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Note: This edition is PACKED with info. Be sure to skim through all the way down!

And just like that...…

We wrapped up our final TIDE event of 2026!

From sunrise yoga on the pool with our Chief Wellbeing Officer Tingting Peng to conversations that challenged conventional investment thinking, the Hill Country delivered more than just beautiful sunsets. It delivered the TIDE Vibes in full force. 🤠

💜 When's the last time you felt your best?

Dr. Tina Wu opened the day with a question that made us all think. 

In an industry obsessed with returns, benchmarks, and performance, perhaps our most important investment is our own healthspan. A little reminder that our personal ROI matters, too.

🎤 Chemistry You Can't Script

At TIDE, we don't just assemble panels. We bring together some of the best minds in institutional investing and build conversations around their expertise.

And the chemistry? Off the charts.

The banter was sharp, the perspectives were refreshingly different, and the insights couldn't have been timelier.

From hedge funds and venture capital to private equity, private credit, emerging managers, and the inner workings of investment offices, our speakers brought candid perspectives, healthy debate, and plenty of personality.

Different voices. Different perspectives. One room full of ideas worth exchanging. 

💰 Finance x Fashion



Our custom "All About the Benjamins" patch was a hat tip to Ben Bronson and Benjamin Cotton. Two Bens. Two institutional investment leaders. One very appropriate TIDE fashion statement.

And then there was "DPP > IRR", a patch that serendipitously couldn't have been more perfect for Scott Ramsower.

Because sometimes the best investment conversations deserve their own merchandise. 😉

Scott Ramsower, Jessica Walton, Jennifer Cuello, Erin Glenn, Bonnie Sussman, Natasha Solis

🏈 Beyond the Field: Larry Fitzgerald Jr.



An NFL Hall of Famer who interned at J.P. Morgan during the offseason? Not exactly your typical professional athlete.

Our fireside chat with Larry Fitzgerald Jr., General Partner at Trenches Capital, offered a different perspective on the transition from professional sports to institutional investing.

What stood out wasn't just his NFL legacy, but the intentionality behind his investment journey. From learning the business firsthand to developing his investment acumen, building relationships, and establishing a track record, Larry has approached investing with the same discipline that defined his career on the field.

He's not just an NFL legend with an investment portfolio. He's an investor building a second legacy.

Tracy Fong & Larry Fitzgerald Jr.

🥊 And the boxing champion is… Martin Deissler!



Congratulations to Martin for taking home bragging rights in our boxing challenge. Apparently, finding alpha isn't his only competitive advantage. He also won at Fantasy Football by picking Larry Fitzgerald Jr.!

Leaderboard: Jayden Mamenta, Angelica Blesa, Octavio Sandoval, Ching Wu, Jennifer Cuello, Amir Dehestani, Stephen Nikander

🌱 The Future Leaders were in the room.

We loved seeing the next generation of investment professionals in the audience, learning from seasoned allocators, asking questions, and making connections. The future of institutional investing isn't waiting in the wings. It's already showing up. 

🎸 And because it's Austin… ACL, of course!

We capped off the TIDE festivities with a little Austin City Limits energy (45,000 views and counting!) 

🙏🏻 Dream Team



First, a heartfelt thank-you to our LP community. TIDE simply wouldn't be TIDE without you. Your willingness to show up, share your insights, and connect openly with others is what makes this community so special.

To our sponsors, partners, and speakers, thank you for believing in what we're building and bringing your expertise, energy, and personalities to Austin.

And to our incredible TIDE Team: Kim, Jenn, Tingting, Jayden, and TIDE Board Members Pranjul Srivastava, Constance Sng, and Fernando Vinzons, you're the magic behind the scenes and the heartbeat of the TIDE Vibes.

What makes TIDE different isn't just who's in the room. It's what happens when we bring those people together, and the relationships that continue long after the last session.

Many of you arrived as strangers. We hope you left as friends…

Don’t Just Take Our Word for It 🤠

EisnerAmper partners Bonnie Sussman and Jennifer Cuello were in the room in Austin, and they came away with sharp takeaways on what allocators really want.

