Seitz rejects the idea that active and passive investing are mutually exclusive choices. Factor exposure, active management, portfolio construction, implementation, and technology should be combined according to the client outcome they serve.

Factor investing remains a core portfolio building block
Active and passive methods sit on a continuum
Cost reduction is valuable but not the ultimate objective
Technology can make portfolios more personalized and scalable

“The real story is a client outcome story.”
Michelle Seitz · 25:22

“it's always been an end for me, not an either or”
Michelle Seitz · 28:40

#active investing#passive investing#factors#portfolio construction

Myth Buster1:21:42

Crypto Prices Can Distract From the Real Financial Innovation

Seitz separates speculative cryptocurrency bubbles from the underlying innovation in peer-to-peer networks and financial infrastructure. She expects the technology to influence traditional business models but considers crypto too early for Russell’s strategic pension allocations.

Speculative tokens and infrastructure innovation should be evaluated separately
Peer-to-peer technology could disrupt financial ecosystems
Traditional and new business models are likely to blend
Russell had not added crypto to defined-benefit strategic allocations
Early markets will produce both winners and substantial losses

“I believe it's real. I believe it will be incredibly disruptive to the ecosystem, but I believe that it will be very additive”
Michelle Seitz · 1:22:40

“there will be a lot of winners and a lot of carnage along the way.”
Michelle Seitz · 1:24:18

#crypto#blockchain#defi#innovation

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take1:10:41

Longer Lives Require Longer Wealth Spans

Seitz argues that longer lifespans expose a retirement system designed when most people did not live far beyond 60. Financial literacy matters, but individual education alone cannot repair a structural funding crisis; products and interfaces must help people understand and act on their future needs.

Health spans and wealth spans must rise with lifespans
Retirement infrastructure was designed for much shorter lives
The retirement funding gap is a societal problem
People need real-time visibility into assets, goals, and required working years
Financial education cannot by itself rescue people already in crisis

“I think about his wealth spans and ensuring that we could afford to live to be a hundred and twenty”
Michelle Seitz · 1:12:18

“you can't you can't educate someone out of a crisis.”
Michelle Seitz · 1:15:09

#longevity#retirement#financial security#demographics

Explainer· 2

Explainer19:52

Why Outsourced CIO Is Outgrowing Better-Known Investment Categories

Outsourced CIO services let organizations delegate investment activities that are not part of their core business. Seitz argues that the category’s deeper value is institutionally sophisticated personalization at scale, not merely another asset-management product.

Clients can outsource part or all of their investment staff’s function
The model serves pension plans, sovereign funds, and wealth advisers
Larger organizations are increasingly adopting outsourced fiduciary management
Seitz presents OCIO as an outcome-oriented service rather than a product

“allowing us the industry to effectively personalize at scale in a very institutionally sophisticated manner is what I believe is the future of the industry”
Michelle Seitz · 20:46

“I don't think of it as a product. I think it's the core of the of the purpose of the industry and solving for client…”
Michelle Seitz · 21:12

#ocio#pensions#outsourcing#asset management

Explainer29:35

Direct Indexing and Direct Investing Are Not the Same

Direct indexing owns securities directly while seeking to reproduce an index or factor profile, enabling exclusions and tax management. Seitz uses direct investing more broadly to include factor exposure, active judgment, tax optimization, and values-based personalization.

Direct indexing targets a reference index or factor exposure
Direct ownership supports individual tax management
A third optimization dimension can reflect taxes or personal values
Direct investing can combine passive exposure with active judgment

“direct indexing would be mimicking factor returns.”
Michelle Seitz · 35:53

“Direct investing, in my mind, opens up the aperture for everything, both factor exposures as well as leaning into active and personalization at scale.”
Michelle Seitz · 35:53

#direct indexing#direct investing#personalization#taxes

Story· 1

Story05:30

Black Monday Taught Seitz That Investing Is Not a Game

Only months into her career, Seitz was managing hundreds of millions of dollars when the 1987 crash struck. The experience made client needs tangible and showed her that unmanaged emotion can destroy wealth.

Seitz entered investment management shortly before Black Monday
She was already responsible for substantial client assets
The crash exposed the human consequences of investment decisions
Professional investors must keep emotion out of decision-making

“this is real money for real people who have real needs, and the emotions of people, UM can be the greatest destroyers of wealth.”
Michelle Seitz · 09:03

“I under stood that this wasn't a game”
Michelle Seitz · 09:59

#black monday#investing#risk#career

Takeaway· 4

Takeaway12:24

Why Investing Experience Translates to Executive Leadership

Seitz sees investing and leadership as parallel disciplines built on problem-solving, structured thinking, data, and human connection. Both depend on diverse teams that can interpret evidence and execute a shared strategy.

Root-cause problem-solving energizes both investors and leaders
Investing benefits from multiple perspectives
Data-driven decisions still depend on people and culture
Durable franchises solve meaningful societal needs

“I do believe investing as a team sport”
Michelle Seitz · 14:20

“being data driven in your decision making, but being very understanding of how important people and teams are”
Michelle Seitz · 15:21

#leadership#teamwork#investing#culture

Takeaway56:46

The Responsibility of Being the Only Different Voice at the Table

Seitz argues that underrepresented leaders have a responsibility to lead authentically and contribute the perspective their presence makes possible. Difference should not silence participation; it increases the obligation to speak constructively and collaboratively.

Authenticity matters more than copying established leadership styles
Representation should add diversity of thought, not only visibility
People in rare leadership positions know others are watching
Problem-solving and group intellect can reduce self-consciousness

“the responsibility is to ensure that you're leading in a way that's authentic to you.”
Michelle Seitz · 58:40

“when you're at the table, you you're required to speak, and you're required to bring the diversity of thought”
Michelle Seitz · 59:35

#women in finance#leadership#diversity#authenticity

Takeaway1:26:06

Seitz Looks for Mentors Above, Beside, and Below Her

Rather than treating mentorship as a single senior relationship, Seitz approaches it as continuous learning from people throughout an organization. Family members and investment leader Conrad Fisher were pivotal, but her broader rule is to seek useful lessons from everyone.

Parents shaped her approach to work, business, and human connection
Conrad Fisher was a pivotal professional mentor
Mentorship continues throughout a career
Learning can come from junior colleagues and peers as well as senior leaders

“I learned from everybody. I feel like I still have mentors”
Michelle Seitz · 1:26:44

“I find mentors everywhere, UM below me next to me, UM, I'm able to learn from everyone, and I seek to learn from everyone.”
Michelle Seitz · 1:27:34

#mentorship#learning#career#leadership

Takeaway1:28:43

Advice for Finance Graduates: Solve Bigger Problems

Seitz remains optimistic about careers in investing because finance is fundamental to capital allocation, economic growth, and societal problem-solving. She urges new entrants not merely to inherit current practices but to ask better questions and drive change.

A mature industry can still contain major opportunities
Finance remains important to capitalism and economic growth
New professionals should challenge inherited assumptions
Career value comes from solving problems that improve lives

“I would encourage UM anyone coming into the field UH to drive change, ask better questions, and solve for really big problems in a way…”
Michelle Seitz · 1:29:25

#career advice#finance#graduates#problem solving

Frameworks in this episode

Active ESG Impact Process

Client-Centered Scalable Innovation

Total-Portfolio Alternatives Integration

Insights & moments

⚡Myth Buster· 2

Active Versus Passive Is the Wrong Investment Debate