Ross Butler

Anthropologist and best-selling author Jack Weatherford, whose landmark book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World reshaped our understanding of history, joins Ross Butler to explore how the Mongol Empire fused creative destruction with long-term institution-building. Far from being merely conquerors, the Mongols built one of the earliest global systems of commerce, meritocracy […]

Ross Butler speaks with Matteo Stefanel and Udayan Goyal, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Apis Partners, one of the world’s best performing growth-capital firms. How did two former investment bankers build a globally recognised growth platform, and what does their story reveal about where finance is heading? Building a Firm Before the Market Was Ready […]

Ross Butler speaks with Adrian Letts, Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Head of Business Operations. Adrian brings a deep operator’s lens – from founding one of the UK’s first streaming platforms, to leading Tesco’s digital and global e-commerce, to scaling a UK retail-energy company from 500k to 5 million customers through M&A […]

In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with William Benjamin, Head of Alternative Solutions at HSBC Asset Management, about the evolution of private markets, evergreen fund structures, and the democratization of alternatives. William has held senior roles across HSBC’s alternatives platform — including CIO, CEO, and Head of Hedge Funds — as well […]

Alex van Someren has lived at the frontier of technology entrepreneurship, venture capital, and national security. As a teenager he joined Acorn Computers, the company that seeded ARM Holdings and the UK’s early computing revolution. He co-founded nCipher, a London-listed cryptography firm, later became a partner at Amadeus Capital Partners, and between 2021 and 2024 […]

Ross Butler speaks with Kim Pochon, Global Head of Primary Investments at Unigestion, and Joe Briggs, Founder of BCF for this launch episode of Fund Shack’s Emerging Manager Series. What drives experienced professionals to leave established firms and launch new platforms? How do LPs assess the viability of emerging teams? And why the earliest decisions—on […]

In this Fund Shack episode, recorded at SuperReturn in Berlin, Ross Butler talks with Kyle D. Kniffen, Managing Director and Global Head of Alternatives for Third Party Wealth at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. With over $500 billion in alternative assets under management and nearly four decades of experience, Kyle discusses the firm’s expansive platform, which […]

In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with Matthew Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, the firm that launched the first crypto index fund and now oversees over $10 billion in assets. Previously CEO of ETF.com and chairman of Inside ETFs, Matthew has been at the vanguard of two financial revolutions: […]

In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler is joined by Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Head of Private Market Strategy at Julius Baer, Associate Professor at EDHEC Business School, and author of multiple leading books on private equity. Cyril has worked as an expert for Invest Europe, ILPA, and the European Commission, and he brings a unique […]

Donald H. Chew, Jr. has been the editor of the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance for 45 years. In this episode, Donald gives his big picture take on the central role of American-style corporate finance in driving wealth and prosperity.  We discuss: Drawing on Donald’s recent book, The Making of Modern Corporate Finance: A History […]