Spoiler: the era of riding the tailwind is over, and repeatable results now beat a good story every time. Panelists say AI is making it easier than ever to launch a fund, so a clear, provable edge is how emerging managers cut through the noise. In private equity, DPI is stealing the spotlight from IRR because LPs want proof that value turns into actual cash.

Read the full recap below to see what our panelists had to say about venture, private equity, and the new rules of liquidity.

TIDE Austin Recap by Bonnie and Jennifer from EisnerAmper

Austin, Through Your Eyes 📸

The boots are back in the closet, but the TIDE Austin buzz is still going. From hat fashion and boxing bragging rights to panel takeaways, our community has been sharing their favorite moments, and we’re loving the recap. Here are a few posts worth a scroll:

• Alessandra Felloni
• Benjamin Vega
• Betsy Fore
• Bonnie Sussman
• Jessica Walton
• Natasha Solis
• Tony Lissuzzo

More from the TIDE Austin Conversation

Speaking of repeatable results and liquidity, ILPA Chair Scott Ramsower, who was a speaker at TIDE Austin, and the team at ILPA just released new guidance on continuation vehicles, which now make up roughly 14% of sponsor backed exits globally, up from 5% in 2021. The guide covers how GPs should handle conflicts, pricing, and LPAC engagement, plus what LPs should ask for before deciding to sell or roll.

2026 ILPA Continuation Vehicle Guidance

A New Shade of TIDE. The Same DNA. 🤎

You may have noticed something different about TIDE.

We've changed our colors. But not what we stand for.

Our new signature shade was inspired by blending the skin tones of people from around the world. Different backgrounds. Different identities. One color.

It's a visual representation of something we've believed since day one: Our differences make us interesting. Our connections make us stronger.

And as TIDE evolves beyond investment conversations to embrace wellbeing, community, and deeper human connections, our identity is evolving with us.

New color. Same mission. Deeper connections.



Welcome to the next chapter of TIDE. 🤎

Staying well as the days get colder

As the temperature drops and holiday travel season ramps up, small habits make a big difference to how you feel and perform. A few of my favourites:

• Hydrate early and often. Cabin air is very dry. Bring an empty bottle through security and fill it at the gate, then sip steadily through the flight rather than catching up at the end. Pack hydration sachets if you're like me and need a little more boost.
• Skip the welcome drink. Alcohol at altitude dehydrates you and wrecks sleep. Ask for sparkling water or herbal tea instead, and save the celebration for when you’ve landed and rested.
• Book a class on arrival. Schedule a yoga, spin or strength class for your first morning before you leave home. It resets your body clock, shakes off the flight and gives you a reason to get up and move.
• Get outside in the daylight. Even 15 minutes of morning light helps your body adjust, and it helps just as much on grey winter days at home.
• Protect your sleep. Keep the room cool and dark, and put the phone away earlier than feels natural. Sleep is where recovery happens.
• Move every day, even briefly. A 20 minute walk beats an ambitious plan you skip. Consistency matters more than intensity in the colder months.
• Find your local TIDE Wellbeing Ambassador and join them for an upcoming event!

Wellbeing Ambassador Network: Now Live

We launched the Wellbeing Ambassador Network at TIDE Austin, and our founding ambassadors Lara (London), Chris (Los Angeles) and Octavio (New York) are now planning the first events in their cities. Join our Wellbeing Community on LinkedIn to stay in touch on the latest news and events!

First up is Octavio’s Central Park walk in New York on Saturday, November 21, built around resilience and putting yourself first. Everyone is welcome. Register here.

Stay tuned for Lara’s and Chris’ events in London and LA, coming soon!

TIDE Leadership Reset: Greece, May 31 to June 5, 2027

We will soon open bookings for our first Leadership Reset, a small group retreat in the mountains and by the sea in Greece. This is not a leadership offsite. It is a return to basics:



• Daily movement
• Nourishing food
• Time to be bored
• Time for real conversations and connection
• Restorative sleep

Spots are limited, so register your interest for priority booking access here.

