Hall Road Investments

Family Office & Startups. A lot of my clients are first generation family offices - often people that have started or developed businesses. It's this skill set that often aligns them to investing in other start ups. And that's why I really enjoy stories like this one on Dominic Pym from Yolanda Redrup in the AFR as it clearly shows the different ways Family Office view their purpose. We have many that look for an "endowment" style and then we have family offices like Dom's with a massive overweight to VC. Despite an asset allocation that would give some institutional asset consultants a heart attack, I see this as a person leaning heavily into their interest and skills. This is why the Investment Policy Statement is such a critical element of the office - as long as we have purpose, process and reasoning (including an ability to tolerate risk and potential draw downs) it doesn't need to look like everyone else. For more insights, subscribe to the Family Office Sherpa newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 For my latest podcast episode on The Embedded Family Office, find it here and on Apple: https://lnkd.in/ggcYn2sU #familyoffices #familyoffice #VC #Startups #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #familyofficesherpa https://lnkd.in/gRJb9qY7

New Family Office Sherpa Podcast Episode. I'm covering the Embedded Family Office - that portfolio or service that sits within the operating business. Often overlooked when it comes to good governance, characterised by: * Often a lack of specific strategy for return, risk etc. * The operating business is by far the largest asset and everything else has less impact. * Oversight uncertainty * Responsibility overlap * Investment process, risk and policy challenges What can be done to improve the office? * Bring it outside the operating business  * Build an IC or other governance structure I also drill into why this family office type needs attention. For more insights, subscribe to the Sherpa fortnightly newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 #familyoffice #familyoffices #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #familybusiness https://lnkd.in/gz4arZUZ

Family Offices Using AI. What's been missed in the noise surrounding AI is how incredibly effective it is as a daily tool right now. It's being used by Family Offices and that's what I'm discussing in this episode of the Family Office Sherpa Podcast. I talked to a range of single family offices, the three main uses mentioned: 1) Research - reducing the time allocation. 2) Data capture, analysis & management 3) Communications. We're looking for incremental uses here, quick wins using ChatGPT, co-pilot etc. Also, Get better at prompting if you want it to be effective. It's on Spotify (below), Apple and wherever you get your podcasts. For more insights, subscribe to the Family Office Sherpa newsletter here: www.hallroad.com.au #ai #familyoffices #familyoffice #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #wealthtech https://lnkd.in/gEyXRh_S

Family Office Services. Potentially a little known unit within Fidelity is the family office services unit called Forge Community. Like a lot of good family office services, this business grew out of a single event that changed people’s thinking - Fidelity invited 8 family offices to a meeting in 2011. These community groups have functions outside investments and are growing in number across all jurisdictions. For more family office news and insights, subscribe to the Family Office Sherpa newsletter here: www.hallroad.com.au Or listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/gJM2z_9Q #familyoffice #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #familyoffices https://lnkd.in/guQzu-8h

Family Office Technology. Simple has released it's latest Family Office Technology report. It has some nice visuals and data but the real grist is the different ways the service providers view their offerings. All mention data aggregation and security as a major goal. Then it's integrations etc. Where there is some insight is between those that build infrastructure and those that provide those building blocks. As an example, Raymond DiNunzio from TOS Advisors is seeking to establish a "touch it once" system that is fully integrated. He mentions that this is beyond an "off the shelf tech solution". The alternative to this are those offices seeking an "out of the box" solution that doesn't require hyper customisation or intermediation. And for that, you need the software providers to view themselves as a helpful part of an ecosystem rather than the centre of it. There continues to be a race for family office data insights. When speaking to clients, the question of access to data sets is front of mind. For example, we may use a platform that has significant amount of hard to access insights (eg. Private Equity managers) due to the sheer volume of client transactions they administer. Can we tap into this to improve analytics, pacing, benchmarking, and risk management? This goes to the ever increasing ability to customise for each client, one of the major demands noted by the service providers (below). But be careful what you wish for, as hyper customisation can require increased need for internal resources to manage it. And when not appropriately resourced, there is software churn and switching costs. And lastly, AI. I'm still on the fence on it's impact and hope to be impressed. But what I can say with confidence is that it's an incredibly powerful tool for incremental improvements to daily workflow. And maybe that's where family offices can start to include it in their tech stack - pick apart the admin headaches and see if these tools can take on the heavy lifting. For more insights, subscribe to the Family Office Sherpa here: www.hallroad.com.au Or listen to the Sherpa podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gJM2z_9Q #familyoffice #familyofficetech #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #familyoffices

