2025 Sohn San Francisco: How Allocators Are Using AI In Their Investment Process

The 2025 Sohn San Francisco Conference featured a panel discussion titled "iConnections Presents: The Allocators Perspective," bringing together leading allocators to discuss the current market cycle, the public-private market disconnect, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the investment process. Panelists Jim DeWolfe, Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer at Northside Capital Management; Jackson J. Garton, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at Makena Capital Management; and Michael McIntosh, CFA, Chief Market Strategist at IEQ Capital, believe that while public equity valuations signal forth, significant value is available in liquid, fundamental alpha strategies and by capitalizing on the inefficiency and repricing currently underway in niche private markets.

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Defining Institutional Mandates and Approach

Jim DeWolfe’s Northside Capital Management operates as an outsourced Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for ultra high worth individuals and family offices, focusing on customized portfolios tailored to unique risk tolerance and tax situations. Northside maintains a general allocation of approximately 65% in public instruments and 35% across a host of different alternatives. MDeWolfe was previous a Partner and Head of Capital Markets at Thomas Weisel Partners (TWP). He also held senior roles at Morgan Stanley, managing risk and trading for various mortgage and asset-backed products.

Jackson Garton leads Makena Capital Management, a firm with heritage in the endowment model, having spun out of the Stanford Endowment two decades ago. Makena’s core objective is to provide a return in excess of inflation plus 5%, representing the annual payout needed to support the underlying institution while preserving real purchasing power. Makena  maintains 60% to 70% of the portfolio in equity strategies with deep venture capital exposure, accounting for 25% to 30% of their equity allocation, driven by a strong belief in "right tail opportunities and returns". Garton, who began his career at Makena as an analyst in 2006, is also a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Trust, managing a portion of the GSB endowment.

IEQ Capital, an RIA based in San Francisco, employs a flexible mandate, seeking to complement public markets (stocks, bonds) with private market investments that deliver "some sort of excess return or liquidity" A crucial element of the IEQ strategy is timing, encapsulated by the emphasis on the "why now" factor when deploying incremental capital.  McIntosh focuses on end-to-end portfolio construction. Prior to IEQ he spent over ten years of investment management experience, including roles at UBS and Merrill Lynch, and serving as Director of Research at First Republic Investment Management. IEQ screens inbound investment opportunities using eight core criteria.