Episode 86: Julian Tregoning - From Top Hats to Market Bottoms - The Importance of Keeping it Simple

Julian Tregoning has worked in the asset management business for many years, having had senior roles in the Flemings Group (where he also covered Latin America) and at BNY Mellon. He has held multiple Director and Chair roles and is a member of the investment committee for SAUL, a multi-employer defined benefit scheme for the non-academic employees of the University of London, which is where we met.

Our conversation goes back to some common ground Julian and I share - schooling in Ireland.  His dates from the 1950s, when he attended boarding school near Kells, Co Meath. He then took a gap year in France where a passion for wine was born, and joined the navy, fulfilling a love of boats and exotic travel.  Julian's career in the navy came to a shattering end following a skiing accident, and in a theme that we have seen again and again in this podcast series, from that crisis came opportunity - it was while recuperating from that injury that he read about the world of investing.

There began a fascinating career which saw him move from the era of top hats (and little diversity) in the City of London to a global career which saw him visit a wide sweep of Latin American countries as well as much of Asia.  He saw the most fierce of bear markets as well as the most stunning recoveries.  When asked what advice he has used to guide him through this journey Julian refers to the adage of the KISS principle - Keep it Simple Stupid.  We talk about that as well as the current wave of ESG investing in order to round out this chronicle of a truly unique career journey. 

This series was made possible by the kind support of MainStreet Partners, a London-based independent and dedicated sustainable investment advisor that provides ESG multi-asset and multi-manager portfolios and a range of holistic portfolio analytics tools including sustainability ratings and bespoke sustainability intelligence. It was also supported by Carbonado Partners, an industry expert in capital raising for all asset classes, that endeavors to provide thoughtful solutions that address emerging managers’ perspectives and challenges.