Most CIO conversations happen years after a transition is finished, or years before one starts. This one happens in the middle of it. Trevor Graham was named Co-Chief Investment Officer of TIFF Investment Management in 2026 as part of a planned leadership transition alongside longtime CIO Jay Willoughby. In this episode, he walks Robert Morier through a succession plan as it unfolds in real time: why a lengthy handoff is a gift rather than a formality, what he's borrowed from watching GP succession plans succeed and fail across 15+ years of manager selection, why the goal is to keep the first principles and not "run the playbook robotically," and how the transition is creating growth opportunities for the next layer of the team, including Brad Calder, his direct report of more than a decade. TIFF was founded in 1991 by leaders at the MacArthur and Rockefeller Foundations to give nonprofits below the scale of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton a fighting chance at endowment-style investing. Today the employee-owned OCIO is organized as a public benefit company and certified B Corp, and is guided by an advisory board made up largely of sitting CIOs from major endowments and foundations. Trevor explains how that board works as a sourcing network, a self-sourced reference check, and a strategic sounding board, including on the succession itself. From there, the conversation gets into how TIFF actually does the work: The three-part screen that eliminates 99% of inbound managers: a persistent competitive advantage in the investment engine, real alignment of interests, and strategic value to the portfolio (a true diversifier or an upgrade), and why Trevor refuses to be a "collector of managers"Why "no such thing as too early": TIFF has no minimum AUM or three-year track record rule and will invest with managers on day one, and how it gets paid for that business riskWhy "too big" is the more common problem, and the three reasons TIFF terminates a managerEvaluating people by what they do, not what they say: fund terms, fees relative to realistic gross excess return, and liquidity provisions as character evidenceThe two numbers that matter most in portfolio construction (equity exposure and illiquidity percentage), and why stated preferences differ from revealed preferences when markets fallWhy Trevor, once the investment committee's biggest hedge fund skeptic, changed his mind, and how TIFF caps the hedge fund book's equity beta at roughly 0.25 to 0.30Where TIFF sits on GP stakes and seeding, and why third-party ownership complicates alignmentThe AI capex boom through the lens of the dot-com era: who captures the margin, the Coke-vs-Pepsi problem with large language models, and a project that would have taken 1,000 human hours done in fiveGeneralists vs. specialists on an investment team, and why low turnover changes how people disagree with the bossWhether you're an allocator thinking about your own succession plan, an asset manager wondering what an OCIO's diligence process really looks like, or a student trying to understand the endowment model from the inside, this episode is a rare look behind the curtain. Disclaimer: Trevor Graham is the Co-Chief Investment Officer at TIFF Investment Management. All views expressed by him on this podcast are solely his opinions and do not reflect the opinions of TIFF. You should not treat any opinions expressed by Trevor as a specific endorsement to make a particular investment. References to any securities are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. Please keep in mind that investment in a fund entails a high degree of risk, including the risk of loss. Please note that the ads featured in this podcast are not endorsed by TIFF, and TIFF is not a sponsor of these ads. TIFF assets under management (AUM) is as of 4/1/26 and includes discretionary and non-discretionary client assets for which TIFF affiliates provide investment management or advisory services. The private markets portion of TIFF AUM is calculated based upon fund net asset value plus unfunded commitments. Calculation of TIFF AUM differs from the calculation of regulatory assets under management in TIFF’s Form ADV filings with the SEC and may differ from the AUM calculation methodologies used by other investment managers. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, business, tax, or investment advice, nor should it be used to evaluate any investment or security. It is not directed at, or intended for, any current or prospective investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by TIFF. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of capital. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of TIFF as of the date hereof and are subject to change based on prevailing market and economic conditions. References to specific companies are for illustrative and educational purposes only and do not represent an endorsement or investment recommendation.
