The Distribution by Juniper Square

Brandon Sedloff and Melvin Hibberd explore the evolution of GP solutions and what it takes to build durable enterprise value in private markets. Hibberd, chief investment officer at Hunter Point Capital, shares his path from engineering in northern England to leading investments across a $10 billion platform. The conversation examines how GP solutions expanded from simple minority stakes into a full menu of capital options, and why that shift reflects the maturation of asset management as a business, not just an investing activity.

They discuss:

- Why succession planning will drive transaction volume for the next decade, despite only 38% of GPs having a plan while 96% of LPs say it matters

- How managers' capital needs have evolved beyond permanent equity into preferred capital, NAV lending, and commitment financing

- What defines a persistent right to win in a market where every firm claims proprietary deal flow and differentiated sourcing

- Why bilateral partnerships often create more value than broad auctions when aligning on growth, governance, and long-term strategy

This episode offers practical perspective for founders and leaders navigating strategic capital decisions in an increasingly complex market.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:41) - Introducing Melvin

(00:04:14) - Growing up in northern England

(00:06:52) - Engineering at Cambridge and summers in Japan

(00:08:57) - Starting at a family office

(00:10:35) - Business school and the intentional career path

(00:15:00) - Building a GP stakes platform at Blackstone

(00:19:10) - Why leave Blackstone for Hunter Point

(00:26:04) - The evolution of GP solutions products

(00:30:17) - Building enterprise value in investment firms

(00:32:25) - Succession as a deal driver

(00:35:45) - What makes a persistent right to win

(00:47:53) - Advice for founders seeking capital partners

(00:50:40) - Where Hunter Point is investing today

(00:53:40) - Closing

Links:

Hunter Point Capital - https://www.hunterpointcapital.com/

Melvin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melvin-hibberd-bab4b018b/

Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Brandon Sedloff and Alex Robinson explore the accelerating intersection of artificial intelligence and private markets operations. Robinson, co-founder and CEO of Juniper Square, explains why investment managers must reimagine their businesses around AI rather than treating it as a simple productivity tool. The conversation balances technical strategy with practical leadership advice for non-technical founders navigating rapid transformation.

They discuss:

- Why making your company "AI legible" requires recording meetings, writing down processes, and controlling your data layer

- How Robinson runs Juniper Square through ORCA, a synchronous operating system designed for AI-native decision-making

- The difference between technology companies building AI applications and service providers arranging human capital

- Why the industry will bifurcate between "sharpshooters" with distinctive strategies and scale players with compute budgets

- How to evaluate partners in a noisy market where every vendor claims to be AI-first

This episode from The Distribution offers a roadmap for investment managers seeking to apply AI thoughtfully without becoming technologists themselves.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:41) - The functional singularity moment

(00:06:00) - Why AI deployment is a CEO's job

(00:07:46) - Becoming an on the record company

(00:11:22) - Running a company with ORCA

(00:14:57) - Practical advice for non-technical leaders

(00:16:11) - Just start writing it down

(00:17:22) - The Aunt Millie problem and AI legibility

(00:22:18) - Cutting through vendor noise

(00:25:21) - What won't change in partnerships

(00:26:12) - Trust and comprehensive platforms matter

(00:29:01) - Protecting your data moat from labs

(00:31:06) - Understanding the applied AI layer

(00:35:00) - How Juniper Square is deploying AI

(00:35:22) - Three transformation domains

(00:42:12) - Tech companies versus human capital shops

(00:45:36) - The future of investment management

(00:46:11) - Sharpshooters and scale players

(00:49:32) - Does data scale matter for GPs?

(00:52:05) - Most excited about AI in medicine

(00:53:23) - Closing thoughts on hackathons

Links:

Alex on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrob22/

Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Brandon Sedloff sits down with Dan Carr and Peter Weiss, co-founders of Alpaca Real Estate, for a live conversation recorded at their annual Aspen Real Estate Summit. The two met as analysts at JP Morgan in 2011 and spent a decade building expertise at major institutions before launching their own opportunistic real estate private equity fund in late 2022. What sets Alpaca apart is their commitment to building a technology-first culture from inception, treating their data infrastructure and tech stack as foundational to the investment process rather than an afterthought.

