A $4.5 billion pension fund is betting on AI for productivity but drawing a hard line at portfolio decisions — are they right, or are they leaving alpha on the table?

In the debut episode of Against Consensus, host Angelo Calvello, PhD, co-founder of Blue Diamond Asset Management and Rosetta Analytics, sits down with Anurag Chandra, Trustee and Investment Committee Chair of the $4.5 billion San Jose Federated City Employees' Retirement System. Chandra reveals the three-ring fiduciary framework his board built to govern AI adoption, treating AI as "a brilliant analyst who's never allowed to vote." The conversation covers delegated authority, collaborative team culture, AI-driven alpha opportunities in private credit and real assets, and the quantum computing frontier.

Anurag Chandra brings over 25 years of experience spanning roles as an allocator, investor, and operator. He currently serves as Trustee and Investment Committee Chair of the $4.5 billion San Jose Federated City Employees' Retirement System and as CIO of a single family office with an attached venture studio. He also sits on the investment committees of a multi-family office in Dubai and the San Mateo Community College Foundation. Chandra has helped lead four venture capital funds managing over $2 billion in aggregate AUM and served as a senior executive in three enterprise technology startups.

In This Episode:

(00:00) Introduction to Against Consensus and guest Anurag Chandra

(03:30) Rapid-fire warmup: mountain or beach, contrarian or consensus

(04:30) San Jose Federated's fiduciary AI governance framework

(11:02) The Waymo analogy and the black box investing debate

(18:24) Governance overhaul, team culture, and delegated authority

(27:23) AI ninja versus experienced PM and the future of talent

(31:34) AI as a portfolio theme: opportunities and emerging threats

(37:04) Quantum computing as a frontier investment opportunity

(41:13) Worst investment pitches and closing reflections
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Dr. Angelo Calvello is a serial innovator and co-founder of multiple investment firms, including Rosetta Analytics and Blue Diamond Asset Management. He leverages his extensive professional network and reputation for authentic thought leadership to curate conversations with genuinely innovative allocators and thinkers.

As the "Dissident" columnist for Institutional Investor and former "Doctor Is In" columnist for Chief Investment Officer (winner of the 2016 Jesse H. Neal Award), Calvello has become a leading voice challenging conventional investment wisdom.

Beyond his professional pursuits, Calvello serves as Chairman of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System's Climate Advisory Panel, Chairman of the Board of Outreach with Lacrosse and Schools (OWLS Lacrosse), a nonprofit organization creating opportunities for at-risk youths in Chicago, and trustee for a Chicago-area police pension fund. His career-long focus on leveraging innovation to deliver superior client outcomes makes him the ideal host for cutting-edge institutional investing conversations.

Resources:

Link to quantum paper: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/quantum-computing-coming-asset-owners-asking-wrong-angelo-calvello-fdd9c/

Anurag Chandra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anchandra/.

FIN News webpage: https://www.fin-news.com/category/podcasts/against-consensus/

Against Consen...