Brad Briner is the leading candidate for treasurer of North Carolina in the upcoming election. The state treasurer’s responsibilities include managing the state’s $120 billion pension fund. Brad put himself in the ring after twenty-five years of investment experience, serving most recently as Co-CIO of Willett Advisors, Michael Bloomberg’s family office. For more information on Willett, my conversation from 2019 with its Chairman, Steve Rattner, is replayed in the feed.

Our conversation covers Brad’s story, investment and leadership insights from his experience, the problems with North Carolina’s investing and governance, and Brad’s plan to turn around the state’s pension fund performance.

I don’t often get to talk about really poor investment performance on the podcast, but this time we do. North Carolina’s state pension fund has finished dead last among peers over the last three and five years, that’s 50^th out of 50 U.S. states. Its twenty-year returns aren’t much better. The significant underperformance is what happens when an unsophisticated public employee leads the management of serious investment assets.

I’ve known Brad for ten years and want to do everything I can to help him both win the treasurer seat and succeed once he’s there. If you happen to live in North Carolina, please get out and vote – every vote truly counts in a low turnout race like this. If you don’t live there but have friends who do, please encourage them to vote for Brad. Lastly, if Brad is successful in his bid for treasurer, his first priority will be building an investment team of talented professionals who share his passion for making a difference. Maybe you can help there too.