2 days, $2 trillion in AUM: A recap of SALT iConnections New York 2023

On stage at this year’s SALT iConnections New York conference, Jeff Blau of Related Companies told us about a global tech company that surveyed its employees on where in the world, anywhere in the world, they would most want to move for in-office work. Guess which city was #1 by far? New York.

Last week, we gathered over 1,000 managers and asset allocators, with a combined $2 trillion in assets, for two action-packed days of panel discussions and high level cap intro meetings. The The Glasshouse ' venue provided our flagship event with 75,000 sq ft of natural light streaming in from floor-to-ceiling windows, offering unmatched views of the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline. It was the perfect space to host the main stage, cap intro meeting spaces, TV broadcasts, and informal networking.

In typical New York fashion, we got things done with efficiency and enthusiasm. Those two days saw 26 main stage sessions and over 2,500 cap intro meetings between high level fund managers and institutional investors.

It was yet another reminder of why we should all be long on the greatest city in the world; and long on major trends I heard over the course of three days at SALT iConnections New York.

Long on technological innovation

As you know, I’m an entrepreneur. I founded SkyBridge Capital in 2005, and before that, I founded Oscar Capital, which sold to Neuberger Berman. Under the best circumstances, starting and building your own firm can feel like getting kicked in the face, repeatedly. But under the current circumstances — with the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, IPO market, availability of capital, and valuations everywhere — it’s even worse.

You know what I and many of our speakers said to that? Good. The low interest rate environment saw too many companies, perhaps undeservedly, flush with cash and light on grit. Better ideas, stronger leaders and leaner companies will produce from this period many Unicorns that will shape the next 100 years of innovation.

SkyBridge is active in venture investing, so we sat up straight and leaned in for the VC heavy-hitters who were in The Glasshouse last week. Top minds like Jason Calacanis of the LAUNCH accelerator and This Week in Startups , Tony F. [Florence] from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) , Christine Tsai from 500 Global , and Ibrahim Ajami and Alaa Halawa from Mubadala .

We learned about AI: what’s real, what’s hype, and why it’s so important to invest in now. As Lauren Kolodny of Acrew Capital put it, “AI's going to exist on both sides of the equation, so you're going to have the malicious actors... it becomes all the more important that tech gets ahead of it.” It’s not just changing where our industry invests; it’s also changing how we invest, as Will Wainewright explained in his article for Alternative Fund Insight . 

We interrupted crypto's eulogy with a great panel on tokenized assets hosted by Julia La Roche featuring June O. of Figure , Morgan McKenney of Provenance Blockchain Foundation , Jason New of NovaWulf Digital Management and Christine Moy of Apollo Global Management, Inc. As I told Sonali Basak on Bloomberg News , Bitcoin adoption is still on the rise, with 340 million wallets worldwide.

For more on how investors are looking at startups right now, check out Christine’s interview with Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq TradeTalks.

Long on the U.S. market

Those who have maintained a long-term outlook and stayed invested are already reaping the rewards. At SkyBridge, these first few months of 2023 have been our portfolio’s best since 2012.

But there are still things making everyone nervous: interest rates, inflation and geopolitical conflict still loom.

We got a macro outlook from Jenny Johnson of Franklin Templeton , who is optimistic about issues from regional bank instability to the debt ceiling in D.C.

We listened in on a conversation about US-China relations with Anita Dunn, senior advisor to President Joe Biden and Keyu Jin , professor at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and of The New China Playbook.

These were smart people with smart ideas about the direction of this country, and I hope those on the Hill listen.

I always remind people that even though I look not a day older than 30 👀, I’ve invested and survived through eight bear markets over the past three decades. We need to keep the bigger picture in mind, and last week’s conversations gave us all even more reason to believe that the bigger picture is far brighter than bleak.

Long on women’s sports, baseball and personal resilience

As a lifelong Mets fan, I had the tremendous privilege of interviewing Steve Cohen of Point72 and current owner of the Mets to kick off the conference.

That evening, we brought a small group to Citi Field to watch the Mets host the Rays in Justin Verlander’s debut.

They lost, but you have to remember what Alex Rodriguez said when I interviewed him and Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group , who recently sold his 25% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, the next day.

“What people forget to tell you is I’m fifth all time in strikeouts… I always tell my little girls I have a PhD in failing, but also a Master’s in getting back up. I think in business, it’s one of my biggest competitive advantages. I know how to deal with failure.”

Even though I bleed Mets' orange and blue, I loved the Yankee legend's message. As to the height disparity, I might've once said the Yankees' vertical pinstripes gave A-Rod a few inches. With that excuse gone, we'll say the floor was slanted.

On stage, Marc announced his new fund, Avenue Sports Fund, which will be heavily focused on women’s sports in the U.S. Erin Arvedlund at Pensions & Investments had the story.

To all those who made this possible—staff, sponsors, attendees, and other supporters—thank you. I’m personally grateful to each and every one of you. And I’m already looking forward to seeing some of you at our upcoming SALT iConnections Asia event, this November 14-16 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.