What are some of the advantages (and risks) of institutional investors placing their bets on secondaries, co-investments, and other alternative investment vehicles? In our latest episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, we welcome Josh Lerner, Harvard Business School, to break down his research on these asset classes, geopolitics, AI, and more. Listen to the episode below.
Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series
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What have been the main motivators in LP investors looking at secondary markets and co-investments? Can larger asset owners like sovereign wealth funds and major endowments play in this space, or is it better left to more nimble allocators?
Back in April, Improving Alpha welcomed Simon Mayer from Carnegie Mellon University to discuss his thoughts on academia’s influence on institutional investing (definitely worth a listen here).
In this brand new episode, we build on that discussion, welcoming Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, Harvard Business School, to discuss his research and perspectives on secondaries, co-investments, impact funds, and his future research on how geopolitics could impact and transform venture capital.
Additional highlights that Josh and Michael covered are below:
- Can endowments leverage secondaries effectively? Does their organizational size impact their approach to these financial vehicles?
- What are the benefits of LPs investing in co-investments vs. traditional private equity structures? Based on the research, do these structures end up at the same place in terms of performance?
- Does Josh believe that we’re in an overvaluation period as it relates to AI investments? When could we see a correction, and what organizations will most likely capture the value from AI innovations?
- Are impact funds making a real contribution to society and pioneering technologies that more traditional funds avoid? What does their performance look like for allocators looking to get involved?
- In the last 30 years, up until 2022, we have seen venture capital moving away from “tough technologies”. How is the game evolving today?
- What is Josh’s perspective on why large corporations fail at internalizing disruptive tech in favor of buying venture-backed start-ups instead?
- and more.
Josh Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor at Harvard Business School and Co-Director of the HBS Private Capital Project. Much of his research focuses on venture capital and private equity organizations and innovation policy. He has been recently recognized as among the forty most influential economists worldwide by ScholarGPS and research.com.
He has co-directed the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program since 2010 and serves as co-editor of their publication, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy. He founded and runs the Private Capital Research Institute, a nonprofit devoted to encouraging access to data and research and has been a frequent leader of and participant in the World Economic Forum projects and events.
In the 1993-1994 academic year, he introduced an elective course for second-year MBAs. Over the past three decades, “Venture Capital and Private Equity” has consistently been one of the largest elective courses at Harvard Business School and whose teaching materials are used in business schools around the world. He has taught numerous executive and doctoral courses on venture capital, private equity, and entrepreneurship and has introduced a series of entrepreneurship classes at Harvard College.
He graduated from Yale College with a special divisional major. He worked for several years on issues concerning technological innovation and public policy. He then earned a Ph.D. from Harvard's Economics Department.
About Our Host: Michael Oliver Weinberg, CFA
For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee, and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.
Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books, and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations, and business schools.
The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.
