The Climb to Investment Excellence (eBook)

ANA MARSHALL is Chief Investment Officer for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She manages a $13 billion investment portfolio and has over 36 years of experience as an institutional investor and allocator. Ana co-teaches a course on asset allocation and portfolio management at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a frequent speaker at Milken Institute, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on several nonprofit boards.

"Institutional pools of capital are among the least understood and most important investment pools in the world. After nearly four decades in the trenches, half as a direct investor and half on the buy side of the buy side, Ana deeply understands the investment process employed by institutional Chief Investment Officers. In The Climb to Investment Excellence, she shares both the building blocks of how it all works and her unique insights into each aspect of the process. Her work is a must read for those seeking to understand how this opaque corner of the investment world operates."
-Ted Seides, Capital Allocators

"Ana Marshall's book is required reading for anyone managing money or anyone looking to learn how to become an excellent investor--or simply looking to be inspired by the idea of investing well and doing good with it. Ana does a great job in distilling complex subjects into actionable decisions, as well as provide valuable insights on themes not normally covered well in books on investing--the importance of relationships with boards, committees, investment managers, and her team cannot be understated."
-James Manyika, SVP Google-Alphabet, Chair and director emeritus, McKinsey Global Institute

"Ana demystifies long-term investing by sharing both her direct experience and the intelligence she has gathered over the last 20 years as a successful practitioner. This book is essential reading for anyone involved in a voluntary or professional basis managing long term pools of capital. There is a chapter for everyone: trustees, board/committee members, fellow CIOs and their team members. Also highly recommended reading for General Partners and investment managers who manage non-profit money, it provides deep insight into the governance and investment practices of their investors enabling both to build stronger partnerships."
-Sandra Robertson, CEO and CIO Oxford University Endowment Management

"This is a 'must read' book for investment committee and board members responsible for overseeing large sums of capital and setting the standards to achieve excellence. Very few investment professionals have been as thoughtful about the investment process as Ana. Add to that her innate ability to join the dots from disparate pieces of information and data, and you have the winning performance she has demonstrated."
-Boon Hwee Koh, Board Member GIC and Singapore Stock Exchange

"A clear and practical roadmap for the next generation of fiduciaries and investors."
-Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder and General Partner Andreessen Horowitz