From Anthropology to Investing: How Drexel's Endowment Makes Investment Decisions with Stephen Chase

From Anthropology to Investing: How Drexel's Endowment Makes Investment Decisions with Stephen Chase

Stephen Chase, Associate Director of Investments at Drexel University, joins host, Robert Morier to discuss how a three-person investment office oversees approximately $1.25 billion across the university's endowment and investment portfolio. In this conversation, Stephen shares his unconventional path from studying anthropology at Trinity College to helping manage one of Philadelphia's leading university endowments. We explore how qualitative thinking, manager due diligence, portfolio construction, private markets, real assets, AI, and risk management shape investment decisions inside a modern institutional investment office. Topics include: • Managing a billion-dollar university endowment with a lean investment team • Why an anthropology degree became an advantage in investment management • How institutional allocators evaluate asset managers and build trust • The future of private markets, real assets, and infrastructure investing • AI's growing role in manager research and investment operations • Portfolio construction, liquidity management, and risk oversight Whether you're an allocator, asset manager, investment consultant, student, or aspiring investment professional, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how institutional capital is deployed and managed over the long term.

Where Investors are Allocating | Insights from Dakota Live! On The Road

What happens when you leave the conference stage and sit down with investors where they actually work? Over the past year, Dakota Live! has traveled the country, recording conversations with CIOs, investment office leaders, consultants, OCIOs, foundations, endowments, family offices, and institutional investors. This special episode brings together the most important themes, market observations, and portfolio discussions from those conversations. In this episode, we explore: • How allocators are thinking about portfolio construction in today's market • The outlook for private equity, venture capital, and private credit • Manager selection and due diligence trends • The growing role of AI in investing and operations • Active versus passive management in concentrated markets • Risk management amid uncertainty and idiosyncratic volatility • Emerging opportunities across public and private markets The Dakota Live! On the Road series is different because these conversations happen where decisions are made—inside investment offices, on university campuses, and alongside the teams responsible for stewarding long-term capital. On the road. On the ground. In the room.

The Future of Venture Capital: AI, Seed Investing, and the New Founder Playbook

Melody Koh, Partner at NextView Ventures, joins the Dakota Live Podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping venture capital, startup building, company scaling, and the future of work. As both a seed-stage investor and the leader of NextView's AI and data initiatives, Melody offers a unique perspective on what separates winning founders from the rest in an AI-native economy. From evaluating startup teams and identifying durable competitive advantages to redesigning venture capital workflows with AI agents, this conversation explores how technology is changing both sides of the investment table. Topics include: * The current state of venture capital in 2026 * How AI is changing startup formation and company building * AI agents vs. traditional workflows * Why venture firms must reinvent themselves * The future of seed-stage investing * What investors look for in AI-native startups * Consumer AI opportunities that may be overlooked Melody also shares lessons from building and scaling products at Blue Apron, investing through multiple venture cycles, and helping founders navigate the challenges of growth, hiring, and execution. Whether you're a founder, allocator, venture capitalist, institutional investor, or student interested in innovation and emerging technology, this episode provides a practical look at where venture capital and artificial intelligence are headed next. About Melody Koh Melody Koh is a Partner at NextView Ventures [https://nextview.vc/?utm_source=chatgpt.com], a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on the Everyday Economy. She invests in early-stage technology companies and leads the firm's AI and data initiatives. Prior to NextView, Melody held leadership roles at Blue Apron [https://www.blueapron.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] and previously worked in venture investing, entrepreneurship, and product management.

BlackRock’s Michael Gates on Model Portfolios, AI, Bitcoin ETFs & the Future of Wealth Management

What happens when one of the world’s largest asset managers starts rethinking portfolio construction in the age of AI? On this episode of Dakota Live!, Robert Morier sits down with Michael Gates, Managing Director and Head of Model Portfolio Solutions for the Americas within BlackRock’s Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions platform. The conversation explores how BlackRock is thinking about: • Model portfolios and advisor scale • Active vs. passive portfolio construction • The rise of active ETFs • Bitcoin ETFs and alternative allocations • AI’s impact on investing and research workflows • Behavioral coaching and “advisor alpha” • Risk budgeting, tactical allocation, and market structure • Tax overlays, SMAs, and portfolio personalization • What future investment professionals need to learn now Michael also shares how his background in biological sciences and economics shaped his investment philosophy, why efficient markets still matter, and how AI coding tools are already transforming research and productivity inside financial services. For advisors, allocators, wealth managers, students, and anyone interested in the future of portfolio construction, this is a deep dive into where the industry may be headed next. Topics include: * BlackRock model portfolios * Portfolio construction strategies * Active ETFs vs passive investing * Bitcoin ETF adoption * AI in asset management * Advisor alpha and behavioral finance * Wealth management trends 2026 * Multi-asset investing * Tax-loss harvesting strategies * Institutional investing insights For our audience of allocators, advisors, OCIO professionals, and emerging investment leaders, this episode offers a real-time look into how one of the largest asset managers in the world is thinking about portfolio construction, AI, risk, and the future of advisor value creation. And for students, this conversation is a masterclass in what the next generation of investing actually looks like: combining economic intuition, technology, coding, behavioral understanding, and communication into a modern investment career.

Why Tax Is Moving Upstream in Institutional Investing | Dave Sekula, CEO of GTM

Tax used to sit downstream from the investment process. Today, it’s moving upstream. In this episode of Dakota Live!, Robert Morier sits down with Dave Sekula, CEO of GTM (Global Tax Management), to discuss how tax strategy, technology, operational complexity, and institutional investing are becoming increasingly intertwined. The conversation comes at a timely moment, following the SEC’s recent proposal to potentially shift public companies from quarterly to semiannual reporting. While the headline sounds regulatory, the implications reach much further into how asset managers, allocators, OCIOs, RIAs, and corporate finance teams think about transparency, planning, investor communication, and long-term decision making. Dave shares insights from leading one of the country’s largest independent corporate tax providers, including: • Why tax is no longer just a compliance function • How institutional investors are thinking differently about tax efficiency and portfolio construction • The operational complexity behind global and multi-manager portfolios • The growing role of AI and automation in corporate tax workflows • Why firms are increasingly focused on tax-loss harvesting strategies and after-tax outcomes The episode also explores leadership, servant leadership, scaling a national firm, and how technology continues to reshape one of the most human-capital-intensive industries in finance. “Performance is one thing. What you keep, that’s the real scorecard.”