The Fiftyfaces Podcast 65. Justin Onuekwusi - Showing Where We Go From Here
Apr 8, 2021
38:23
Justin Onuekwusi is a Fund Manager and Head of Retail Multi-Asset Funds at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) based in London. He started his career as an investment consultant in an actuarial consulting firm, and moved to a research and portfolio manager role, where he has specialized in multi-asset fund management.
Our conversation starts with Justin's upbringing in Manchester, and some of the challenges that came with it, and then moves to how he became interested in the actuarial profession and ultimately the world of investing. We discuss his recent blog post on LinkedIN called “where do we go from here?” which describes the early age he became aware of racism, learning how to code switch as early as primary school and micro-aggressions that he experienced throughout his career. We explore all of these in more detail, examining what it is to truly feel like you belong, and how firms can create a better sense of inclusion for all of their employees. Justin discusses his passion for mentorship and the circles that he coaches, which enable younger career entrants to develop and ultimately thrive.
Justin was pivotal in the recent #talkaboutblack campaign and speaks about what that means, and why it is important to be colour brave instead of colour blind, and to work to improve race fluency. His prescription for this is grounded in empathy, and in creating psychological safety for all colleagues to make mistakes without judgment.
See Justin's LinkedIN blog post here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6732603742996299776/ and follow him on LinkedIN for more information about #talkaboutblack and the 10,000 Black Interns campaign that he supports (https://www.10000blackinterns.com/).
This podcast was supported by Alvine Capital, a specialist investment advisor and placement boutique, based in London, and the Guild of Investment Managers, which was found in 2015 by a group of investment managers, to combine the benefits of a modern, diverse and dynamic network organization with the traditions of the livery world.
Our conversation starts with Justin's upbringing in Manchester, and some of the challenges that came with it, and then moves to how he became interested in the actuarial profession and ultimately the world of investing. We discuss his recent blog post on LinkedIN called “where do we go from here?” which describes the early age he became aware of racism, learning how to code switch as early as primary school and micro-aggressions that he experienced throughout his career. We explore all of these in more detail, examining what it is to truly feel like you belong, and how firms can create a better sense of inclusion for all of their employees. Justin discusses his passion for mentorship and the circles that he coaches, which enable younger career entrants to develop and ultimately thrive.
Justin was pivotal in the recent #talkaboutblack campaign and speaks about what that means, and why it is important to be colour brave instead of colour blind, and to work to improve race fluency. His prescription for this is grounded in empathy, and in creating psychological safety for all colleagues to make mistakes without judgment.
See Justin's LinkedIN blog post here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6732603742996299776/ and follow him on LinkedIN for more information about #talkaboutblack and the 10,000 Black Interns campaign that he supports (https://www.10000blackinterns.com/).
This podcast was supported by Alvine Capital, a specialist investment advisor and placement boutique, based in London, and the Guild of Investment Managers, which was found in 2015 by a group of investment managers, to combine the benefits of a modern, diverse and dynamic network organization with the traditions of the livery world.