Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders Ed Garden, Founder, Garden Investments (Part 2 of 2) – Boardroom Brilliance: Investing in the Future
It's a huge treat to get the behind-the-scenes stories of the crucial transitions and incredible growth of some of the most iconic companies in the world. And that's why our guest today needed a two-part episode.
Last week we shared the first half of my conversation with Ed Garden, Founder of Trian Fund Management and most recently, Garden Investments. Ed was Chief Investment Officer at Trian until May of 2023, and oversaw the company's portfolio management, idea generation, and due diligence activities. He presently serves as a senior advisor.
Ed has extensive experience engaging with public company management teams and boards and currently serves on the board of General Electric. He previously served on the boards of Bank of New York Mellon, Family Dollar Stores, Invesco Janice Henderson Group, Pentair, The Wendy's Company and Triarc Companies earlier in his career. Ed worked at Credit Suisse First Boston as an investment banker and BT Alex Brown, where he was co-head of Equity Capital Markets. Ed has a BA in Economics from Harvard.
In Part One of our interview, Ed told us how he broke into the investment world, and also shared Trian's origin story. In Part Two, we dive into Garden Investments, as well as Ed's work on various boards, including how he overcame some major challenges at General Electric.
Highlights:
- Ed's approach to first investments (2:25)
- Reinventing businesses, and Ed's experience on boards, specifically General Electric (5:18)
- Lessons Ed learned from fellow board members (10:15)
- How Ed approaches executive compensation as a board member (14:12)
- Ed's input on the current market and macro environment (16:29)
- Garden Investments' outlook and mission (18:46)
- Investors that inspired and mentored Ed (21:30)
- Garden Investments' values (22:46)
Links:
Trian Fund Management on LinkedIn
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.