Episode 94: Bonus Episode - Gerald Chen-Young: No Man is an Island

Gerald Chen-Young is Principal and Chief Investment Officer at GCY Associates, which provides consulting and advisory services based in Washington DC.  He has over 25 years of experience as a Chief Investment Officer, 14 years of which were spent as VP and Chief Investment of the United Negro College Fund.  He previously held a range of financial services roles at firms including UBS, Paine Webber & Riggs National Bank, in different capacities.  Gerald holds post-graduate degrees in Economics from York University and LSE and Law from Univ of Miami Law & AU’s Washington College of Law.  He has a particular interest in ESG issues across the investment landscape.  

Our conversation starts with Gerald's upbringing on the island of Jamaica and the culture shock that ensued when he went to a boarding school in Canada during his teenage years.  He began his college education there and we delve into what drove him to pursue degrees in both economics and law and his passion for both areas.  Gerald spent over 14 years at the United Negro College Fund as CIO and we speak about what was at the forefront of his mind in this role.  

Gerald was an early adopter of ESG principles and we contextualize this movement by reference to other social movements such as universal suffrage and the abolition of slavery which started on the fringes and ended up in the mainstream. We hear about his passion for food, his belief in the value of sabbaticals and the highs and lows of an extraordinary career.