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Apollo's McDonald says AI cut mock portfolio builds to minutes
Jack McDonald, who says he is a principal at Apollo, told Rowspace's co-founder at AI Engineer New York that two finance tasks now take minutes, in a video published 16 October 2026.
Check our sources · 14 facts from 1 source
Video: AI Engineer on YouTube
Key points
- McDonald said building a mock portfolio of 200 to 400 single credit names used to take two to three days in a manual Excel model and now takes minutes. (04:53)
- He said portfolio managers can reach 80 to 90% completion with the tool and then use their own judgment to refine the last 10%. (04:59)
- He said a weekly warehouse trade reconciliation that took two to three people many hours a week is now repeatable in a minute, checked daily. (06:20)
What happened
Jack McDonald, who says he is a principal at Apollo and chief operating officer of Redding Ridge Capital, spoke on stage with Michael Manapat, a co-founder of Rowspace, at AI Engineer New York. The talk was published on the AI Engineer YouTube channel on 16 October 2026.
McDonald said building a mock portfolio of 200 to 400 single credit names used to take a portfolio manager two to three days in a manual Excel model, and that it now takes minutes. He said managers get it to 80 to 90% completion and then use their own judgment on the rest.
He also described a weekly trade reconciliation for Redding Ridge's warehouse purchases that took two to three people many hours a week. He said the report is now repeatable in about a minute and his team checks it each day.
Asked about finance as a whole, McDonald said he still thinks it is very early, and that there is probably a need for less junior support over time for certain functions. Rowspace, whose co-founder asked the questions, is the vendor of the system he described. The figures are McDonald's own account, given on stage.
What it means for you
Our viewThese figures are McDonald's own account, given on stage to a co-founder of Rowspace, which is the vendor of the system he described, so they are one team's experience and not an independent measurement.
His own description of the work is useful: managers reach 80 to 90% completion and then apply judgment, and his team still checks the reconciliation each day, which suggests the saving sits in the first draft while review stays with people. He also said he still thinks finance is very early.
If you run spreadsheet-heavy work such as portfolio construction or reconciliations, time one task as it is done today, ask any vendor to repeat it on your own data, and name who owns the daily check.
It adds no new facts.
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Check our sources
Every sentence above is checked against this source.
1 AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes - Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace
Open the source archived copy-
The video 'AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes - Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace' was published on the AI Engineer YouTube channel on 2026-10-16, and its description lists Michael Manapat as co-founder of Rowspace and Jack McDonald as Principal at Apollo and COO of Redding Ridge.
citeuploadDate 2026-10-16T16:00:36-07:00; title: AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes — Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace; description: Michael Manapat, Co-founder, Rowspace ... Jack McDonald, Principal, Apollo / COO, Redding Ridge
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The talk was given at AI Engineer New York; Michael Manapat introduced himself and asked the questions, and Jack McDonald answered.
citeLive from the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York City, AI Engineer New York 2026 (description); 00:12 I'm Michael Manapat. I'm a co-founder of Rose Rocket Space ... 00:49 Jack, I'd love to hear a little bit about you and what your business does. 00:53 >> Yeah, thank you, Michael.
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Jack McDonald introduced himself: 'I am a principal at Apollo and COO of Reddington Ridge Capital' (00:55); the automatic captions render Redding Ridge as 'Reddington Ridge'.
cite00:53 Yeah, thank you, Michael. Uh I'm Jack 00:55 McDonald. I am a principal at Apollo and 00:58 COO of Reddington Ridge Capital
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McDonald described Redding Ridge as 'a separate fully separate entity operating company that manages about 50 billion in assets' (01:06). the company says
cite01:06 Uh we're a separate fully separate 01:08 entity operating company that manages 01:10 about 50 billion in assets.
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McDonald said CLO portfolio construction means creating mock portfolios of 'anywhere from 200 to 400 single credit names' (04:35). the company says
cite04:33 building mock portfolios with call 04:35 it anywhere from 200 to 400 single 04:37 credit names
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McDonald said building such a portfolio would typically take a portfolio manager before adopting Rowspace 'anywhere from two to three days in a manual Excel' (04:44); the captions render Rowspace as 'Rose special'. the company says
cite04:40 would typically take a PM before kind of 04:44 adopting Rose special anywhere from two 04:46 to three days in a manual Excel.
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McDonald said the team can now create a portfolio 'that would take somebody days to now do it in the matter of minutes' (04:53). the company says
cite04:53 create a portfolio that would take 04:55 somebody days to now do it in the matter 04:57 of minutes.
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McDonald said portfolio managers can 'build something to call it 80 90% completion' (04:59) and then use their judgment to refine the last 10%. the company says
cite04:59 PMs to kind of build something to call 05:02 it 80 90% completion and then kind of 05:05 use their judgment and their thought to 05:07 further refine that portfolio that last 05:09 10% to make it theirs.
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McDonald said of the weekly warehouse trade reconciliation that 'we've been able to take that exact same report, drop it into Rosebud' (06:16); the captions render Rowspace as 'Rosebud'. the company says
cite05:45 Historically, we would kind of do a 05:48 trade wreck and trade activity on a 05:50 weekly basis ... 06:16 is we've been able to take that exact 06:18 same report, drop it into Rosebud
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McDonald said 'That report was then created and now repeatable in the span of a minute' (06:20). the company says
cite06:20 visualization perspective. That report 06:23 was then created and now repeatable in 06:25 the span of a minute.