TIDE Austin: Celebrating Our Future Leaders!

We're still riding high from TIDE Austin and the opportunity to meet so many incredible emerging leaders through the TIDE Foundation's Future Leaders programme!

Meet Anna Arseienko, a UTIMCO Scholar pursuing a B.S. in Computer Information Systems at the University of Texas at Tyler.

Anna shared a wonderful reflection on her experience at TIDE Austin, highlighting how the event brought together professional development, personal well-being and the opportunity to learn from people with different backgrounds and perspectives. From an unexpected start with pool yoga to the meaningful conversations between sessions, Anna left with a renewed appreciation for the power of community and the people who shape our professional journeys.

We're also delighted that, thanks to the generosity and support of Sibei Wen (Texas TRS) and Patty Steinwedell (CFA Society Austin), we were able to offer a complimentary CFA Society Austin student membership, with Anna being the lucky recipient!

Opportunities like these are what make the Future Leaders programme so special: opening doors, building connections and supporting the next generation of investment professionals.

A special thank you to our outstanding speakers – Al Cumplido (Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island), John Claisse (Albourne), Laethitia Patadji (Teacher Retirement System of Texas), Ryan Bissmeyer (UTIMCO), Sibei Wen (Teacher Retirement System of Texas) and Tyler Hull (Teacher Retirement System of Texas) – for sharing their time, insights and perspectives with our Future Leaders.

We are also incredibly grateful to Sibei and Patty for making the complimentary CFA Society Austin student membership possible!

As higher ed posts SpaceX-driven returns, University of California looks ahead as market conditions echo 2022

In a fiscal year marked by geopolitical tensions, more AI advancements and SpaceX-driven expectations, U.S. higher education institutions and their associated foundations so far are reaping in a fourth-straight fiscal year of positive returns.

Just ask the investment team at the University of California, among the largest public universities already reporting 2026 fiscal-year returns and exceeding 20% with a $1 billion stake in SpaceX.

But moving forward with fiscal year 2027 underway, the Oakland-based university system’s investment team is seeing parallels to the endowments’ worst fiscal year in recent memory: 2022. Much like 2026, that year recorded the eruption of war, soaring energy prices, hot inflation and an interest rate hike.

“One thing that is crystal clear again — in 2022, there seemed to be liquidity as an issue all around the world, and the only thing we’re seeing right now that’s a big challenge is liquidity as an issue all over the place,” said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, chief investment officer and senior vice president of investments.

After growing the university’s total exposure to global equity in recent years, the CIO announced that his team will double down on short-term fixed income assets after selling no more than $20 billion in equities beginning in August.

“At these rates, even cash is kind — liquidity is certainly king, but you can clip 3%, 4% (or) 5%-type returns without taking a lot of risk,” Bachher said at a Sept. 14 investment committee meeting. “Overall spreads are so thin that you’re not getting paid to take risk by being any longer than being in the short-term market.”

Earlier in 2020, the committee approved the investment team to restructure its fixed-income portfolio for short duration and change its fixed-income benchmarks across asset pools.

In recent weeks, the public equity exposure across the university’s total $235.9 billion in assets was reduced by 4% from 63.3% as of June 30, now hovering closer to the 57% policy target. The university’s total exposure to fixed income at the time was 14.5%, while cash amounted to 1%.

Of the university system’s total assets, $37.2 billion are in endowment assets.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, the university system’s $29.3 billion general endowment generated a net return of 22.6%, while the $7.9 billion Blue and Gold endowment returned 23% — both above their respective benchmarks of 19.3% and 19.9%.

In comparison, for the year ended June 30, the MSCI ACWI index, the Russell 3000 index and the S&P 500 index returned, 23.7%, 22.3% and 22.3%, respectively. Among 15 endowments with at least $1 billion in assets and disclosed information for their one-year returns ended June 30, the median was 17.1% as of Sept. 14.

