
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Andy Lee, Managing Partner of Parallaxes Capital, an investment firm he founded in 2017 at the age of 26. Previously, Andy was with Lone Star Funds and, with Lone Star’s support, he spun off to form Parallaxes Capital to take advantage of an esoteric and growing asset class – Tax Receivable Agreements (TRAs). Andy is as smart and talented as they come, having entered college at 15 and earning his Bachelors in Finance and Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He went on to earn his Masters in Accountancy before...
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David Ng, Vice President, Avante Capital Partners, "Meet 2023 Norman Mineta Fellow and Rising Star: David Ng"
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is David Ng, who is a Vice President at Avante Capital Partners, a boutique private credit firm with approximately $1 bn in AUM that harnesses the power of diversity and challenges the status quo. David joined Avante in 2022 and is responsible for identifying, underwriting, executing and managing investment opportunities. David has over 10 years of middle-market debt and equity experience. Prior to Avante, David worked as a Vice President in Partners Group’s NYC office, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring, and...
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Sarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Fellow of the Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, “A Learning Mindset and the Importance of Learning Agility in Leade
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Sarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Fellow of the Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and who most recently served as Acting Secretary of the Dept of Banking for Commonwealth of PA and has now returned to her love for private capital investing and financial technology. She is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, teaching a course on financial regulation and alternative investments. No stranger to public service,...
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Pedro Ramos, CEO, Somar Capital Management, “Starting a Long/Short Hedge Fund is Hard…. But my timeline is infinite…”
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Pedro Ramos, CEO of Somar Capital Management, a consumer focused equity long/short hedge fund he started in 2015 after perfecting his craft as a portfolio manager at Tremblant Capital. Pedro combines strategy consulting, investment banking, entrepreneurial and buy-side public and private investing experience in multiple industries and countries. His investing activities have spanned multiple macro-economic and political scenarios (including the 1980s inflation, the 1990s dot.com bubble, the 2008 GFC, sovereign crisis, Brexit, and the 2020-2021 Covid-19...
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Damien Dwin, Founder and CEO, Lafayette Square, “Private Credit Investment With an Impact Lens”
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Damien Dwin, Founder and CEO of Lafayette Square, a national investment platform he founded in November 2020. Lafayette Square aims to create investment opportunities in overlooked places and underserved markets. We invest across asset classes and seek to provide robust risk-adjusted returns to investors while positively supporting people and communities. By increasing access to economic opportunity, Lafayette Square is helping to build a more inclusive American economy. Previously, Damien served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors...
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Chris Shen, Co-Founder and COO, Revere VC, “Building the Morningstar of Venture Capital”
AAAIM High ELI
Our guest for today’s podcast is Chris Shen, Co-Founder and COO of Revere VC, a start-up that he co-founded with Eric Woo, a veteran of the venture capital fund of fund business. Revere VC is looking to become “the Morningstar of Venture Capital” and is building the first rating system for evaluating early-stage venture capital firms. Chris’ professional work experience is deep and wide where he has spent time as an investor and lawyer for over 15 years in the US and Greater China across public and private investments, asset management, and financial products. Chris...
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Victor Hu, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Lumos Capital Group, "Growth Equity Investing to drive Human Flourishing through Education and Workforce Development"
AAAIM High ELI
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 Asia and Africa, he saw how a commitment to investing in human capital is the foundation for lifting...
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Jonathan Grabel, CIO, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA), “Authenticity, Character, and Humility: CIO Superpowers”
AAAIM High ELI
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, Jon was a general partner at a private equity firm focused on growth-stage...
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Ellen Hung, Deputy CIO, State Universities Retirement System, “Meet the $22 billion pension with over 40% of the portfolio managed by diverse firms”
AAAIM High ELI
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 alternative risk premia managers. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ellen given we...
info_outlineOur 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 & Wakefield as an Executive Vice President, as the head of NYC Investment Sales.
I truly enjoyed interviewing Helen for this podcast as she is a role model and inspiration for the AAAIM community. Want to hear what it takes to be at the top of your profession, well, you are in for a treat.
Without further ado, here is our conversation with Helen Hwang.