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McDonald said his team is now 'just QAing that and checking it each day' (06:31). the company says
cite06:31 team's perspective, we are just QAing 06:33 that and checking it each day
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McDonald said the process 'historically has taken many hours of the week for two to three individuals on our team' (06:38). the company says
cite06:38 uh type process which historically has 06:40 taken many hours of the week for two to 06:43 three individuals on our team
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McDonald said that for finance in asset management and the institutional world 'I still think it's very early' (12:33).
cite12:30 banking, the bank institution 12:33 institutional world, I still think it's 12:34 very early.
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McDonald said 'there's probably a need where there's less junior support over time for certain functions' (12:53).
cite12:53 I think like, you know, there's probably 12:56 a need where there's less junior support 12:58 over time for certain functions
Every sentence above is checked against this source. Each fact has its own address you can cite.
Source 1 · AI Engineer (YouTube) · 16 Oct 2026
AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes - Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace
The video 'AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes - Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace' was published on the AI Engineer YouTube channel on 2026-10-16, and its description lists Michael Manapat as co-founder of Rowspace and Jack McDonald as Principal at Apollo and COO of Redding Ridge.
uploadDate 2026-10-16T16:00:36-07:00; title: AI Agents Cut 3-Day Portfolio Builds to Minutes — Jack McDonald, Apollo & Michael Manapat, Rowspace; description: Michael Manapat, Co-founder, Rowspace ... Jack McDonald, Principal, Apollo / COO, Redding Ridge
The talk was given at AI Engineer New York; Michael Manapat introduced himself and asked the questions, and Jack McDonald answered.
Live from the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York City, AI Engineer New York 2026 (description); 00:12 I'm Michael Manapat. I'm a co-founder of Rose Rocket Space ... 00:49 Jack, I'd love to hear a little bit about you and what your business does. 00:53 >> Yeah, thank you, Michael.
Jack McDonald introduced himself: 'I am a principal at Apollo and COO of Reddington Ridge Capital' (00:55); the automatic captions render Redding Ridge as 'Reddington Ridge'.
00:53 Yeah, thank you, Michael. Uh I'm Jack 00:55 McDonald. I am a principal at Apollo and 00:58 COO of Reddington Ridge Capital
Show all 14 factsShow fewer facts
McDonald described Redding Ridge as 'a separate fully separate entity operating company that manages about 50 billion in assets' (01:06). the company says
01:06 Uh we're a separate fully separate 01:08 entity operating company that manages 01:10 about 50 billion in assets.
McDonald said CLO portfolio construction means creating mock portfolios of 'anywhere from 200 to 400 single credit names' (04:35). the company says
04:33 building mock portfolios with call 04:35 it anywhere from 200 to 400 single 04:37 credit names
McDonald said building such a portfolio would typically take a portfolio manager before adopting Rowspace 'anywhere from two to three days in a manual Excel' (04:44); the captions render Rowspace as 'Rose special'. the company says
04:40 would typically take a PM before kind of 04:44 adopting Rose special anywhere from two 04:46 to three days in a manual Excel.
McDonald said the team can now create a portfolio 'that would take somebody days to now do it in the matter of minutes' (04:53). the company says
04:53 create a portfolio that would take 04:55 somebody days to now do it in the matter 04:57 of minutes.
McDonald said portfolio managers can 'build something to call it 80 90% completion' (04:59) and then use their judgment to refine the last 10%. the company says
04:59 PMs to kind of build something to call 05:02 it 80 90% completion and then kind of 05:05 use their judgment and their thought to 05:07 further refine that portfolio that last 05:09 10% to make it theirs.
McDonald said of the weekly warehouse trade reconciliation that 'we've been able to take that exact same report, drop it into Rosebud' (06:16); the captions render Rowspace as 'Rosebud'. the company says
05:45 Historically, we would kind of do a 05:48 trade wreck and trade activity on a 05:50 weekly basis ... 06:16 is we've been able to take that exact 06:18 same report, drop it into Rosebud
McDonald said 'That report was then created and now repeatable in the span of a minute' (06:20). the company says
06:20 visualization perspective. That report 06:23 was then created and now repeatable in 06:25 the span of a minute.
McDonald said his team is now 'just QAing that and checking it each day' (06:31). the company says
06:31 team's perspective, we are just QAing 06:33 that and checking it each day
McDonald said the process 'historically has taken many hours of the week for two to three individuals on our team' (06:38). the company says
06:38 uh type process which historically has 06:40 taken many hours of the week for two to 06:43 three individuals on our team
McDonald said that for finance in asset management and the institutional world 'I still think it's very early' (12:33).
12:30 banking, the bank institution 12:33 institutional world, I still think it's 12:34 very early.
McDonald said 'there's probably a need where there's less junior support over time for certain functions' (12:53).
12:53 I think like, you know, there's probably 12:56 a need where there's less junior support 12:58 over time for certain functions
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