Family Office. I was recently a guest on R. Adam Smith's Family Business Audiocast podcast which was fun. We spoke on: * How and why I started Hall Road Investments * What the current client demand for governance looks like * The use of private markets and the downstream impact on the investment committee * The difference between an imbedded office and how we can the next gen engaged * The impact of good reporting - family, staff and counterparties. * Measuring the efficacy of the office * And the age old question - should people actually have a family office? For more insights, susbcribe to the Sherpa newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 #familyoffice #wealthmanagement #investmentgovernance #assetmanagement #PE #familyoffices https://lnkd.in/gwXqyu_Z

Family Office Endowment Model. I'm always interested in the US university performance reporting because it has a big overlap with family office investments through different parts of the cycle. Michigan has outperformed other Ivy League schools due to high exposure to US stocks. Will we hear about their investment prowess when US equities underperform vs global or private markets? Family offices, like endowments, have the power of patient capital. Whether they choose to utilise this via illiquid assets or by taking a high conviction mentality to equities. Either way, long term returns and downside reduction are key. For more family office insights, susbcribe to the Sherpa: Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 Podcast: https://lnkd.in/g2tc-Zdd #familyoffices #endowments #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #familyoffice #equities #PE https://lnkd.in/giDBUJWp

Family Office Podcast - New Episode of the Sherpa. In this episode, I provide detail on how Family Office clients are effectively using ETFs for portfolio management. I also provide a "fortnightly round up" of things that have caught my eye in the last two weeks. ETF Uses Covered: * Portfolio Completion * Asset Allocation (TAA, SAA, DAA). * Equitization * Investable benchmarks * Core multi asset portfolios. In the roundup: * Family Office use of leverage * The family office as an education centre * Direct investments * Investment Governance * Main challenges - staff vs costs. * Outsourcing vs not offering services * Compensation methods - carry, co-ahead. * Two new firms, one from Edward Marshall and the other from Andrew Hagger, Stephen Daly & Alexander Nikov. It's available on Spotify (below) and Apple here: https://lnkd.in/gD5VtTrp For more insights, subscribe to the newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 #familyoffice #wealthmanagement #ETFs #familyoffices #assetmangement #portfoliomanagement https://lnkd.in/gvuDfuka

Family Office Investing. A nice read in the AFR today with Michael Bailey interviewing Johnny Kahlbetzer . I have seen family offices put their money where their mouth is when it comes to values. And this line resonates when like minded offices meet: "The Twynam Earth Fund’s reputation received a boost 12 months ago when Lukas Walton, heir to the American Walmart fortune, became its first external investor. “It was good to go through the wringer and pass with flying colours on your first one." There are also some wonderful insights into the family business, allowing for different perspectives and the benefits of having a "get involved" mentality. For more family office insights, subscribe to the Sherpa newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 or listen to the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gJM2z_9Q #familyoffice #wealthmanagement #succession #assetmanagement #impactinvesting https://lnkd.in/gsEyg4HY

Family Office Survey. Citi has released their yearly report on all things family office. I'll leave the market commentary and predictions for later, what I'm interested in: * Leverage within the sector is low but larger offices use more (page 43) * CIO role - insourced vs OCIO (page 56) * APAC offices favoured in-house team in partnership with external managers * 75% of offices continued to engage (and increase) their direct investments. (page 65) * Investment Governance gets its own section! (from page 69) * The main challenges change at size (below) * Smaller offices (sub $500M) are outsourcing most services (and if not, they don't offer them) * Family education is provided to 73% of G3 and beyond (page 76) * Only 22% cited transition manager as the role of the family office. And only 15% cited educator. * Measuring the family office (page 100) - investment benchmarks are by far the most used (see my latest podcast). Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g2XexUHe For more insights, subscribe to the Sherpa newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvBHfud5 Or the Podcast here: https://lnkd.in/g2tc-Zdd #familyoffice #familyoffices #wealthmanagement #assetmanagement #citi