106: Tuckwell Family Office's Craig Dandurand

Conversations with Institutional Investors

In episode 106 of the [i3] Institutional Investment Podcast, I speak with Craig Dandurand, Chief Investment Officer of the Tuckwell Family Office. Craig has an impressive career in the investment industry that spans time with US pension fund CalPERS and Australia's the Future Fund. We talked about his background in credit investing, setting up a hedge fund program and the world of private wealth. Enjoy the show!

Overview of Podcast with Craig Dandurand

01:00 You initially worked in the legal profession. How did you get into investing?

02:00 Starting at CalPERS

03:00 The hedge fund team was the least bureaucratic part of a very bureaucratic organisation

06:30 What has changed in hedge funds compared to 20 years ago? They got more boring

10:00 During the GFC, I remember sitting in a coffee house writing something with a headline that said: ‘Capitalist Manifesto’, which is the kind of overblown thing you write in a coffee house. But it resulted in three key aspects we wanted hedge funds to focus on: alignment, control and transparency

15:00 CalPERS was at a scale that led some hedge fund managers not wanting to engage with us

16:00 The optimal size of an asset owner is probably between $5 - 30 bn.

20:00 What was most disorientating coming to Australia was my currency exposure

26:30 Learnings from the COVID-19 crisis

29:30 To do a total portfolio approach well at a large asset owner is an incredible labour intensive exercise

32:00 The Future Fund had a clear investment target, but when you join a family office you need to find out what their needs, values and desires are (pardon the thunder in the background). Before you can invest the money, you need to know why you are doing it

34:00 Graham Tuckwell invented the gold ETF and, therefore, has a good understanding of how markets work

35:30 The concept of ‘ten ETFs and a 9 iron’. Often people confuse complexity for quality

42:00 Catering to different needs and life stages within family offices

48:00 I’m a credit junkie and that probably comes from being a bankruptcy lawyer

49:00 I find the growth of private credit over the last few years fascinating and slightly unnerving

53:00 Best and worst investment: investing in Worldcom bonds

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