Other People's Money with Max Wiethe

This episode is brought to you by CAIA.nxt. Learn more about their alternatives education courses for investment advisors and get 10% off with code MMTEN: https://caia.org/content/welcome-monetary-matters-and-other-peoples-money-listeners Steven Novakovic, Managing Director of Educational Programs at CAIA, discusses the monumental shift from strategic asset allocation to the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA), a change recently highlighted by major moves at CalPERS. The conversation explores the evolving landscape of private markets, specifically how secondary markets are providing crucial liquidity and entry points for investors dealing with slowed distributions and the "denominator effect". Novakovic also provides a candid look at the friction between hedge fund fees and beta-heavy returns, arguing that sophisticated limited partners will not pay for beta. As alternative investments become more accessible to retail wealth, he emphasizes the critical need for education regarding evergreen funds and the unique risks of private market liquidity. Finally, the episode looks forward to 2026 educational initiatives at CAIA. Follow Steve Novakovic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-novakovic-caia/ Follow Max on X: https://x.com/maxwiethe Follow Other People’s Money on: Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M Spotify https://bit.ly/3Yhaazi YouTube https://bit.ly/3C63VXR X https://x.com/opmpod Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to Governance Changes in Pension Plans 00:45 Strategic Asset Allocation vs. Total Portfolio Approach 03:24 Early Adopters and Global Trends in TPA 05:06 Benchmarking and Decision-Making Shifts 09:58 CalPERS Case Study: Governance and Tactical Opportunities 17:32 Impact on Managers and Investment Strategies 22:08 Current Market Trends and Private Credit 25:54 Private Equity Distributions and Secondary Markets 35:32 Reinvesting Portfolio Proceeds 36:39 Understanding Secondary Market Buyers 37:09 Benefits of Secondary Allocations 39:14 Challenges and Strategies in Secondary Markets 45:03 Hedge Funds vs. Equity Markets 46:35 Evaluating Hedge Fund Performance 49:02 Active Management and Fee Structures 56:53 Educating Investors on Alternatives 01:03:00 CAIA's Educational Resources 01:05:44 Upcoming CAIA Programs

In this episode of Other People’s Money, Matt Ober, General Partner at Social Leverage, discusses how the data economy is evolving for providers, vendors, and investors. He explains how AI is reshaping data business models, highlights emerging data sources in what he calls the “degenerate economy,” and argues that many alternative data sets once considered sources of alpha are rapidly becoming commoditized beta. Matt also shares how Social Leverage uses data to make seed stage venture investments, how its approach differs from that of mega VC firms, and where the firm is currently focused. He reflects on his career path from quantitative hedge funds to venture capital and how the expanding role of data shaped his trajectory in the investment business. Before joining Social Leverage, Matt was Chief Data Scientist at Third Point, where he built the firm’s data analytics and technology platform supporting investments across equities, structured credit, venture capital, and cryptocurrency. Earlier, he was Head of Data Strategy at WorldQuant and a founding member of WorldQuant Ventures, focused on private investments in fintech, data, and technology. Sign up for Matt’s newsletter The Rollup: https://www.mattober.co/ Follow Matt on X: https://x.com/obermattj Follow Max on X: https://x.com/maxwiethe Follow Other People’s Money on: Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M Spotify https://bit.ly/3Yhaazi YouTube https://bit.ly/3C63VXR X https://x.com/opmpod Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:21 The Business of Data 03:28 Data Pricing and AI Impact 04:36 Challenges for Data Companies 07:31 Emerging Data Sets and Buyers 14:25 Social Leverage's Investment Strategy 17:07 Venture Capital Market Dynamics 21:22 Fund of Funds and Network Value 22:40 Insights on Software and AI 25:54 Beehive vs. Substack 29:46 Hedge Fund Journey and Data Evolution 31:41 The Data-Driven Investment Strategy 32:05 Scaling Up: From Millions to Billions 32:24 Global Data Acquisition 32:49 Building a Data-Driven Ecosystem 33:06 Transition to Third Point 33:43 Integrating Data with Investment Processes 34:34 Challenges and Politics in Hedge Funds 35:49 Evaluating Data Sets and Their Impact 37:43 The Evolution of Data in Investment 38:49 The Role of Data in Hedge Fund Success 43:10 From Hedge Funds to Venture Capital 52:08 The Future of Wealth Management 55:00 The Rise of Prediction Markets 59:35 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This episode is brought to you by Fiscal.ai. Sign up for a 2-week free trial and get 15% off any paid tier at: http://fiscal.ai/mm Over the last 8 years, Yaron Naymark, founder and managing partner of 1 Main Capital, has patiently grown his concentrated long-biased hedge fund by outperforming major equity benchmarks like the S&P 500. Any manager who has been in his shoes though will tell you that outperforming the market isn’t enough to attract the institutional capital necessary to seriously scale a fund. Here he discusses the importance of consistency of communication with investors, how his portfolio management has evolved, and the other operational improvements he has made that have helped spur growth. He also discusses a $20m strategic investment from Cannell Capital he took in 2025 and how he thinks about these types of “seed” deals. Sign up for 1 Main Capital’s distribution list: https://www.1maincapital.com Follow Yaron Naymark on X: https://x.com/1MainCapital Follow Max on X: https://x.com/maxwiethe Follow Other People’s Money on: Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M Spotify https://bit.ly/3Yhaazi YouTube https://bit.ly/3C63VXR X https://x.com/opmpod Timestamps 00:00 Introduction and Personal Insights on Investing 00:43 Guest Introduction and Fund Background 00:55 Fund Growth and Milestones 02:41 Challenges and Turning Points 03:20 Marketing and Investor Relations 07:41 Economic Considerations and Fund Management 10:51 Investment Philosophy and Strategy 27:08 Podcasting and Public Engagement 28:55 Transparency in Investment Strategies 29:41 Audience Growth and Distribution 31:03 Pitching Ideas and Raising Capital 32:20 Investment Minimums and Investor Relations 33:37 Marketing and Outreach Strategies 36:57 Switching to Jefferies and Other Service Providers 42:57 Strategic Investment from Cannell Capital 51:54 Hiring an Analyst and Future Plans 55:19 Managing Fund Capacity and Performance 58:40 Conclusion and Contact Information