They discuss:

- Why timing mattered when they saw the Fed's rate increases creating a repricing moment in commercial real estate

- How they built a seven-stage deal pipeline with 1,000 transactions cataloged in a proprietary data lake before deploying agentic AI

- Their focus on tailwind asset classes like build-to-rent townhomes and infill industrial, where structural demand drives conviction

- The cultural challenge of technology adoption and why organic buy-in matters more than mandates

- Forward purchase structures that shift construction risk to homebuilders while controlling land upfront

This episode offers a practical look at what it takes to launch and scale an investment platform built on data discipline and institutional-grade operations in a shifting market.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:00) - Recording live at Alpaca's Aspen summit

(00:05:20) - Getting into real estate investing

(00:10:23) - Meeting at JP Morgan in 2011

(00:11:35) - Building the REPEN networking group

(00:12:34) - Post-JP Morgan career paths

(00:15:27) - The 2022 wake-up call from Dan

(00:17:49) - Capitalizing a first-time fund

(00:18:35) - Building technology into the DNA

(00:22:56) - Creating clean data infrastructure

(00:26:55) - Cultural adoption of technology

(00:31:42) - Alpaca's investment focus today

(00:33:45) - Residential and industrial strategies

(00:36:04) - Operating with partners versus direct

(00:38:38) - Closing thoughts for investors

Links:

Dan on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-carr-98a0a91b/

Peter on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-weiss-86675635/

Alpaca Real Estate - https://alpacarealestate.com/

Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Brandon Sedloff and Bill McMorrow trace the evolution of Kennedy Wilson from a $57,000 real estate auction company in 1988 to a global investment firm managing nearly $38 billion in assets. McMorrow shares how a series of pivotal relationships, from early banking mentors to partnerships with George Graziadio and Fairfax Financial's Prem Watsa, shaped the firm's trajectory across four decades of real estate cycles. The conversation on The Distribution reveals how McMorrow identified opportunities in Japan during the 1990s, Ireland and the UK following the Great Recession, and multifamily housing markets when regional banks retreated in 2023.

They discuss:

- Why McMorrow focuses exclusively on housing across the US, Ireland, and the UK after owning every asset type

- How a half-hour conversation at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting led to $20 billion in joint ventures over sixteen years

- The discipline of saying yes to start the journey, even when the path forward isn't clear

- Why narrowing focus and tuning out noise matters more than ever in today's information-saturated environment

- What McMorrow learned from working on commercial fishing boats, in a slaughterhouse, and growing up in a family of nine kids

This episode offers insight for investors navigating uncertainty, building long-term institutional relationships, and recognizing contrarian opportunities when markets feel murky.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:43) - Bill McMorrow's early life and formative years

(00:05:31) - Banking career and move to Philadelphia

(00:08:43) - Acquiring Kennedy Wilson in 1988

(00:10:51) - Expanding to Japan in the 1990s

(00:12:14) - The Great Recession and meeting Prem Watsa

(00:15:06) - Kennedy Wilson's culture and growth to $38 billion

(00:16:36) - Growing up in a family of nine

(00:22:25) - Building relationships with foreign investors

(00:24:25) - The Ireland opportunity and Bank of Ireland deal

(00:30:55) - Kennedy Wilson's business model today

(00:31:24) - Focus on housing and recent acquisitions

(00:39:11) - Staying focused and tuning out the noise

(00:44:22) - The importance of starting the journey

(00:45:39) - Taking chances and betting against the crowd

(00:47:45) - Looking ahead: opportunities and strategy

(00:54:34) - Closing thoughts

Links:

Kennedy Wilson - https://www.kennedywilson.com/

Juniper Square - ⁠⁠https://www.junipersquare.com/⁠⁠

Brandon on LinkedIn - ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/⁠

Brandon Sedloff and John Bowman explore the future of private markets through the lens of CAIA Association's recent research report, "The World Rewired." Bowman, CEO of CAIA Association, shares insights from eight global roundtables with over 120 C-suite executives across major financial centers. The conversation examines how geopolitical shifts, evolving product structures, and talent needs are reshaping portfolio construction and investment strategy. Bowman argues that the post-World War II regime of low rates, stable globalization, and minimal inflation has ended—requiring allocators to fundamentally rethink how they build portfolios.

They discuss:

- Why geopolitics may replace asset allocation as the primary framework for portfolio construction

- How tokenization could solve liquidity challenges better than traditional gate structures

- The shift from hiring job-ready specialists to recruiting systems thinkers with interdisciplinary judgment

- Why the Gulf region has become a serious contender as the capital of private capital

This episode offers a strategic roadmap for institutional investors, asset managers, and private markets professionals navigating a regime change in global markets.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:28) - Introducing John Bowman and CAIA

(00:02:59) - Early career and path to finance

(00:07:58) - Transition from asset management to CFA Institute

(00:11:49) - Journey through CFA Institute

(00:17:00) - Leading CAIA and building community

(00:29:11) - The World Rewired research report

(00:34:25) - Product innovation and the retail push

(00:44:06) - Geopolitics as portfolio framework

(00:49:01) - Middle East sovereign wealth dynamics

(00:52:19) - Talent and systems thinking

(00:56:47) - Where to learn more

Speaker Profiles:

Brandon Sedloff

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Website — https://brandonsedloff.substack.com/

John Bowman

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnlbowmancfa/

Organizations:

CAIA Association — https://caia.org/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/