Paula Volent – Star Endowment Manager's Next Act at Rockefeller University (Capital Allocators, EP.219)
Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry
Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert
4.7 • 841 Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2021
⏱️ 41 minutes
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Summary
Paula Volent is the recently named Chief Investment Officer for Rockefeller University's $2.5 billion endowment. Paula previously oversaw Bowdoin College's endowment for twenty years as it grew from $450 million to $2 billion during her tenure and generated returns at the very top of the industry. Bowdoin's Investment Committee Chair, Stan Druckenmiller, describes Paula as an innovative, outside-of-the-box thinker, an aggressive risk taker, and a workaholic whose passion is unlike anyone he has ever seen. Paula is also one of my oldest friends in the business from our time crossing paths at Yale in the mid '90s. Our conversation covers Paula's unique career path from art conservation to endowment management and the transferable lessons she learned along the way. In the process, we discuss her approach at Bowdoin and plans for Rockefeller University.
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| 0:00.0 | Capital Allocators is brought to you by Ten East, an investment platform for sophisticated investors to access private markets. |
| 0:10.5 | Ten East brings benefits of having your own family office without the cost and headaches of doing so. |
| 0:16.8 | It's founded and led by Michael LaFelle, former deputy executive managing member of Davidson Kempner. |
| 0:24.2 | Michael and his investment team offer members the opportunity to co-invest by offering at their |
| 0:29.1 | discretion. Michael and his team source, diligence, and commit material personal capital to each |
| 0:35.3 | investment. The opportunities shared on the Ten East platform |
| 0:38.9 | offer exposure to private credit, real estate, niche venture and private equity, and other |
| 0:44.5 | idiosyncratic investments that typically aren't available through traditional channels. |
| 0:49.2 | The principles have over a decade track record of investing in these types of exposures |
| 0:53.5 | across more than 350 |
| 0:55.7 | transactions. Post-investment, the Tennis team conducts ongoing monitoring and reporting, |
| 1:01.8 | just as you'd expect from an institutional investment organization. I've known Michael for about a |
| 1:07.0 | decade, and after becoming impressed by the quality of 10 East offerings, its research |
| 1:11.6 | process, and high-quality investment team, I became an advisor to the organization, an investor |
| 1:17.1 | in multiple offerings. You can learn more and join me as a member at 10-east.com. That's the number 10, |
| 1:25.4 | east.co.O. |
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