“Taylor has distinguished herself as part of the next generation of leaders in institutional asset management through more than a decade of experience and a proven track record of leadership, innovation and investment expertise. Early in her career, Taylor demonstrated exceptional drive and commitment by quickly earning both her CFA and CAIA designations, underscoring her work ethic and dedication to professional excellence. Shortly after, she earned the title of co-director of Research and became a key leader of her team. Taylor has established herself as a respected voice in the allocator community, particularly within private credit research, where she consistently brings forward new and innovative ideas. In addition to her investment acumen, she serves as a role model and mentor to junior team members and peers alike, exemplifying the leadership, collaboration and forward-thinking mindset of a future CIO.”
—Dylan Tate, Chief Investment Officer, New York State Nurses Association Pension Plan
The CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER Editorial Team shared a dozen questions with all our NextGen nominees and asked them each to pick six to answer. Their answers informed our decision to include them as a NextGen. Below are Taylor Janke’s answers.
CIO: What is the best way to bring more diversity to the financial industry?
Janke: The best way is to foster it early. It begins in the classroom. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, I know this firsthand. I make it a priority every year to visit my alma matar and speak to the finance students. I also make every effort to make myself available to any students who reach out seeking advice, guidance, etc.
CIO: How are you using AI and large language models in your organization’s investment operation?
Janke: AI has been such a wonderful tool to have, and we are only scratching the surface of its capability. For us, it has been extremely useful at taking on time-intensive tasks. Even something as mundane as writing and organizing meeting notes can save hours a day.
CIO: What asset class or investment strategy troubles you most right now, and why?
Janke: I cover it, so this may be biased, but private credit. Everything about the asset class has been up and to the right since, arguably, post-Global Financial Crisis, and I worry that in the not-so-distant future, the music will have to stop. The PIK, LMEs, the amend-and-extend activity—I think for the most part, it’s all kicking the can down the road, and we will start to see a real bifurcation between good and bad managers.
CIO: What should be an investment trend, but isn’t (yet)?
Janke: Shifting more of the portfolio (mainly highly efficient asset classes) to passive, in order to redirect the time that would otherwise be spent on low-alpha areas to where it most makes sense—your best ideas.
CIO: Who in asset management (a person, not a firm) has most influenced your growth as an institutional asset manager?
Janke: Case Fell – I worked under him during his tenure as CIO at the NYSNA Pension Plan. He has been the single greatest mentor and champion of my professional career.
CIO: What new skills do you think allocators or institutional investment teams need to be leaders in the field in the coming decade?
Janke: I think it’s less about gaining new skills and more about refining existing ones. Time management would be at the top of my list. As allocators, we are living in a world with a 24/7 news cycle, constantly trying to uncover the next best investment idea, while being capital- and likely resource-constrained. We are inundated with so much information that it is increasingly important to put up guardrails around how you spend your time.
