In this episode of the Dakota Live! Podcast, host Robert Morier sits down with Jamie Biddle, Founding Partner and CEO of Verdis Investment Management, a single-family office managing capital for multiple generations of the DuPont family.
Together, they explore the philosophy and practice behind multi-generational investing, how legacy shapes long-term investment decisions, and why family offices think differently from traditional institutions.
Jamie walks us through the transition from his early venture capital career to building Verdis from the ground up, and how lessons from history—both personal and financial—inform his firm’s investment decisions today.
Listeners will gain insight into:
Verdis’ endowment-style approach to asset allocation
The balance between risk, liquidity, and long-term compounding
A unique indexing strategy for early-stage venture capital
How character, behavior, and trust factor into manager selection
Why family offices value entrepreneurial thinking
The enduring truths that guide a family with 10 generations of stewardship
Whether you're an allocator, asset manager, or simply curious about how long-term wealth gets managed with precision and purpose, this is an episode not to miss.
Jamie Biddle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescbiddle/
Robert Morier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertlmorier/
Andrew O'Shea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-o-shea-03717516/
Our Website:
https://dakota.com
Verdis Investment Management:
https://www.verdisinvestment.com/
00:00 Intro
02:08 Jamie Biddle Intro
03:31 Legacy and family history
05:58 Early career
09:25 Inspiration to start Verdis
10:50 VC versus family office mindset
12:07 Strategic direction
13:18 The team
16:32 Endowment pitfalls
17:59 Asset allocation model
22:13 Balancing public and private markets
23:09 Indexing early-stage venture
27:40 Due dilligence for early stage venture
29:32 Manager research process
34:36 Investing in the right people
36:36 Geography of early stage venture
37:45 Current macroeconomic environment
39:00 Active management in public equities
41:19 Market-cap weighted indexing
43:06 Co-investments
45:00 Importance of LP network
47:03 Democratization of private markets
49:01 Advice for manager's seeking partnership with Verdis
52:18 Biddle family history
53:50 Importance of The Andalusia Foundation
58:15 Outro