How do the world’s smartest institutional investors actually allocate capital?

In this episode, we sit down with Nolan, a veteran CIO with over two decades of experience allocating capital for endowments, foundations, family offices, and healthcare systems — overseeing more than $90B in assets across public and private markets.

We go deep into how institutions think about risk, liquidity, and long-term returns, why venture capital remains a power-law game, and how investors are navigating today’s biggest shifts — from AI and private credit to diversification risks and market cycles.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on how capital is really deployed behind closed doors — especially in a world where exits are slower, fundraising is harder, and everyone is asking whether we’re closer to 1997… or 1999.

⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com

What you’ll learn in this episode:

- How institutions decide how much risk they can truly take

- Why venture capital allocations haven’t disappeared — but have slowed

- Private credit vs venture capital: how LPs actually think about the trade-off

- How AI is reshaping portfolios across public and private markets

- Why diversification matters more now than during bull markets

- What CIOs are watching for as we head into 2026

Whether you’re a fund manager, LP, founder, or just curious about how institutional money really works, this episode offers rare, first-principles insight into long-term capital allocation.