Putting the short-term view aside, Bachher noted that the endowments’ goal is “is to earn somewhere between 8% and 9% year after year on a long-term basis” — which the general endowment exceeded with an annualized net 11.3% for the 10 years ended June 30, also above its 10.5% benchmark. While the Blue and Gold endowment was incepted only in March 2019, its annualized return since then through June 30 was also a net 11.3%.

Data displayed is as of Sept. 14. Although some news outlets have reported a fiscal-year return for UNC Management Co. based on sources familiar with the matter, the investment company has only published long-term annualized returns for the period ended June 30, 2026.

*The fiscal year for these Texas-based public institutions ends Aug. 31.

Familiar trends in public markets, further improvements in private markets

With reporting season underway for fiscal-year returns, universities are continuing to benefit largely from AI exposure in their public equity investments, if not hedge funds that primarily invest in stocks.

Take The Ohio State University’s 16% return for the fiscal year ended June 30. Within the $9.7 billion Columbus-based endowment, the top-performing asset class for the period was public equity with a 20.3% return, albeit short of its 23.7% benchmark.

And over at the University of Virginia Investment Management Co., the $18.8 billion long-term investment pool it oversees generated a 27% return for the year, within which long/short equities’ 76.4% return drove the overall performance.

As for the University of California, it’s a familiar story where public equity returns above 23% largely supported both of its endowments, after Bachher had shared optimism to the committee in March due to earlier investments in SpaceX.

The university system in 2020 had approved investment policy targets that would push the investment office to reduce exposure to private markets, albeit described by Bachher as “not a popular move in the industry” as other large asset owners have moved more capital into private markets.

“Liquidity is ample across the board, and sometimes in markets that are hot, you might actually even get liquidity in your private assets,” he said. “But we’re always in the market trying to sell our private assets every year to see who’s interested in buying more,” he added, after Bloomberg reported in August a sale of $1 billion in private equity stakes on the secondary market.

While universities in recent years have cited underperforming private markets investments for dragging returns, endowment chiefs have noted in annual reports some improvement, if not disclosing better returns by asset class in their funds.

Underlying the Charlottesville-based UVIMCO’s fiscal-year performance, growth equity and venture capital followed long-short equity with respective returns of 47.2% and 23% — higher than the respective 14.4% and 14.2% they generated a year earlier.

For the University of California, “the bar becomes extremely high to pick anything that is crappy to put in your portfolio, to put it simply, and so we are very selective, very judicious about what we introduce into the portfolio and the way we invest,” Bachher said.

To that end, the university system revisited the $4 billion investment it made in 2023 in the Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust — just as Stephen Schwarzman, the alternatives giant’s chair, CEO and co-founder, appeared before the committee over video call.

Bachher noted that the university has taken “probably over $1 billion” of the $1.1 billion in collateral set aside for when BREIT’s actual return falls short of the minimum 11.25% return — which it did the first two years. With optimism amid ongoing recovery in the real estate industry, Bachher noted the actual return met the minimum for the deal’s third year, and that his investment team is in the business of taking “calculated risks.”

Within the general endowment for the year ended June 30, its real estate investments returned 18.1%, well exceeding its 3.6% benchmark. The same goes for the asset class’ 10-year annualized return of 10.6% vs. its 3.9% benchmark.

For evaluating liquidity in private markets opportunities, Bachher noted he can do so with BREIT in real time. But come the time when the university is able to redeem investments in 2028, he said that he plans on “looking like a hero at the other end.”

International Edition | Pre-Sale

http://tidemilan2027.eventbrite.com

Marquee Event | Pre-Sale

http://tidespark2027.eventbrite.com

TIDE Milan 2027

Milan, Italy | April 23, 2027

✨ TIDE International Edition ✨

TIDE Milan 2027 🇮🇹

April 23, 2027

Limited Discounted Room Blocks

Excelsior Hotel Gallia, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Set against the backdrop of Milan - where finance, fashion, culture, and innovation effortlessly collide - TIDE Milan is an exclusive gathering of institutional investors, global allocators, and industry leaders shaping the future of capital.

