The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Cary Carbonaro, is an award-winning financial advisor, a women and wealth expert and a CFP board ambassador. She is currently senior vice president of Advisors Capital, where she was noted in the 2024 NASDAQ Advisor Council and as a Top Advisor in 2023 Investopedia. In this first of two dynamic podcasts featuring leading female voices in financial planning today – the other is Marguerita Cheng - to be released later in the series -  we discuss the various stages of Cary’s career, which had some setbacks in that for a period she was forced to be less visible and less forward with her own identity and voice. She is now rebuilding this as she moves again into her own practice, and we discuss the book she is writing and publishing soon designed around women and investing and motivated to plug the gap in this area.  This episode is supported by PIMCO, a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. PIMCO invests their clients’ capital in income and credit opportunities that span the liquidity spectrum, leveraging their decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Their flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped them become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and alternative investment solutions and a valued financing partner. Visit pimco.com to learn more. PIMCO as a general matter provides services to qualified institutions, financial intermediaries and institutional investors. Individual investors should contact their own financial professional to determine the most appropriate investment options for their financial situation. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America LLC in the United States and throughout the world. 

Kristina Blaschek, is Director of Business and Technology within the Investment Management division of William Blair, based in Chicago. She started her career in investment banking, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Auditorium Theatre.  Kristina starts our conversation describing her education and what drew her to the world of finance. We hear about her early career pivots and how she was handpicked to lead the Business and Technology function and how she grew in to this new role. We share a vignette about the leadership at William Blair – in particular Stephanie Braming – who featured in an earlier podcast in this series in March 2022 - see https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/129-stephanie-braming-of-william-blair-on-critical-thinking-and-transforming-recruitment/ and the power of engaged and generous leadership and what a gift this can be. We turn then to discussing the challenges of technology today – touching on AI and how this will transform our industry as well as the priorities on her mind in this role.  We end with a reflection on D&I, as well as on the values that have driven Kristina to always be learning and growing throughout her career.  This episode is supported by PIMCO, a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. PIMCO invests their clients’ capital in income and credit opportunities that span the liquidity spectrum, leveraging their decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Their flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped them become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and alternative investment solutions and a valued financing partner. Visit pimco.com to learn more.PIMCO as a general matter provides services to qualified institutions, financial intermediaries and institutional investors. Individual investors should contact their own financial professional to determine the most appropriate investment options for their financial situation. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America LLC in the United States and throughout the world.

Keri Findley is Chief Executive Officer of Tacora Capital, which focuses on Asset-Based Private Credit Opportunities in Specialty Finance and Insurance.  She was previously a partner at Third PointOur conversation starts with her childhood and in particular her high school years, when Keri spent up to 40 hours per week practicing figure skating alongside academic commitments.  With a strong aptitude for math but not some of the other subjects she was not an obvious candidate for attending Columbia, but thrived once she arrived there and found herself drawn to finance. While her figure skating was replaced by ski racing, she pivoted to finding a career on the shop floor of an investment house. Having started in a sales role that probably was not the best fit, we hear about her retooling and pivot into more investment centric roles and hear about some of the role models who led and inspired her during this time.  She ultimately grew numerous private credit businesses within other hedge funds before developing her own fund, and we discuss this trajectory and some of its ups and downs. Keri is firmly at the coal face in private credit and I ask her about some of the dynamics going on behind the scenes there such as actual defaults and workouts, and we learn a lot that may not make the headlines.Finally we hear about the utmost importance of networking, particularly for women in the profession and we hear about how Keri has personally helped many women to find positions. This episode is supported by PIMCO, a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. PIMCO invests their clients’ capital in income and credit opportunities that span the liquidity spectrum, leveraging their decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Their flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped them become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and alternative investment solutions and a valued financing partner. Visit pimco.com to learn more.PIMCO as a general matter provides services to qualified institutions, financial intermediaries and institutional investors. Individual investors should contact their own financial professional to determine the most appropriate investment options for their financial situation. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America LLC in the United States and throughout the world.

