Vlad Barbalat is President of Global Risk & Capital Solutions and Chief Investment Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance, where he helps oversee one of the most unique investment platforms in the world: a $120 billion balance sheet with no third-party capital. In this conversation, Vlad and Patrick discuss how insurance float creates permanent capital, why Liberty Mutual’s structure allows it to invest differently, how to think about risk, liquidity, private markets, credit, AI, geopolitics, and the future of trillion-dollar companies. Vlad also shares his personal story of immigrating from Moldova, why he believes America gives people an unparalleled level of agency, and how that worldview shapes his approach to investing, leadership, and pragmatic optimism.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
1:15 Liberty Mutual’s $120B Balance Sheet
12:27 Preparing, Not Predicting
18:51 Building a Fortress Balance Sheet
26:13 Immigration and American Agency
34:00 Risk Taking and Craft
40:14 Branded Capital
44:42 Geopolitics and American Power
51:32 AI and Investing
1:06:24 Permanent Capital and Pragmatic Optimism

Presented by Ramp:
https://ramp.com/invest

Sponsored by Vanta, WorkOS, Rogo, and Ridgeline:
https://www.vanta.com/invest
https://workos.com/
https://rogo.ai/invest
https://www.ridgelineapps.com/

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Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of Positive Sum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of Positive Sum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of Positive Sum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit psum.vc