From zero to $40 billion in 20 years is growth we usually associate with tech startups. When it happens to a firm in the world of asset management, it is all the more remarkable.
From zero to $40 billion in 20 years is growth we usually associate with tech startups. When it happens to a firm in the world of asset management, it is all the more remarkable.
Dubbed originally as the money manager to the money managers, today Partners Capital is an Outsourced Investment Office acting for endowments, foundations, and ultra-high-net-worth families.
In this conversation Arjun describes his education in India, and journey to Management Consulting, an MBA at Insead, then working in a Hedge Fund before moving to Partners Capital. Arjun describes the evolution of the endowment model first adopted by David Swensen at Yale, by analysing asset classes, risk premia, liquidity and the hunt for great managers.
He discusses their assessment of high fees for seeking alpha, how they seek out opportunities at asset class and manager level and their work on discovering “alternative alternatives”. He responds to criticisms that endowments on average have not beaten the classic 65/35 equity/debt model and of the challenges ahead. Finally Arjun speaks of the two mega trends, sustainable investing and investment capital moving to Asia, in an interview that delves into Partners Capital investment process.
Arjun joined Partners Capital in London in 2007 and became the firm’s global Chief Executive Officer in June 2020. He is a member of the Board of Directors and sits on the firm’s Global Investment Committee. Previously, Arjun was Head of Portfolio Construction for the firm and was also responsible for setting up and growing the firm’s Asian operations in Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to joining Partners Capital, Arjun was a Director at Quantiva Capital, an equities hedge fund. Previously, he was a Senior Manager at Accenture (Andersen Consulting) where he focused on corporate strategy. Arjun holds an MBA from INSEAD and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is a CFA Charterholder.
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