Episodes

  • 36. Part II - How is A.I. Being Used at SWIB to Benefit WRS Participants? (Dec. 29, 2025)

    36. Part II - How is A.I. Being Used at SWIB to Benefit WRS Participants? (Dec. 29, 2025)
    Dec 29 2025
    For decades, SWIB has used the best tools available to generate solid returns and provide stable retirement income for the participants of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). While the tools may have changed over the decades, the mission certainly has not. But now, with the advent of artificial intelligence and large language models, the information landscape is changing faster than ever before. In this episode of The SWIB Podcast, hear from Cefe Quesada, SWIB’s chief technology officer, and Salah Khalaf, senior portfolio manager, about how SWIB staff is using AI to augment their ability to process information, identify risks, and make decisions, all with an eye to good governance, ethics, and transparency ̶ helping the WRS remain fully funded and well-positioned to deliver on its promise to over 692,000 participants This is part two in our two-part series about A.I., so don’t forget to check out episode 35 for a grounding in what these tools are, how they work, and what it means for society.
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    28 mins
  • SWIB Market Update - Q4 2025 (Dec. 18, 2025)

    SWIB Market Update - Q4 2025 (Dec. 18, 2025)
    Dec 18 2025
    Each quarter, hear from SWIB staff about the economy, the markets, and how the Wisconsin Retirement System trust funds are impacted. Hear how SWIB is working to help the Wisconsin Retirement System remain among the nation’s most resilient pension funds – growing and protecting participants’ benefits and giving them peace of mind to focus on work, life, and the future. In this market update, we welcome back SWIB’s Head Economic and Asset & Risk Allocation Chief Investment Officer Todd Mattina to talk about the issues that impacted the markets through the fourth quarter of the year and what we might expect as we make our way through the final weeks of 2025.
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    15 mins
  • 35. Part I - What is A.I., and What Does It Mean for the WRS and Its Participants? (Dec. 3, 2025)

    35. Part I - What is A.I., and What Does It Mean for the WRS and Its Participants? (Dec. 3, 2025)
    Dec 3 2025
    Public pension systems have always balanced two big priorities: delivering secure retirements to members and safeguarding assets for the long term. Now, artificial intelligence, or AI, is entering the picture. Some funds are already experimenting with generative AI to sift through mountains of unstructured data in seconds. Others are deploying chatbots to handle routine questions, and many are grappling with governance, ethics, and transparency in these powerful new tools. In this first of two new episodes of The SWIB Podcast, Cefe Quesada, SWIB’s chief technology officer, and Salah Khalaf, senior portfolio manager, discuss what’s working, what’s next, and how public pension funds can embrace AI while keeping transparency and performance front and center and helping the WRS remain fully funded and well-positioned to deliver on its promise to over 692,000 participants.
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    26 mins
  • SWIB Market Update - Q3 2025 (Oct. 8, 2025)

    SWIB Market Update - Q3 2025 (Oct. 8, 2025)
    Oct 8 2025
    Each quarter, hear from SWIB staff about the economy, the markets, and how the Wisconsin Retirement System trust funds are impacted. Hear how SWIB is working to help the Wisconsin Retirement System remain among the nation’s most resilient pension funds – growing and protecting participants’ benefits and giving them peace of mind to focus on work, life, and the future. In this market update, we talk with SWIB’s Head of Multi-Asset Strategies, Nick Stanton, about the stock market's continued performance despite economic headwinds and what investors might expect in the months ahead.
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    11 mins
  • SWIB Market Update - Q2 2025 (July 17, 2025)

    SWIB Market Update - Q2 2025 (July 17, 2025)
    Jul 17 2025
    Each quarter, hear from SWIB staff about the economy, the markets, and how the Wisconsin Retirement System trust funds are impacted. Hear how SWIB is working to help the Wisconsin Retirement System remain among the nation’s most resilient pension funds – growing and protecting participants’ benefits and giving them peace of mind to focus on work, life, and the future. In this market update, we talk with SWIB’s Head of Funds Alpha Derek Drummond about the issues that have impacted the markets through the first half of the year and what we might expect in the second half of the year.
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    11 mins
  • 34. Constructing a Real Estate Portfolio to Weather Market Volatility (June 25, 2025)

    34. Constructing a Real Estate Portfolio to Weather Market Volatility (June 25, 2025)
    Jun 25 2025
    Over the last several years, commercial real estate has seen its share of challenges. From a global pandemic to rising interest rates and changes in trade policies, investors in commercial real estate have had to deal with sometimes extreme market volatility. Despite these challenges, commercial real estate remains an important part of a thriving U.S. economy and the investment strategy SWIB has implemented for the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). SWIB's real estate portfolio helps diversify the Core Trust Fund and has generated an impressive track record of investment performance which has greatly benefited the WRS, helping keep it fully funded and well-positioned to deliver on its promise to over 692,000 participants. In this episode of The SWIB Podcast, we look at how SWIB's real estate portfolio plays an important part in SWIB's asset allocation. We talk to Jason Rothenberg, SWIB’s head of real estate, about some of the challenges facing SWIB’s real estate portfolio, what trends are impacting how institutional investors view the real estate market, and what steps SWIB’s real estate team has taken to overcome the market volatility.
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    26 mins
  • SWIB Market Update - Q1 2025 (April 2, 2025)

    SWIB Market Update - Q1 2025 (April 2, 2025)
    Apr 2 2025
    Each quarter, hear from SWIB staff about the economy, the markets, and how the Wisconsin Retirement System trust funds are impacted. Hear how SWIB is working to help the Wisconsin Retirement System remain among the nation’s most resilient pension funds – growing and protecting participants’ benefits and giving them peace of mind to focus on work, life, and the future.
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    9 mins
  • 33. Finding Strong Investment Opportunities at Home (March 26, 2025)

    33. Finding Strong Investment Opportunities at Home (March 26, 2025)
    Mar 26 2025
    As part of its sophisticated and diverse investment strategy, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board makes investments in companies and funds across the country and around the world as part of a disciplined, prudent and innovative approach to market opportunities that ultimately benefit the Wisconsin Retirement System. But did you know that part of that strategy includes making investments right here in Wisconsin? Through its two dedicated portfolios that focus on Wisconsin, SWIB’s private debt program and Wisconsin venture capital portfolio have invested in opportunities that both provide positive investment returns for the WRS and enhance economic growth in the state. In this episode of The SWIB Podcast, we welcome back SWIB Portfolio Manager Chris Prestigiacomo. Chris talks about the investments SWIB’s private debt and venture capital portfolios hold in Wisconsin companies, the positive impact the two portfolios have had on the WRS trust funds as well as the state's economy, and what the current private debt and venture capital ecosystems look like in Wisconsin.
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    21 mins