Episode Details

What if one of the most overlooked $700 billion pools of capital in the U.S. is quietly shaping private markets? In this episode, I sit down with Jennifer Mink, President of Investment Performance Services, an investment consulting firm overseeing roughly $70 billion in assets under advisement, to discuss how Taft-Hartley pension plans approach long-term investing. Jennifer shares how IPS designs portfolios that balance public and private markets, using disciplined asset allocation and diversification to improve overall portfolio efficiency and manage risk across market cycles.

Highlights:

• How adding alternatives can reduce overall portfolio volatility through low correlation
• Why “double diversification” can dilute returns at the portfolio level
• The importance of grounding investments in a clear thesis to avoid emotional selling
• How IPS rebalanced aggressively during the 2020 market snapback
• What gets easier and harder when advising $70 billion across nearly 200 union plans
• Why emerging managers are typically tracked through three vintages before capital is deployed
• Red flags in early funds including team turnover, fee changes, and strategy drift
• The private equity distribution slowdown and pacing challenges facing LPs
• Structural requirements managers must meet to access Taft-Hartley capital, including ERISA fiduciary status
• The role of Responsible Contractor Policies in real asset mandates
• Why sometimes the best investment decision is the one you avoid
• How IPS tracks its own research process to ensure manager outperformance across cycles

Guest Bio:

Jennifer Mink is the President of Investment Performance Services (IPS), a 40-year-old investment consulting firm focused exclusively on the Taft-Hartley marketplace. IPS advises approximately $70 billion in assets and works with nearly 200 union plans nationwide. With more than two decades at the firm, Mink specializes in asset allocation, manager research, and private markets diligence, and leads a team that evaluates hundreds of managers annually while emphasizing disciplined structure, fiduciary responsibility, and consistency across full market cycles.

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Sponsor:

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Disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as an of