Money Maze Podcast

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn The Money Maze Podcast this week is re-uploading our episode with Sir Xavier Rolet, due to the topics covered last week with Sir Chris Hohn, who invested in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) when Mr Rolet led the firm's transformation (find out more about this episode here).  Rolet talks in-depth about the reorientation he undertook whilst CEO of the London Stock Exchange and the succession of transformatory deals which he engineered, propelling the value of the company from under £1 billion to £14 billion in just 9 years. He goes into a detailed explanation of why “the only asset that creates wealth is equities”, why boardrooms are filled with people ill-versed in technology and innovation, and why France along with other European countries have failed to grasp the opportunity to develop the Googles and Amazons of Europe.  He then discusses why London has a good chance of retaining its pre-eminence as a financial centre, notwithstanding Brexit, because of its global reach in multiple areas of finance. Originally recorded in October 2020.

Sir Chris Hohn, a billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, talks about his upbringing, journey in investing, and the creation of 'Say on Climate' campaign to address corporate accountability for emissions. He discusses the impact of climate change on poverty, child destitution, and planet destruction, urging companies to take action and disclose climate transition plans for a sustainable future.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn Our guest today is Anne Richards, CEO of Fidelity International, who offer investment solutions, investment services and retirement expertise to more than 2.5 million customers globally. As a privately held, purpose-driven company with a 50-year heritage, they think generationally and invest for the long term. Fidelity International operates in more than 25 countries and with $706.3 billion in total assets, their clients range from central banks, sovereign wealth funds, large corporates, financial institutions, insurers and wealth managers, to private individuals. Anne describes her upbringing in Edinburgh, the decision to study electronic and electrical engineering, spending time at CERN, before going to INSEAD for an MBA. She describes the purpose of Fidelity International and the changing demands of the investing population. Anne discusses the ability of technology to serve clients (of whom they have 2.5 million!), as well as developing a culture that embraces and encourages the “brave/bold/curious/compassionate”.  Anne explains how ESG principles are embedded into all their research work and why their approach to ESG does not necessarily mean divestment is the optimal course. She talks about the decline of public market listings, the importance of research in public and private investing and giving their managers enough room for manoeuvre. Finally, she talks about her drive and hunger to have more women work in finance and gives great advice to “worry less” for those thinking about their careers.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn   Simon Hallett, former CIO of the $80 billion Asset manager, Harding Loevner, describes his journey from Plymouth, England, to Oxford University and then to Finance. Starting at Midland Bank, Simon moves to Jardine Fleming in Hong Kong, and he describes an amateurish investing world that was transforming, and his decision to swap continents and join Harding Loevner, then a start-up in 1989. Harding Loevner’s impressive 30 year track record in managing global equities is examined, with a discussion that covers behavioural biases, the need to restrict portfolio managers’ freedom, to the increasing reliance on quantitative disciplines to enhance the investment process. He describes the challenge of staying with winners and the difficulties of dealing with losing companies, in a portfolio context, and what happens when a firm’s assets halve three times in 30 years during bear markets and the challenge of swimming against the current. He explains why top-down thinking should be strictly limited in building an equity portfolio, why their firm has only 2 Bloomberg terminals and stock-price watching is actively discouraged. He also discusses the merits of being partially owned by Affiliated managers Group, AMG.  He then explains his decision to buy Plymouth Argyle Football club – heart over logic, possibly, but why the management of a football team and player selections have more in common with selecting stocks than you might think. Finally he gives some great advice to “keep your nose clean” and “ stay the course” – applicable for both football and investing.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn In this Money Maze Podcast edition, we travel north east from the UK, beyond Norwich, and further than Hamburg, to a country of less than 6mm people, a country which has the oldest national flag, dating from 1219, and is consistently reported as having the world’s happiest people. Home to Lego and with some of the nicest people in the world, it’s Denmark of course. The guest on this podcast is a veritable Viking of the investment management industry, Bo Almar Knudsen, CEO of C Worldwide, formerly known as Carnegie. Bo starts by describing a little of it how it feels to be Danish, and of the respect and trust Danes have for their institutions. He speaks of their intrigue with travel beyond their borders which has been demonstrated with Danes travelling and settling around the world over the centuries, and in some ways mirrored in the global portfolio C Worldwide has managed for 30 years. Bo describes his decision to study in San Francisco as well as Denmark, then starting out at Danske Bank before beginning his own journey at Carnegie Asset Management in 1995. Today, his firm manage nearly $20 billion, and have achieved world class investment returns in their core equity portfolio which has made 60x an investor’s initial investment, outperforming the world equity index by 10 times! Bo details their investment approach, the very long term perspective they adopt, and speaks about the challenge of building a culture that encourages open dialogue and recognition of mistakes, but also of avoiding complacency and being patient. He makes an unusual point that the investment industry is one of the great time-wasters, whilst at the same time the challenge is to gain “lasting knowledge” and not be distracted by daily noise. Finally, as one of Denmark’s top veteran tennis players, he shares life lessons he has learnt from studying Roger Federer, why his favourite book is Sapiens by Harari, and his favourite band unexpectedly, is Depeche Mode. So - back to the 80s! To celebrate our upcoming episode with Simon Hallett (Former CIO of Harding Loevner), we are re-releasing our insightful chat with Bo Knudsen. Stay tuned for plenty more inspiring interviews!

