Ashby Monk

Investment strategist, researcher, and advocate for technological and structural innovation within large asset owner organizations.

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Appeared in

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Key positions and views

Large asset owners have supplanted banks as the most important financial actors and the primary source of risk capital in the global economy.

The future of investment management requires a fundamental shift to a Total Portfolio Approach (TPA), moving beyond outdated asset class silos despite significant implementation challenges.

Asset owners must prioritize hiring technologists for their boards and building robust data infrastructure, as AI's role evolves from simple automation to a primary source of investment insight.

Competitive advantage can be found in non-traditional areas, such as cultivating neurodiversity within investment teams and investing in emerging 'Fund I' managers to avoid overpaying for established names.

ESG factors can and should be demonstrated as direct drivers of positive financial performance through concrete transaction case studies, moving beyond theoretical frameworks.

Podcast consensus on Monk

Points of consensus

▶Large asset owners, such as pension and sovereign wealth funds, are now the most important financial organizations, supplanting banks as the primary source of risk capital in the economy.Apr 2026

▶The adoption of advanced technology, particularly AI and robust data infrastructure, is critical for the future of investment management, shifting the focus from automation to generating novel insights.Apr 2026

▶The Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) represents the future of institutional investing, moving away from traditional asset class silos toward a more dynamic, holistic management style.Apr 2026

▶Organizational design is a key driver of performance, necessitating changes in board composition to include technologists, new compensation structures to align with total fund goals, and a focus on team neurodiversity.Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶Monk champions the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) as the future, yet simultaneously concedes that its implementation is severely hampered by the inability of any large asset owner to accurately value private market assets in real-time.Apr 2026

▶He presents a sophisticated vision for AI generating 'inhuman intelligence' and unique investment insights, which contrasts with his observation that its primary application by asset owners today is for the more basic goal of reducing employee headcount.Apr 2026

▶Monk advocates for pension funds to invest in riskier, emerging 'Fund I' managers to capture value, a strategy that is often at odds with the inherently conservative and bureaucratic nature of the large institutions he describes.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶The Ascendancy of Asset OwnersApr 2026

Monk argues that large asset owners like pension and sovereign wealth funds have become the world's most important financial organizations, displacing banks as the primary source of risk capital. He highlights their growing role in funding societal needs and driving national economic transformations, as seen with Saudi Arabia's PIF and New Mexico's SIC.

This shift implies that the strategic decisions of a few dozen large funds now have macroeconomic and geopolitical consequences that rival those of central banks or multinational corporations.

▶The Technological Transformation of InvestingApr 2026

Monk posits that technology, especially AI and data infrastructure, is fundamentally reshaping investment management. He points to the shift from AI as an automation tool to a source of novel insight, citing AlphaGo's 'move 37' as a pivotal moment, and advocates for technologists on investment boards.

For investors, this means the primary competitive advantage is shifting from access to capital or traditional analysis to the ability to build and leverage proprietary data systems and advanced analytics.

▶The Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) Paradigm ShiftApr 2026

Monk identifies TPA as the successor to traditional asset-class-based allocation, predicting it will become foundational within two decades. He describes various implementations, from hybrid models to PGGM's '3D TPA' which incorporates risk, return, and impact, while also noting the significant challenges around private market valuation.

The move to TPA requires a complete overhaul of organizational structure, compensation, and data capabilities, making its adoption a complex, multi-year transformation rather than a simple strategy change.

▶Redefining Alpha through Human Capital and ESGApr 2026

Monk argues that sources of outperformance are evolving, emphasizing the importance of organizational design and non-traditional factors. He champions neurodiversity in investment teams as a 'superpower' and is actively researching how ESG factors can be a direct driver of financial performance, moving beyond simple screening.

This perspective suggests that future alpha will be generated not just from what you invest in, but *how* your organization is structured to perceive and analyze information differently from the market consensus.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

Post-2008

Following the financial crisis, factor-based asset allocation models were developed, which Monk identifies as the conceptual origin of the modern Total Portfolio Approach.

2016

Monk cites the AlphaGo match, specifically 'move 37', as a pivotal moment that shifted the perceived potential of AI in investing from speed and automation to generating novel, 'inhuman' insights.

Current

Monk is co-authoring research papers arguing that neurodiversity is a 'superpower' for investment teams and using case studies to demonstrate how ESG factors can directly drive positive financial performance.

Current

He observes a major push by Australian Superannuation funds and Canadian pension plans to invest in technology for real-time valuation of private market assets, driven by intense competitive pressure.

Future (approx. 2046)

Monk predicts that the Total Portfolio Approach will become as foundational and widely accepted in institutional investing as asset-liability management is today.

Suggested prompts

How does Ashby Monk reconcile the need for real-time valuation in TPA with his assertion that no large asset owner can currently do it effectively for private markets? &nearr;Given Monk's observation that AI is currently used for headcount reduction, what specific organizational and cultural changes are needed for asset owners to leverage it for the higher-level 'inhuman insight' he envisions? &nearr;Monk highlights Saudi Arabia's PIF as a vehicle for national economic transformation. What are the potential governance challenges when a sovereign fund's mandate shifts from purely financial returns to executing national industrial policy? &nearr;Monk argues for neurodiversity as a 'superpower' for investment teams. How can large, traditionally conservative institutions practically recruit for and cultivate neurodiversity without it becoming a tokenistic exercise? &nearr;

Key concepts

Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) 1 ep Pension Funds 1 ep Sovereign Wealth Funds 1 ep Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Investing 1 ep Private Markets & Valuation 1 ep Technology & Data Infrastructure 1 ep Organizational Design & Human Capital 1 ep ESG & Impact Investing 1 ep

Notable quotes

“The PIF, trillion-dollar-ish organization, started over 100 companies. This is a sovereign fund. Think about how different that is. This sovereign fund has started over 100 companies.”

Ashby Monk · Ashby Monk – Total Portfolio Approach and the Future of Asset Owners (EP.480)

“Just as we're sort of achieving that, I'm going to turn around and go back to them and say, we need technologists, people who've built data infrastructure.”

Ashby Monk · Ashby Monk – Total Portfolio Approach and the Future of Asset Owners (EP.480)

“Large asset owners, such as pension and sovereign wealth funds, have become the most important organizations in the world.”

Ashby Monk · Ashby Monk – Total Portfolio Approach and the Future of Asset Owners (EP.480)

“How are you investing in fund one, not fund three? If you only invest in fund three, you've decided you're gonna overpay for managers because they don't need your money.”

Ashby Monk · Ashby Monk – Total Portfolio Approach and the Future of Asset Owners (EP.480)

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

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