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXMax Sam Gaer, CIO of Directional Strategies at Monarq Asset Management, joins Other People’s Money to discuss how he uses quantitative directional strategies to trade crypto assets and produce an institutional quality return stream that has outperformed bitcoin at scale. He explains how his experience as a market maker, executive, and self-taught electronic exchange technologist driving some of the most important technological advances in finance led him to “burn the boats,” leave tradfi, and go all in on building institutional crypto strategies with Monarq. He also discusses how institutional appetite for crypto hedge fund strategies is growing with increased regulatory clarity, greater availability of institutional level funds, and evolving market opportunities in crypto-native and crypto-linked tradfi assets. Follow Sam Gaer on X: https://x.com/samg67 Follow Monarq on X: https://x.com/monarq_mgmt Follow VanEck on X: https://x.com/vaneck_us Follow Max on X: https://x.com/maxwiethe Follow Other People’s Money on: Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M Spotify https://bit.ly/3Yhaazi YouTube https://bit.ly/3C63VXR X https://x.com/opmpod Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:43 Q4 Crypto Volatility 06:21 A Disappointing Year for Crypto Bulls 10:29 Taking Advantage of Extreme Volatility 12:50 Triple Barrier Risk Management 15:43 $REMX 16:26 Responsible Leverage 17:17 Is the 4-Year Cycle Over 21:55 Early Days Pit Trading 24:16 Building Electronic Exchange Technology 26:38 CEO of NYMEX Europe and NYMEX IPO 27:24 Move to FINRA 28:43 Building and Selling a Volatility Hedge Fund 29:15 Burn the Boats 32:14 Joining Monarq 37:14 Differences Between Crypto Fund Managers and TradFi 39:17 Institutional Adoption of Crypto Hedge Funds 44:27 Can Crypto Strategies Scale to Meet the Demand? 47:19 The Crypto TradFi Collision 49:57 The Difference Between Institutional and Non-institutional Quality Crypto Funds 54:13 Hyper Liquid and Other Market Improvements in Crypto 59:26 Will TradFi Take Over Crypto? 01:01:31 Digital Asset Treasuries 01:08:46 The Next Stage for Monarq

This Other People’s Money episode is brought to you by CAIA.nxt. Learn more about their alternatives education courses for investment advisors and get 10% off with code MMTEN: https://caia.org/content/welcome-monetary-matters-and-other-peoples-money-listeners James Wang, General Partner at Creative Ventures and author of “What You Need to Know About AI” joins Other People’s Money to discuss the most pressing issues facing venture capital right now including: VC’s collision with public markets, the “RIAifaction” of VC firms, and the reality that there is still too much dry powder propping up venture valuations. Wang also discusses the difficulty of judging VC funds off of typical metrics like MOIC and TVPI, especially when the fund is still in the middle of its life cycle. Wang closes the podcast with his views on AI as expressed in his new book and the reasons why he believes many are being distracted by first-order effects. Follow James Wang on X: https://x.com/AJamesWang Read Weighty Thoughts: https://weightythoughts.com Follow Max on X: https://x.com/maxwiethe Follow Other People’s Money on: Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M Spotify https://bit.ly/3Yhaazi YouTube https://bit.ly/3C63VXR X https://x.com/opmpod Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:22 The Collision of Public and Private Markets 04:13 Venture Capital is Following the Same Path as Other Asset Classes 05:52 Venture's Shifting Role in Portfolios 13:36 Venture Capital Emerging Managers 18:39 Corporate Venture Capital 20:58 The Most Active Venture LPs 22:45 Sovereign Wealth Funds and Strategic Venture 26:56 RIAs and Private Wealth as the Next Source of Capital 31:58 The Emergence of Star Athletes and Actors as VCs 33:41 Most VCs Don't Add Value to Portfolio Companies 35:31 Comparing VC Funds: The Metrics That Lie 43:32 Sneaky VC Marketing Tricks and Marketing Materials 48:33 Reference Checks and Speaking with Founders 50:17 The Dry Powder Bubble 57:41 What You Need to Know About AI 59:47 Tracking AI Progress 01:03:42 The Politics of AI 01:07:32 The Next Stage of Training AI Models