Tilly Franklin, Chief Investment Officer at Cambridge University Endowment, shares her impressive journey from top institutions like McKinsey and Harvard to shaping one of the world's oldest endowments. She discusses the endowment's ambitious inflation plus 5% target and its significant £1 billion disbursements. Tilly also delves into the growing emphasis on private equity and sustainable investments while addressing student demands for policy changes. Plus, she highlights her charity, GAIN, GIRLS ARE INVESTORS, promoting women's empowerment in finance.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn It’s difficult enough to train to become a Doctor and then practice in some emerging countries with fragile health systems like Papua New Guinea. But then to switch tack completely, give all that up, win a place at Harvard Business School and join Goldman Sachs in asset management before going on to launch your own fund in emerging markets, may be considered brilliance or heresy, particularly when you come from Germany, a country that reveres technical expertise and is less enthusiastic about the merits of finance. So in this conversation I am delighted to unravel an unconventional journey and welcome Dr Christina McGuire, CEO of Elephant Asset Management as our guest. We discuss her upbringing and German attitudes to finance, before touching upon her medical journey, her decision to go to Harvard Business school and then join Goldman Sachs. She discusses working and investing in China, the skills taught and culture encouraged at Goldmans, before she explains her decision to go it alone. She describes the investment approach of her firm Elephant Asset Management, where she manages a concentrated, stock-specific, emerging market equity fund. She explains her philosophy and style, detailing geographic, sectoral and company disciplines as well as the significant opportunities created by the post-Covid world for her domestically-focused companies. She describes the due diligence process, the need to eye ball CEO and CFOs and why she believes company visits and sitting in the staff canteen of investing companies are great ways to gauge culture, and sense the mood. Christina also explains why the S&G in ESG are significantly more measurable in the countries in which she invests. Finally Christina talks about how women should really think about asset management as a career, and offers some other great advice for young people thinking about their futures. To celebrate our upcoming episode with Tilly Franklin, CIO of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund, we are re-releasing some past interviews with other inspiring women in finance. In this episode, Simon spoke to Dr. Christina McGuire, who discusses her extraordinary journey from working as a doctor in low income countries to becoming an emerging market equity fund manager.  Are you a young woman looking to break into the investment industry? Discover free resources, news, events and support at www.gainuk.org. To learn more about the charity, listen to our new episode with Tilly Franklin, who co-founded the organisation (alongside running the endowment fund of one of the world's most renowned universities!). The full interview is out tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn Helen Watson describes her untypical journey into finance. After attending multiple schools and then being advised to go to secretarial college, Helen finds a job in finance in Gibraltar before moving and being hired by Morgan Stanley in London. From there, starting as a sales assistant, she overcomes initial resistance to win a place on the Morgan Stanley graduate training programme and becomes a broker. She describes the “terrifying” experience of beginning to call clients, and her subsequent route to become the first female Managing Director in their Private Wealth Division in Europe. Her journey then takes her to Rothschild & Co’s Wealth Management business, where she rises to become CEO, a Partner and member of their Group Executive Committee. She talks about the consistent problem of wealthy families losing their wealth within two generations, the underlying causes, and suggestions to overcome this including; candour, communication, clearer planning, good partners and a dose of discipline in staying the course! She discusses the Rothschild & Co investment approach, the importance of preserving real purchasing power, setting the right benchmarks and expectations, as well as managing difficult market episodes. Finally, Helen offers some invaluable insights for women in the work place, advice for progressing, encouraging cognitive diversity in the hiring process and why portfolio and wealth management are well suited for women. Finally, she discusses the relevant topic of the cost/benefit of attending university and why it may be becoming a less inevitable path than has traditionally been thought. To celebrate our upcoming episode with Tilly Franklin, CIO of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund, we are re-releasing some past interviews with other inspiring women in finance.  