Investing in Change: Making the Case for Investing in Venture Capital

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Alifia Doriwala, Co-Chief Investment Officer at RockCreek Capital, a global investment firm shaping a more balanced future. During this conversation, Alifia shares her journey in finance and the importance of outsourced CIO services. She highlights common mistakes fund managers make when fundraising, which sectors have the most growth opportunities, the biggest blind spot for institutional investors, and the importance of focusing on long-term growth. The group discusses the changing landscape of venture investing, noting a shift towards impact and mission alignment in portfolios. During the episode, we also hear from Tim Flannery, Co-Founder CEO of Passthrough, a company aiming to simplify fund closing processes. Don’t miss these insights from allocators and industry experts!
Highlights from this week’s conversation include:
The importance of outsourced CIO services (0:24)
Common mistakes fund managers make when fundraising (2:02)
The future of venture investing and sectors to get disrupted (6:35)
The importance of talking to people across different fields (8:36)
Managing portfolios with an asset allocation that includes private equity (10:28)
Changing views on venture investing among institutional investors (12:59)
The importance of understanding fund strategy (16:46)
The need for a premium return in private markets (17:20)
Vetting managers in the venture space (17:42)
Special Segment from Our Industry Expert: Tim Flannery of Passthrough (19:05)
The importance of focus in portfolio management (28:12)
Challenges for established firms and the importance of succession planning (29:09)
Investing in emerging markets and understanding currency impact (32:14)
Final thoughts and takeaways(36:12)
RockCreek is a global multi-asset investment firm that applies innovation, data, and technology to sustainable investing. With over $15 billion in assets and decades of experience investing in the energy transition, health, mobility, affordable housing, and fintech, RockCreek partners with university endowments, foundations, pension plans, sovereign funds, and family offices to generate long-term value and make business and financial models more inclusive and sustainable. RockCreek’s private markets teams invest in early stage, growth, and late-stage companies, and its Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) and multi-asset class teams invest with leading partners in hard to access opportunities and emerging talent.
Passthrough turns investor onboarding into a solved problem - it seamlessly manages subscription document distribution, execution, and compliance in minutes. As a leader in fund workflow automation for investors, fund managers, and other fintechs, Passthrough provides an integrated platform solution that makes the subscription document process turnkey for investors with replicable and verifiable identity information built in for future use. In addition to subscription documents, Passthrough also offers a full service KYC/AML product that streamlines collecting information from investors and screening them against sanctions lists so fund managers can remain compliant.
Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts by Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. Follow along and subscribe at swimmingwithallocators.com. See you later, Allocator!