A core tenet of Collette Chilton's investment philosophy is the principle of explainability. If she cannot clearly articulate a manager's strategy and what could go wrong to her investment committee, she will not approve the investment, leading to a portfolio of understandable strategies.

Limited Partners (LPs) value fund managers who are willing to listen and internalize market feedback, even if they ultimately follow their own strategy. This openness is a key positive signal, while a refusal to listen is a major red flag that often appears early in the relationship.

Traditional private equity questioning feels like an interrogation, yielding guarded answers. An operator asking peer-to-peer questions creates a conversation, resulting in deeper, more authentic information—the primary input for better investment decisions.

Companies often present different stories to equity (growth) and fixed-income (stability) investors. CIO Ed Perks finds the most insightful meetings happen when both analyst types are in the room, forcing a holistic conversation about capital allocation and revealing the real priorities.

A CIO adds value not by micromanaging, but by acting as a 'snowplow.' This involves proactively exploring and clearing potential investment paths. This forward-looking reconnaissance enables the team to operate at maximum speed and focus on execution, knowing the strategic direction has been vetted.

When new managing directors joined Williams, the entire portfolio was re-underwritten to get them up to speed. This process provided a fresh perspective that revealed complacency and outdated narratives, even in areas the CIO had originally built, proving it a powerful tool for self-correction.

To elicit candid answers from fund managers, the most effective technique is not the question itself but the silence that follows. Resisting the psychological urge to fill the space forces the manager to sit with the question, often leading to less rehearsed and more truthful responses.

The Williams College investment team's strength lies in balancing deep institutional knowledge with fresh external perspectives. Long-tenured members provide historical context, while new hires from other offices introduce new best practices and challenge complacency, preventing stagnation.

Before hiring a CIO, Williams' alumni committees built the portfolio. Collette Chilton notes a key flaw in this model: committees love adding new investments but find it difficult to reach a consensus on what to cut, resulting in portfolio bloat and too many managers.