As we enter high summer here we come with some summer bounty here at Fiftyfaces Podcast as we launch Series 4 that is bursting with wisdom and insights. Because life is not linear, these stories are not linear either – and they stress the power of the individual. Hear from an introvert who found her calling in connecting with people in private wealth, a pensions expert whose entire career has been driven my members first, a legendary business builder and a private credit expert forging her own path. We start with asking about the arc of the investment world, then look to the evolution of private wealth and what matters, we talk about the development of institutional portfolios and how our work is changing, even though certain areas remain overlooked. Guest descriptions: Keri Findley, who is Chief Executive Officer of Tacora Capital, which focuses on Asset-Based Private Credit Opportunities in Specialty Finance and Insurance.  She was previously a partner at Third Point. Tony Dote, who just recently retired from a role of Managing Director at Lazard Asset Management, where he spent over 40 years. He started his career in insurance and then investment consulting. Jai Jacob, who recently ended a 25+ year career at Lazard Asset Management where he headed up the Quantitative, Alternatives and Multi-Asset Investment Group which oversaw c. $35 bn in AUM.  Penny Green who is finally retiring from the investment industry at the end of the month following an over 30-year career.   Jennifer Devine, who is Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, and a thought leader in the field of sustainable investing. Kristina Blaschek, who is Director of Business and Technology within the Investment Management division of William Blair, based in Chicago. She started her career in investment banking, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Auditorium Theatre. Jessica Karr, who is the founder and managing director of Coyote Ventures, an investment firm that focuses on backing founders who are solving problems that disproportionately affect overlooked populations with a foundation in women's health.  Ghiané Jones, who is Deputy CIO at the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, where she is based in their Chicago office. She previously was Managping Principal at Meketa Investment Group, a role she held for over 6 years, and prior to that worked in a range of financial services roles including in institutional ETF Sales at Invesco and Northern Trust, and as a Regional Consultant at Goldman Sachs. Marguerita Cheng, is CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, based in the Washington DC area, as well as being a Founding Member of Kiplinger Advisor Collective and The Authentic Asian. A keen runner, she was co-founder of 261 Fearless Incl, a global non-profit organization that uses running as a vehicle to empower and unit women, as well as Girls on the Run, where she is a Soulmate. She is a podcast host – of Margaritas with Rita, where she shares financial literacy and financial planning advice. Cary Carbonaro, who is an award-winning financial advisor, a women and wealth expert and a CFP board ambassador. She is currently senior vice president of Advisors Capital, where she was noted in the 2024 NASDAQ Advisor Council and as a Top Advisor in 2023 Investopedia. 

Kurt Summers is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Public-Private Partnerships inBlackstone’s Infrastructure Group. In this capacity, Mr. Summers is responsible forinvestment strategies in partnership with governments, public entities, civic and labororganizations, and broader stakeholders to help advance local infrastructure prioritiesand he also advances Blackstone Infrastructure’s ESG efforts. Mr. Summers waselected and served as Chicago’s 70th City Treasurer until 2019. Mr. Summers alsoserved as both Chairman of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, where he led the largestlighting retrofit project in North America, and Chairman of the Chicago CommunityCatalyst Fund, a first-of-its-kind $100 million local investment fund focused on privateinvestments in Chicago neighborhoods..Kurt’s chapters of public service are numerous and varied, and we chart these from start tofinish. We hear about the extraordinary responsibility that came with some of the roles, thenumbers of employees within the coverage areas and the budget at stake. This sparks adiscussion of the difference between public and private sector careers, and the kind ofexperience that the former can provide, mainly due to the fact that some responsibility can comeearly in one’s career.We move then to discuss infrastructure and the public/private partnership opportunity anddiscuss some of the particular transactions that make sense as well as the impact that theseprojects can have.Series 3 of 2024 is supported by Ruffer and Nuveen. Ruffer is a London based asset manager -founded in 1994 - managing over $25 billion for institutions, pension funds, charities andindividuals. They have a single investment approach that aims to deliver positive returns acrossthe full range of market conditions.  Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125years. With expertise across income and alternatives, Nuveen continues to expand itscapabilities while maintaining its legacy as a leading investment manager. Visit Nuveen.comto learn more. Investing involves risk; loss of principal is possible.

Kevin Leonard is Partner and Practice Group Director – Public Funds and Taft Hartley at NEPC. He has had a long career in consulting and started his career as an accountant.Kevin has had a career of over 30 years in investment consulting, and it had a somewhat “accidental” start – being driven more by location and convenience than a calling.  Things quickly shifted however, and Kevin found that working with public funds where the possibility to add value and have impact was high and the touchpoints with investment committees and Boards frequent and satisfying.We move then to discuss some of the challenges facing public funds more broadly and the mélange of policy issues, economic challenges and resource constraints that create a unique workload for the investment consultants serving this segment.  Staying with policy we discuss the relevance of ESG and D&I issues for this client segment and how investment consultants are staying ahead of the curve to ensure that this mission can be fulfilled. Series 3 of 2024 is supported by Ruffer and Nuveen. Ruffer is a London based asset manager - founded in 1994 - managing over $25 billion for institutions, pension funds, charities and individuals. They have a single investment approach that aims to deliver positive returns across the full range of market conditions.  Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125 years. With expertise across income and alternatives, Nuveen continues to expand its capabilities while maintaining its legacy as a leading investment manager. Visit Nuveen.com to learn more. Investing involves risk; loss of principal is possible.

