The core of the investment philosophy is to make large, concentrated bets with a small number of high-quality managers. Upon arrival, the team drastically reduced the number of manager relationships from over 100 to approximately 30 to ensure each position is meaningful.
The team evaluates potential managers primarily by analyzing the quality of their existing portfolio holdings. The central question is "do we want to own what they own?", using the current portfolio as a series of case studies to understand the manager's process, thesis, and differentiated view.
The entire investment team operates as generalists, with every member covering all geographies and asset classes. This structure is designed to make different investment opportunities compete for capital on a level playing field and to facilitate better sizing decisions within the context of the total portfolio.
Within the first few weeks of his tenure, Wilson's team put in redemption requests for over 70 managers. This led to a turnover of more than 80% of the endowment's assets within three years, reflecting a swift and decisive implementation of the new concentrated strategy.
The portfolio is constructed to concentrate exposure in individual investments with completely idiosyncratic outcomes, such as a Brazilian utility or an Indian biosimilars company. The belief is that this bottom-up approach provides more reliable diversification than traditional top-down asset allocation, which often fails during market crises.
Keep pulling the thread on Scott Wilson.