Newsletter Issue 3: October 2021
Inside this Issue:
Hedge Funds vs. Mutual Funds
Words of Wisdom with Justin Nunez
Letter from the Access Distributed team
Hi there,
Welcome to Issue 3 of the Access Distributed newsletter! We hope everyone is settling into school and enjoying the nice Fall weather.
First and foremost, thank you to all of those students who applied to be a part of the Access Distributed fellowship. To our new fellows, we are so excited to work with you and guide you on your career path! It's our hope that your piece will be featured in a future newsletter!
While we wish we could accept every applicant, we had to make hard decisions to create a tight community of fellows this year. If you were not accepted into the fellowship, we hope you still stay connected to Access Distributed through our open events and this newsletter - you can always submit any questions you have below or email us at hello@accessdistributed.org.
Our tidbit advise for Issue #3: Now that you have settled back into school, it's a good time to think about checking in with the people you worked with this past summer. Whether you already have an offer to return back to your position or are seeking to do something else, it's always a good idea to stay in touch with the people who you worked with and continue to build your network. A quick email to say hello or phone call to catch up is all you need. You never know when you may want to connect with someone again in the future!
With that, go grab a pumpkin spice latte and enjoy issue #3!
All the best,
The Access Distributed Team
DEFINITION OF THE MONTH
HEDGE FUNDS vs. MUTUAL FUNDS
Hedge Funds are lightly regulated Partnerships that typically offer quartelry (or sometimes annual) liquidity to their largely Institutional and High Net Worth Investor base. They usually charge fees based on a percentage of the Assets they manage (a 'Management Fee') and typically take a 20% cut of profit (called 'Carried Interest'). Hedge Funds employ a Long/Short investing approach.
Mutual Fundsare highly regulated entities (typically Corporations) that offer daily liquidity to their (primarily 'Retail') Investor base. They typically only charge fees based on a percentage of the Assets they manage (a 'Management Fee') and normally employ a Long-Only investing approach.
To learn more about Private Equity, check outthis deep-dive articlefrom our partner,Finance|able.
Words of Wisdom with Justin Nunez
In this section, we have an inside interview with Justin Nunez, Partner at TPG and Co-Founder of TPG Next!
Written by AD Fellow Jake Peace
Background
Justin Nunez is the son of two immigrants – Nunez’s father is from the Dominican Republic, his mother from Sri Lanka. The first chance they had, Nunez’s parents moved to the suburbs to raise him and his siblings. Education was extremely important to them, and Nunez’s experience in private school early on opened up his eyes to the possibilities the world had in store for him.
Nunez went off to Columbia for college and it was there he was first introduced to the world of finance. One month into college he met John Alex, who was a Private Wealth Advisor at UBS. Alex gave Nunez an internship freshman year, during which his first job was to walk around with a folding chair and notepad, unfold the chair when someone was on the phone, and listen in and ask questions after the call. He had no desk, just a chair, and loved it. This experience put him on the path to where he is today.
The following year, Nunez pursued investment banking and received an internship offer from Lehman Brothers to be a summer analyst in their consumer and retail M&A group. It was 10 weeks of grueling hours, but he saw it as an opportunity to challenge himself to step out of his comfort zone. He received a full-time offer and headed back to Lehman in the summer of 2007, only to be confronted by the Lehman bankruptcy one year later. Nunez, like many others, was forced to pivot. He used this opportunity to explore his options and discovered that IB was not for him. Shortly after, Nunez received an offer from Goldman Sachs to join the bank’s Investment Management Division, where he was first exposed to the world of hedge funds and private equity funds. Nunez was hooked. At Goldman, Nunez held a few different roles, including in fundraising and business development. This role would allow him to marry his technical skills with his love of people and relationship building. This spoke clearly to both his experiences and interests. Like a game, he was always keeping score, each day trying to get closer to hitting his personal goals, and he was finally on the right path.
How has diversity and inclusion changed on the street over the years?
Diversity has been top of mind for me throughout my entire career - when I look around the room, I am typically the only person that looks like me in my role. I’ve used this as motivation to get to a position where I can influence real change. While there’s still a lot of progress to be made in the DEI space, I believe there is more awareness of the problem than there ever was before.
When I was starting out, there were no programs such as Access Distributed to increase exposure and opportunity. You had to be lucky to stumble upon something that would open doors for you. If you know about the finance path, there are ways to get involved and stay on it. But, a lot of the population doesn’t even know the path exists, or, if they do know it exists, they’ve felt they don’t belong on the path. My goal is to create exposure and awareness around how to enter the industry and build a career in finance to encourage people who look like me or come from a similar background that they belong on the path just as much as anybody else.
Can you talk about this new initiative, TPG NEXT? What struggles did TPG face in getting this formed?
TPG NEXT is a new initiative by TPG focused on developing diverse talent. Through TPG NEXT, TPG will provide flexible capital, operational support, and the strength of the TPG network to seed and support the next generation of diverse investors and entrepreneurs, including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. The goal with TPG NEXT is to put more money behind diverse talent and make diversity a business discussion, not just a philanthropic one. Today, there is not enough capital flowing to diverse investment funds or entrepreneurs. TPG sits at a part of the market where we can influence that change, and we look to do that through TPG NEXT.
In forming TPG NEXT, the biggest challenge we faced was convincing people that there is a real business case to invest in diversity. Diversity typically comes with charitable and philanthropic strings. One of my goals is to show that talent comes in many forms. Investors need to challenge themselves to engage in different networks and they will quickly learn the talent pipeline exists there as well. This is not a supply issue, but rather, a network one.
What was the journey to co-Heading TPG NEXT like for you?
Coming from my background, I had to work twice as hard to go the same distance as many of those around me. TPG provided me with so many great opportunities that I may not have had at other firms. It takes the right leadership and willingness to be creative and innovative, and the willingness to take that step with TPG NEXT is a clear example of that.
I believe that it all comes back to finding your voice and trusting your foundation, even though it may be different from everybody else’s. You need to have the confidence to navigate the industry your way because if you try to be someone else, you are going to run out of steam quickly.
What 3 words best describe your job?
Rewarding, challenging, and everchanging.
What do you like to do for fun?
Coach my son’s football team and box. I picked up boxing over the pandemic and found it is a great way to destress.
If you could go back and give yourself advice when you were in college, what would that be?
I would tell myself that you belong at the table. You belong in this industry just as much as anybody else. Don’t forget that. Maintain your confidence and foundation that you below just as much as the next person.
RECS, RECS, RECS
What we are reading, who we are following, what we are listening to, & more!
Newsletters:
Robinhood Snacks, 3-minute newsletter with fresh takes on the financial news
Podcasts:
Value Investing with Legends by Columbia Business School
People to Follow:
Andrew Ross Sorkin, financial columnist at NYTimes / Co-Anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box
Books:
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Check out all our past newsletters here!