David Golub is President at Golub Capital, a direct lender and credit manager established in 1994, and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. As the son of a psychiatrist and psychologist, a path into finance was originally a divergent path, and a somewhat non-linear one at that.As we chart the course of David’s career we chart the arc of Golub Capital’s at the same time – discussing the origins of the concept of a private lending firm and how it had its roots in private equity.  Designed to solve a problem, offer certainty of execution and built on a network of relationships we hear how a lot of hard work – and a little bit of luck – lead to the positioning that they enjoy today.We move then to discuss the nature of the private credit market and how it has evolved over the course of Golub’s history.  We examine its significantly enhanced breadth and sophistication today.One of David’s key personal interests is in culture and we speak in particular about the role that culture plays at Golub.  The firm dedicates significant resources to training, coaching and creating a sense of belonging for its team members. We speak about the role of feedback and accountability as well as the way that junior professionals are mentored and learn how to take risk.  Finally we discuss the role of worrying and how for a credit investor it seems to go with the territory. Series 3 of 2024 is supported by Ruffer and Nuveen. Ruffer is a London based asset manager - founded in 1994 - managing over $25 billion for institutions, pension funds, charities and individuals. They have a single investment approach that aims to deliver positive returns across the full range of market conditions.  Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125 years. With expertise across income and alternatives, Nuveen continues to expand its capabilities while maintaining its legacy as a leading investment manager. Visit Nuveen.com to learn more. Investing involves risk; loss of principal is possible.  

Derek Walker from CPP Investments discusses his unconventional career path from technology to finance. Topics include Total Fund Investing, organization size impact on decision-making, factor-first approach to portfolio construction, and the mission-driven motivation at CPP serving beneficiaries and contributors.

Anna McDonald has a dual role at Moneta, a St. Louis based RIA with over $32 billion in assets under management. She supports athletes in all aspects of their financial lives, preparing them for sustained success beyond their athletic careers. She knows this segment well as she previously spent six years as an ESPN reporter, covering Major League Baseball and the National Football League. During this time she was a spokesperson around health and safety concerns of the NFL.  In addition to her work with athletes, she also serves as Moneta’s Director of Family Learning. In this capacity, she works at the net as client facing teams to facilitate learning programs for families to transfer wealth to younger generations.Having bridged both journalism and financial advice, we start with the mysterious world of professional sports and reporting on them.  Anna describes how she won the trust of athletes, getting them to open up to her as a reporter, and discusses how meeting them at their level of discussion in terms of technical knowledge was the key to rising above some of the “fluff” in sports coverage.  She translated this counseling and advisory capacity into a broader desire to work with athletes to plan their lives beyond their financial careers and her role at Moneta was born.The profile of professional athletes is unique in terms of earning – and can resemble the inverse of a J curve – in that earnings can be front end loaded but can taper off once a career recedes or retirement occurs.  This underscores the importance of planning, budgeting and preparing for a career beyond elite sports, and we discuss the educational and practical components of this.Series 3 of 2024 is supported by Ruffer and Nuveen. Ruffer is a London based asset manager - founded in 1994 - managing over $25 billion for institutions, pension funds, charities and individuals. They have a single investment approach that aims to deliver positive returns across the full range of market conditions.  Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125 years. With expertise across income and alternatives, Nuveen continues to expand its capabilities while maintaining its legacy as a leading investment manager. Visit Nuveen.com to learn more. Investing involves risk; loss of principal is possible.

Nicci Take featured in our first Pride series in 2021 and shared her story as a prominent transgender advocate, inspirational speaker and coach.  We have watched Nicci’s presence grow and thrive over the past 3 years, she posts frequent inspirational content on Linked IN and we we wanted to ask her back onto the podcast to share some of that wisdom  - particularly as we get ready to launch our pride series of 2024 in coming weeks. Now global head coach at MMC Marsh McLennan, Nicci works with teams to help the company secure more deals.  We speak about the dynamics of being memorable in these presentations, and how prioritizing the needs of the audience is paramount.  We discuss the poor retention levels of audiences, citing the Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting and the staggering amount of information that is forgotten as time passes from the date of acquiring it.  This reinforces the importance of repetition and follow up.  Nicci cites the “day, week, month” mantra for follow up, which sets the cadence for interactions after the initial meeting, and a host of other tips for making presentations memorable, including that it really is not about the presenter.