Under TPA, an investor's job is no longer to fill asset class buckets. Instead, it's to generate knowledge on how any potential investment—be it a manager, ETF, or direct deal—adds value to the overall portfolio's objectives, forcing an apples-to-apples comparison of all opportunities.

The future of AI research is proactive discovery. The goal is a system that not only monitors a portfolio but also recognizes what it doesn't know, then autonomously tasks its AI interviewer to conduct expert calls to generate the missing insights and deliver the new analysis to the user.

Historically, investment tech focused on speed. Modern AI, like AlphaGo, offers something new: inhuman intelligence that reveals novel insights and strategies humans miss. For investors, this means moving beyond automation to using AI as a tool for generating genuine alpha through superior inference.

Recognizing the friction in accessing private markets, Apollo spent $1 billion from its balance sheet on wealth tech. This strategic investment aims to improve the underlying infrastructure for the entire industry, acknowledging that a better ecosystem benefits all participants, not just themselves.

Most institutional investor boards are composed of finance professionals and constituent representatives, but not technologists. This leads them to view technology as an operational cost or an 'IT toolkit' rather than a strategic asset that can fundamentally enhance returns by improving portfolio knowledge and navigation.

Serving thousands of individual investors requires a huge investment in "nuts and bolts" infrastructure for administration, processing, and reporting. This operational complexity and cost, not client-facing apps, is the primary hurdle for GPs entering the retail space, moving from analog processes to complex digital systems.

Dalio envisions a future where AI platforms provide sophisticated tools directly to individual portfolio managers, much like Uber's technology empowers individual drivers. This will enable talented managers to operate independently, challenging the current multi-strat model that aggregates PMs within one firm.

The next major investment model will be technology-driven. By using precise data to understand pacing, commitments, and liquidity needs, investors can significantly reduce their cash holdings. Moving from 5% to 3% cash by investing in a tech stack can boost overall portfolio returns by a full percentage point.

Instead of predicting short-term outcomes, focus on macro trends that seem inevitable over a decade (e.g., more e-commerce, more 3D interaction). This framework, used by Tim Ferriss to invest in Shopify and by Roblox for mobile, helps identify high-potential areas and build with conviction.