Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

[REPLAY] - Jennifer Heller – Thinking it Through (Capital Allocators, EP.07)

Mar 25, 2021

Jennifer Heller, President and CIO of Brandywine Trust Group, shares her journey in investment management for families with long-term goals. She discusses her early experiences in microfinance across India and South Africa, which shaped her perspective on investments. The conversation highlights the importance of mentorship, selecting the right managers, and adapting strategies to align with family values. Heller also reflects on the challenges of balancing professional and personal life in finance, emphasizing the necessity of community support and intentional living.

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ANECDOTE

Microfinance Beginnings

Jenny Heller's interest in microfinance began during college.
A semester in South Africa and exposure to the Grameen Bank sparked her interest.

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ANECDOTE

Lessons from Abroad

Living in South Africa and India taught Heller the value of patience and cultural immersion.
She learned to appreciate a slower pace and the importance of absorbing different cultures.

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INSIGHT

Microfinance Disillusionment

Heller's time in India led her away from nonprofit microfinance.
She found the focus on grants overshadowed the actual impact on people's lives.

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Jenny Heller is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Brandywine Trust Group. Brandywine formed 25 years ago to manage the capital for a small group of families that all share a long-term, multi-generational time horizon. Today, it oversees almost $9B for those same families, much of it from compounding over a quarter century. The Group invests flexibly across asset classes, with a focus on partnering with people who they believe have sustainable competitive advantages, share their long-term vision, and have highly aligned interests. These elite managers often start with great ideas, but limited capital.

Before taking the helm at Brandywine five years ago, Jenny worked at the Sloan Foundation, Stanford University Management Company, and Merrill Lynch in its investment banking program. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she serves on its Investment Advisory Committee, and Stanford Business School.

Our conversation starts with Jenny’s frustrating experiences with a non-profit micro finance in India and South Africa and turns to her career allocating money on behalf of non-profits and families. We touch on subtleties in picking managers for taxable investors, challenges in executing a long-term strategy, learning from mistakes, and mentorship. Jenny’s clear and deep thought process provides pearls of wisdom throughout our conversation.

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