Capital Allocators: How the world’s elite money managers lead and invest

Ted Seides shares the best tips, advice, and wisdom he has learned from the CIOs, investors, and deep thinkers he has interviewed on the first 150 episodes of his popular Capital Allocators podcast. The book is short but powerful. It has three parts:Part 1 gives advice on five skills every CIO needs: - How to interview money managers - Tips on decision-making - Tips on negotiating - How to lead the team - How to manage the team and develop talentPart 2 explains five frameworks of the allocator’s environment - The critical but often overlooked impact of the fund’s governance structure - The investment strategy - Elements of a good investment process - How to use new technology - How to deal with uncertaintyPart 3 is a collection of the best quotes from his podcasts. Some of my favorites: “Anyone who thinks nothing lasts forever has never invested in a bad private equity fund” – Karl Scheer, University of Cincinnati Endowment “Manager skill is rare. It’s really hard to identify in advance. Sometimes it’s hard to identify after the fact.” – Matt Whineray, New Zealand Super Fund “Emphasize the reflective over the reactive.” – James Aitken, Aitken AdvisorsI also like that Seides gives a list of books and links to learn more about each topic. And he includes in an appendix an example of a preparation document with key questions to ask money managers during an interview.Overall, this book is a valuable collection of wisdom and advice.

This book was a giant self serving suck fest for hedge funds. Seides provides 0 evidence that active management beats passive management on an absolute or risk adjusted basis. The fact of the matter is passive management beats the pants off active management across different asset classes, factors, geographies, etc... This book is a massive sales pitch to public pensions/endowments in hopes of hiring more hedge fund slapdicks. Moreover if you think I overreacting, I would like to point out the fact that many pension funds are woefully underfunded. For example Rhode Island recently cut pension payouts to retired school teachers, the main culprit was excessive management fees and underperformance. It's disgusting that a retired school teach has to count every penny they spend in retirement, just so some hedge fund yuppie can buy a second beach house in the Hamptons! I have ZERO respect for Ted Seides and his IVY league cronies! Pound sand buddy!!!!

I was hoping to get more insights out of this. However, over long stretches it felt stale, kind of an attempt to generate a bit more revenue out of the same content.While did find some nuggets that I think I will be able to use, there were also some concepts that could have benefitted from a little more explanation. Some topics would have become more accessible.Don't get me wrong. The author certainly is a subject matter expert. I'm not sure, though, this book reflects the best he can be as an expert.

I'm a recovering investment banker, and I loved the chance to once again dive into the world of investments and money management. Capital Allocators is comprehensive, easy to read and a lot of fun! It had the fast pace of the podcast, but also the depth that only a book can bring. Hard to believe the number of experts in this book. I highly recommend it!

Combining quotes and insights from 150+ interviews of CIOs and money managers with his own 25 year experience in investment management, Ted puts the top lessons and insights from those who allocated our global capital into a well organized and easy to read book. I couldn’t put it down.

Well written and concise. I love Ted's work and the way he pulls together intellectual capital from a number of respected efforts. The only reason for the 4 vs 5 star review is that much of the content was available in one of his recent podcasts for free.

This book is a series of random quotes and name dropping without a coherent theme or message other than checkout the podcast. It promises to distill lessons, but it basically does it in checklists or bullet points rather than making an argument or telling a story. I did not find it useful.

Awesome Book. Intelligent, insightful, easy read!!!

Don't waste your money. Half the book is a strange mixture of bragging about a successful podcast with vague, clichéd advice about recruiting money managers. The second half is a list of aphorisms. Some mildly interesting, some so boring I could not even be bothered to read to the end of the 30 words or whatever. If you were expecting actionable or even interesting investment or portfolio building advice, you will be disappointed.

This book offers a great toolkit for any current or becoming investor and capital allocator!