As one of Europe’s most influential financial and cultural capitals, Milan offers the perfect setting for the TIDE Tribe: sophisticated conversations, intentional connections, and the kind of global perspectives that don’t happen in crowded conference halls.

This is not just another event.

It’s where relationships are built, ideas are pressure-tested, and the future of investing feels a little more human.

Rooftop sunsets. Espresso-fueled conversations. And a room full of sophisticated investors from around the world who actually move markets.

Ps. There's already a Lake Como Social Committee brewing...

TIDE SPARK 2027

Dana Point, CA | July 7-8, 2027

Our marquee TIDE SPARK event returns to Dana Point.

100WF Global FundWomen Week

New York, NY | December 10

We're excited to be launching 100WF Global FundWomen Week (“GFWW”) 2026 and sourcing female fund managers to attend the in-person Conference on December 10 in New York. The event will combine thematic roundtable discussions and cap intro manager meetings.

As a first step, please apply by completing this short form by July 10*. Managers will receive further details by late August on the status of their application. General eligibility criteria for GPs participating in the 2026 GFWW can be found here.

Please contact Sarah Finley for more details at sarah.finley@100women.org.

SuperReturn North America

Hollywood, Florida | February 1-3, 2027

Connections create opportunity.

Capital makes it happen.

February 1 - 3, 2027

Signia by Hilton Diplomat Beach Resort, Florida

View website

SuperReturn North America is North America’s leading conference for private market leaders from across the globe.

800+ real decision-makers. 250+ LPs. 350+ GPs. 35+ countries represented.

Taking place earlier in the year and at a new Florida location, the event offers the perfect setting to strengthen relationships, uncover opportunities and set the agenda for 2027.

Why attend?

• Experience a new venue designed for smarter networking, with a more connected layout that makes it easier to meet the people who matter most
• Connect with 800+ influential leaders in private markets
• Gain insights from 150+ industry experts
• Dive deep into specialist summits covering private debt, venture capital and private wealth
• Network like never before with LP/GP speed networking, hosted champagne roundtables, women’s lunches, evening cocktail receptions, LP-only sessions and much more!

PLUS, this year’s agenda features more content for emerging and mid-market managers, new single-family office networking opportunities and added exclusive LP-only sessions.

LPs already confirmed include American Student Assistance, Crewcial Partners, Graven Family Office, Hyundai Corporation USA, Lithium Capital Management, Republic Investment Company, The Rockefeller University and many more…

10% discount – VIP code: FKR3673TIDE. Book now to save! Free for LPs.

NYC Comptroller Annual Diverse & Emerging Managers Investment Conference

NYC, NY | February 10, 2027

Save the Date

February 10, 2027

Mark Levine, NYC Comptroller

Annual Diverse & Emerging Managers Investment Conference

LIFT AZ 2027
SCOTTSDALE, AZ | March 10-11, 2027

LIFT AZ 2027

📍 Clayton House, Scottsdale, Arizona

🗓️ March 10 & 11, 2027

The Arizona Fund Manager Association (AFMA) invites you to LIFT AZ 2027, Arizona’s premier investment management and capital summit. LIFT AZ convenes fund managers, institutional allocators, family offices, and industry leaders for two days of relationship-building and market insight — a VIP welcome reception on March 10, followed by the full-day Institutional Summit on March 11.

Programming will feature nationally recognized investors and industry leaders examining the forces shaping capital markets and investment strategies across public markets, venture capital, private equity and credit, real assets, and institutional investing. Designed to position Arizona at the center of the national investment conversation, LIFT AZ convenes leading perspectives and nationally recognized expertise from across the country.

30% discount – VIP code: AFMA30. Book now to save!

Interested in sponsoring TIDE's events?

E-mail kim@tidexchange.com for our exclusive sponsorship deck.



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The Investment Diversity Exchange

www.tidexchange.com