ALO33: The Psychology Behind Better Asset Allocation ft. Aoifinn Devitt
Top Traders Unplugged
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
4.8 • 712 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Alan Dunne speaks with Aoifinn Devitt about what it really means to build resilient portfolios in a world of shifting regimes and competing narratives. Drawing on experience across pensions, hedge fund advisory, and private wealth, Aoifinn reflects on how institutional lessons translate to individual investors. The conversation explores the role of diversification, the evolving case for private markets, and the limitations of labels such as hedge funds, factors, or alternative assets. Along the way, they discuss the behavioral traps that influence allocators, the challenges of manager selection, and why outcome based investing may offer a clearer framework for navigating uncertain markets.
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Episode TimeStamps:
02:16 - Introducing Aoifinn Devitt and her background
03:14 - From corporate law to a career in finance
05:16 - Institutional vs private wealth portfolio construction
09:47 - How macro regimes influence asset allocation
12:53 - Rethinking the endowment model and private markets
15:32 - Private credit and diversification challenges
18:13 - Total portfolio approach vs traditional allocation
21:27 - Bonds, equities, and changing correlations
27:52 - Concentration risk and the dominance of mega cap stocks
37:33 - The evolving role of hedge funds in portfolios
42:35 - Gold, commodities, and inflation protection
46:23 - Behavioral biases and long term market cycles
57:35 - Advice for young professionals entering finance
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Find a way to develop your own voice in this respect, because there will be many jobs you do where you, no one cares about that voice. |
| 0:16.0 | And that's fine because that is a necessary right of passage, I'd say. But do develop that voice too, because there |
| 0:21.7 | will come a time when you will be, that voice will be needed in terms of you leading a unit, |
| 0:27.4 | or are you having to get on CNBC or are you being asked to do something? And you should be the person |
| 0:32.6 | that can say yes to that because you have something to say. Imagine spending an hour with the world's greatest traders. |
| 0:40.7 | Imagine learning from their experiences, their successes, their failures. |
| 0:45.1 | Imagine no more. |
| 0:47.0 | Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged, the place where you can learn from the best hedge fund |
| 0:51.8 | managers in the world so you can take your manager due diligence or investment career to the next level. Before we begin today's |
| 0:58.9 | conversation, remember to keep two things in mind. All the discussion we'll have about investment |
| 1:03.6 | performance is about the past, and past performance does not guarantee or even infer anything |
| 1:08.9 | about future performance. Also understand that there's a significant risk of financial loss with all investment strategies, |
| 1:14.8 | and you need to request and understand the specific risks from the investment manager about their product |
| 1:20.2 | before you make investment decisions. |
| 1:22.6 | Here's your host, veteran hedge fund manager, Nealiels Kostrup Larson. |
| 1:39.5 | Welcome and welcome back to another conversation in our series of episodes that focuses on markets and investing from a global macro perspective. |
| 1:46.0 | This is a series that I not only find incredibly interesting, as well as intellectually challenging, but also very important given where we are in the global economy and the geopolitical cycle. |
| 1:53.0 | We want to dig deep into the minds of some of the most prominent experts to help us better understand |
| 1:58.0 | what this new global macro-driven world may look like. |
| 2:01.8 | We want to explore their perspectives on a host of game-changing issues |
| 2:06.1 | and hopefully dig out nuances in their work through meaningful conversations. |
| 2:10.4 | Please enjoy today's episode, hosted by Alan Dunn. |
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