In this episode, Simon enjoyed an enlightening discussion with Helen Watson, CEO of Rothschild & Co., Wealth Management (UK), who describes her untypical journey into finance.  Are you a young woman looking to break into the investment industry? Discover free resources, news, events and support at www.gainuk.org. To learn more about the charity, listen to our new episode with Tilly Franklin, who co-founded the organisation (alongside running the endowment fund of one of the world's most renowned universities!). The full interview is out tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn Today’s episode comes from Madrid - Europe’s 3rd biggest city and the highest European capital, and with a different tack for the Money Maze Podcast we are going to explore the changing landscape of education and it ability to better arm you to get ahead in the evolving commercial world. We welcome Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University which is increasingly recognised both for its campus-based, and on-line MBA, as well as its wider educational programmes. He is one of 500 Global LinkedIn influencers and has been portrayed by the Financial Times as “one of the most significant figures in promoting European business schools internationally”. Santiago talks about IE Business School, why its online MBAs have been ranked no 1 in the world by the FT & Economist for 3 consecutive years and why it is now one of the top 10 business schools globally. It is also scores amongst the highest for both the post MBA salaries and  employability its graduates achieve. Santiago talks about IE’s origins, evolution and ambitions, its WOW learning room and why it was so early in the provision of online education. He talks about the merits of a hybrid campus/online approach to learning and why education is now more important than ever before. The conversation moves to teaching leadership, and the problem with the old understanding of what constituted “leadership”. Then the discussion moves on to the need to re-learn continuously given lengthening life-expectations and likely multiple careers. Finally he finishes with some great advice about how Universities need to rethink their model to attract older students, and some of the compelling attractions of studying in Spain.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn Maarten Slendebroek is currently Chairman of Robeco’s Supervisory Board, the Dutch investment powerhouse, former CEO of Jupiter PLC , and prior to that, member of Blackrock’s global operating committee. Maarten describes his Dutch/Swedish upbringing, studying Law at the University of Leiden, and from there to finance, beginning as an equity analyst at the emergence of individual European company research. He describes his journey through Merrill Lynch and then Blackrock. Then, in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Financial Crisis how he responded to Larry Fink’s request that he drive Blackrock’s Aladdin platform, initially in conjunction with the UK Treasury, to help analyse pools of complex debt securities. This proved invaluable to Blackrock’s subsequent growth given the troubled asset portfolios held at UK and European Financial Institutions which in many cases were too complex to unravel by the existing management teams. Maarten describes his decision later to go to Jupiter where he became CEO and discusses the challenge of scale and specialisation in asset management. He analyses what is needed to be successful in this rapidly-evolving industry, and the challenge of being a listed asset management company in a market place where investors crave growth. He then moves to Robeco, where he is currently Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Robeco, “the investment engineers”, has existed for nearly 100 years but now is a leader in active investing underpinned by an early and profound embedding of ESG and sustainable principles into their process. Maarten describes the active v passive, quant v orthodox and growth v value debates. The conversation drills down into factor investing and why Robeco has been recognised by peers and institutions such as Morningstar as an early mover and leader in ESG. Maarten then talks about the post-Brexit Landscape for UK financial services, Europe’s path to Federalism and where he has been investing his own personal money, including a discussion on the UK Value opportunity. He then talks about Mintus, a Fintech venture he is invested in, which is seeking to create exchange-based liquidity allowing for fractional ownership, from real-estate to oil rigs to vineyards. Finally Maarten gives some powerful insights from his experiences, set-backs, those who inspired him, through to advice for young people, the wines he loves and the two people he would chose to spend a day skiing with.