Episode 171: Series 1 2023 - Investment Stories - from Chicken Arbitrage to Ageism, Socio-Economic Mobility and the Power of the Middle Voice

It is hard to believe that we are back for our fourth year of the Fiftyfaces Podcast – and in Series 1 of 2023 we hear about unorthodox beginnings such as the twelve year old who arbitraged the price of chickens when growing up in Uganda, and ended up in a senior role in Bridgewater before starting his own firm. We hear about traditional ones too, about investment instincts honed at the family dinner table, or through seeing the world through an artist's eyes. 

We speak with CIOs, business owners, founders, a financial planner, an author, pensions experts, and portfolio managers, and, as always, dive deeper beyond a discussion of their business.  We find out what led them to their current roles, what motivated them, what twists and turns they took along the way.  We hear about how college and high school debate led to a meticulous skill for preparation, thinking on ones feet and performance, and how the study of archaeology lets one take the long view. We hear about passions like dancing in a Chinese dance troupe and what that does for physical and mental resilience - as well as relief, as well as from a guest who plays the viola, and is the strong "middle voice" and ballast both in her chamber music and her career.

True to our original mission we discuss the themes and people who are often overlooked by our industry, from sex workers who need financial planning, but may feel judged when they seek it, to the talent pool who may not have achieved a mainstream degree, to the talent pool in the 55+ age group, who experience that "age" has become almost an "acceptable form of discrimination".

Join us from Tuesday January 10 for our first Series of 2023. Our guests in series 1 are:

Steve Butler  is Chief Executive at Punter Southall Aspire, an investment consulting group.  He was previously the founder of Camradata, a business author and a visiting industry fellow at Oxford Brookes Business School.  He has a particular focus on areas such as #futureofwork, #olderworkers, #inclusiveculture, #intergenerational, and #retirementplanning and writes extensively on the topics on LinkedIN, which is where we met.  He is pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration which is examining the effect of Covid 19 on different generations in the workplace.

Vivian Lin Thurston is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at William Blair Investment Management, where she is based in Chicago with a particular focus on Emerging and Developed Markets. She previously covered global consumer stocks in a research role both at William Blair and a series of other financial services firms. She is Chairman of the Board at the Chinese Finance Association of American and a Principal Dancer and Director at the Xilin Dance Company.   

Michael Halpern is Founder and President of Westmore Capital Advisors, a multi-strategy investment firm that invests across asset classes focused on early stage/growth capital companies as well as investments in more established companies undergoing substantial transformation.  He was previously Co-Managing Member and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Dorchester Capital Advisors, a fund management firm that invested in hedge funds, private equity funds and secondary hedge fund interests. Prior to that he ran a long/short hedge fund Dorchester Advisors that he founded in 1991. He previously held a serious of roles in financial services in the Los Angeles area and currently holds a number of Board Roles.  

Jessical Goedtel is a Financial Planner and Owner at Pavilion Financial Planning in Allentown Pennsylvania.  She works in particular for tech workers and sex workers and I came across her profile when she presented a robust challenge to a popular personal finance book highlighting its lack of female representation in its case studies.

Stuart Heatley is Managing Director at Capita Pensions where he is a Business Transformation and Growth Leader.  He previously held a series of similar roles at AON and Scottish Life.  Based in Edinburgh, Stuart is passionate about creating access to the financial services industry for people of all backgrounds, and is a Mentor with MCR Pathways.

Dede Eyesan is Founder and CEO of Jenga investment Partners, a firm that invests globally across growth, turnaround and cyclical equity opportunities. This podcast will also appear as a bonus in our Nigerian voices series.

Jonathan Hollow is a writer and commentator on consumer education and protection.  His recent book, How to Fund the Life you Want, distills learning on financial education and evidence-based investing into a manual for pensions and investing.  He is a charity trustee and also doing a part time MA in Ancient History.  His former roles include leadership positions in the Money Advice Service and Money and Pensions Service.

Sara Bonesteel is Chief Investment Officer- International Insurance at Prudential Financial, located in the NYC area.  She was previously a managing director in Bear Stearns and JP Morgan. She is an Independent Director of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and a Member of the Board of Trustees, Chairman of Investment Committee at The Newark

Museum of Art among other Board Roles.  She is also trained as a Neuroleadership Coach

Richard Okello is CEO and Co-founder at Sango Capital, an investment firm he founded 10 years ago that has a particular focus on investing in Africa.  He previously was a principal at Makena Capital, and prior to that in a series of roles at Bridgewater Associates.

Jon Lulu is a senior executive within a real estate investment management platform. He has had a long career in capital raising and real estate in particular.  Prior to his MBA he studied geography as an undergraduate and this is just one of many strands of his unorthodox background that we discuss.

So join us from Tuesday January 10 when we kick off Series 1 over the next five weeks.  You can find all of our content on the Fiftyfaces Hub - fiftyfaceshub.com as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This year we are making our listeners aware that you can support our work on Patreon, which is a platform to support creators and content developers.  Any monthly contribution is appreciated and enables us to continue to amplify voices across the Investment profession and others.  You can support our work here: https://www.patreon.com/fiftyfacespodcast

Series 1 of 2023 is brought to you with the kind support of HarbourView Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused on opportunities in the entertainment and media space. Founded by Sherrese Clarke Soares, HarbourView is a long-term investor in content with an industrial platform built to protect, optimize, and enhance the legacy of premium IP. With a vision of becoming a true stakeholder in the global value of content, HarbourView believes creators deserve a seat at the table creatively and economically, owning their narrative and maximizing value for all. https://www.harbourviewequity.com/

In celebration of our partnership with HarbourView Equity Partners we have selected a separate piece of music for each of the podcasts in this series.  We hope you enjoy them.