Senior Decision Makers: Erlina Yeo Terwelp, Columbia Investment Management Company (EP.520)
Erlina Yeo Terwelp, Managing Director at Columbia Investment Management Company, discusses her evolution as an allocator from investment banking, private equity, and family office investing to managing Columbia's private markets portfolio. She shares Columbia's rigorous three-stage manager underwriting process, the realities of firing managers, navigating portfolio construction amidst higher interest rates and AI valuation spikes, and the transition between generalist and specialist team structures under CIO Kim Lew.
- Columbia Investment Management Company operates a 15-person investment office under CIO Kim Lew, balancing generalist and specialist structures across asset classes. Read →
- Under former CIO Peter Holland, Columbia Investment Management Company evaluated allocations through raw factor underwriting: assessing equity beta, liquidity costs, and debt levels rather than checking geographical or sector boxes. Read →
- Institutional commitments bind LPs and GPs for a decade, making manager terminations rare, emotionally taxing, and operationally painful. Read →
- Columbia Investment Management Company re-underwrites buyout sponsors by stripping out cheap debt and multiple expansion from the return bridge, prioritizing operational margin gains. Read →