Episode Summary
In this episode, host Robert Olsen talks with Mark Machin and Mark Shulgan from Intrepid Growth Partners about the growing role of AI in growth equity investing. The conversation explores the founders’ backgrounds in science and banking, and how these experiences shape their focus on AI-driven investments.
Machin and Shulgan explain their investment strategy, emphasizing their approach to identifying businesses that are using AI to create real value. They also discuss the impact of AI on industries such as healthcare, customer engagement, and robotics.
The two investors share their views on the current market landscape, how investment strategies are evolving in response to economic changes, and the opportunities they see in the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
Episode Featured on:
The Wealth Exchange
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Mark Machin
Co-founder & Managing Partner
Mark trained in Physiological Sciences including specialization in neurosciences at Oxford, researched developmental biology, and studied Clinical Medicine at Cambridge before pursuing a career in finance. For more than two decades he worked at Goldman Sachs in Europe and Asia where he was a Partner and among other roles was Vice Chair and the Head of Investment Banking for Asia Pacific. He then joined CPPIB first as Head of International and then served as President and CEO for five years. Under his leadership, CPPIB grew its exposure to technology investing by launching a Venture and Growth Equity strategy, opening an office in San Francisco, and creating partnerships with leading venture firms and incubators, like the Creative Destruction Lab.
While at CPPIB, Mark chaired its investment committees and oversaw more than $500B of investment in many companies and investment funds. In addition, Mark led the creation of several internal initiatives that leveraged ML/AI to enhance coordination among CPPIB's nearly 2,000 employees across nine global offices and support its investment processes. Under his leadership, CPPIB was one of the best-performing global pension funds.
Before founding Intrepid Growth Partners, Mark co-founded and was the founding CEO of Opto Investments, a software platform that raised a $145M series A and is using software to create a new market for investment advisors to access alternative investments. Mark served on the board of Sequoia Heritage and currently serves on GIC's International Advisory Board, Serendipity Capital, and is the Vice Chair of Opto Investments.
Mark Shulgan
Co-founder & Partner
Mark has over two decades of experience in growth equity. He has led two top-performing growth equity teams at leading global investment firms. As the founder and former head of OMERS Growth Equity, Mark oversaw investments in 20 companies, investing over $1 billion in software and tech-enabled healthcare companies across North America. Before OMERS, he co-founded and led CPPIB’s Thematic Investing (now Growth Equity) team, managing investments in 30 companies and over $6 billion in capital across software and healthcare in North America, Western Europe, and Asia.
Mark has chaired the OMERS Growth Equity Investment Committee and CPPIB’s Thematic Investing Investment Committee, while also serving on CPPIB’s Active Equities Investment Committee, which oversaw $50 billion+ in assets. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President at Fortress Investment Group.
He has served on the boards of companies such as Dialpad, Coveo, TouchBistro, PandaDoc, Celigo, Purpose Financial, and OneEleven. Currently, he mentors at the Creative Destruction Lab and serves as a Venture Capital Advisor to Nicola Wealth.
Disclaimer
This presentation contains the current opinions of the presenter and such opinions are subject to change without notice. This material is distributed for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, accounting, tax or specific investment advice. Please speak to your NWM advisor regarding your unique situation. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein are based upon proprietary research and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. NWM Fund returns are quoted net of fund-level expenses. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investments contain risk and may gain or lose value. Projected returns are estimates only. Returns are not guaranteed. NWM is registered as a Portfolio Manager, Exempt Market Dealer and Investment Fund Manager with the required provincial securities’ commissions in Canada.
