The Fiftyfaces Podcast

We have brought you this story to showcase an extraordinary physical challenge - the world's toughest row - that one of our own - investment manager Laura Langton - is about to embark upon. We examine what motivates a person to take on something so extreme and so obviously strenuous and physically taxing. We look at the preparation and mental journey that is involved, and ask what it teaches her and how she brings these learnings into the workplace. Laura Langton an investment manager at JM Finn. She was previously involved in developing partnerships and revenue streams in financial services. Our conversation starts with her very sporty upbringing in the idyllic Cotswolds. Her mother was a jockey and Laura found rowing had its own rich history within her family. We move then to her professional journey to her experience with financial services and how she found herself growing into an advisor role. We discuss what is on clients minds today and how the nature of the financial advisory business is evolving. Finally we get to the topic of the upcoming row - with Laura and her 3 teammates in an all women team poised to start in December. The row is a 3000 mile unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Antigua. It involves rowing in 2 hour shifts (2 hours on/2 hours off) on a 24 hour basis in what is technically a race. Naturally I wanted to dive in to the preparation required for something so extraordinary. We looked at the importance of training for adversity - harrowing adversity - and how team dynamics evolve. The psychological journey has already started for Laura and her team, and we discuss what she has learned so far. You can read more about Laura's race here: https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/the-atlantic/2023-race-entrants/ Her sponsors are and if her sponsorship page is here: https://www.teamaceofblades.com/charities Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series – provided by Julia Kwamya – is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Julia Kwamya is an associate at Tikehau Capital, the global alternative asset manager, where she is based in NYC.  She has trained as an actor, musician and voiceover artist and has released her first album “Feel Good about Feeling Bad”.  We are featuring songs from this album on this entire Series 5 of 2023.  She has been Creator in Residence at Kickstarter, as well as a casting assistant among other roles in the entertainment industry.  She studied economics at Pepperdine University. We start with discussing her upbringing, her Ghanaian/Ugandan heritage and the early interest she developed in the arts as a child. We trace this then into her choice of college major and into her early career which saw her rotate through various creative roles. This was abruptly ended by a tragic set-back which saw her forced into a period of medical rehabilitation and overcoming paralysis, and ultimately led to a pivot into a different career path, which saw her move into alternative asset management. Now a business development professional, we discuss how her training in the arts prepared her for this role and reflect on the role of music as the soundtrack of our lives. Ultimately it all comes down to "attitude, belief and determination". Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series – provided by Julia Kwamya – is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Ben Phillips is Head of Asset Management Global Advisory Services at Broadridge Financial Solutions, based in New York, He has had a long background in consulting at firms such as Casey, Quirk, Deloitte and Cerulli Associates and has focused for much of his career on the dynamics and evolution of the asset management industry. I asked Ben here to let us look over his shoulder into his crystal ball to chart the future course of the asset management industry. First Ben draws on the experience of his career in asset management consulting which has spanned over a quarter century. We look at factors such as the: ·   Growing demand for customization of product ·   Generational changes and how this affects client demand ·   What role “mission or purpose” plays in this evolution of demand and what this means for sustainable investment solutions. ·   The evolution of Mutual Funds ·   The key role of data and data-driven approaches in the evolution of the industry. ·  What role AI will play and whether we will see the birth of the new, more intelligent robo-advisor? We look then at the evolution of asset management as a service industry rather than simply as a provider of product, and look at the importance of a dynamic client development function. Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series – provided by Julia Kwamya – is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Melanie Pickett is Executive VP and Head of Asset Owners, Americas at Northern Trust, based in the Chicago area.  She oversees the Alternative Asset Servicing Group and directs the firm’s strategy , growth and delivery of all firmwide products for asset owners and allocators in the America’s region. She was named 2021 Top 40 Women in Fintech and the 2021 Global Banking & Finance US Business Woman of the Year. She previously was Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Emory Investment Management at Emory University and prior to that spent over 10 years at Morgan Stanley.  After we trace her path into her current role, we dive in to how the function of an alternative asset servicing group is changing to meet shifting client demand as well as to cater to new product types. We look at the emergence of human centered design and the impact of AI and machine learning and then turn to the rising volume of ESG related data and its accuracy and comprehensiveness.  This leads us to diversity, and we refer back to Melanie’s long career to look at the improvement metrics around diversity in financial services, and we reflect on some of the supports that have made a positive difference in mentoring and leadership.  Staying on the topic of leadership and managing teams, Melanie refers to the adage of A players hiring As, and B players hiring Cs, we look at the formative phase that the early years in financial services can be, and overall study the impact of a very strong team and how leading one can be a high point of one’s career.   Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series – provided by Julia Kwamya – is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Francois Bourdon is Managing Partner of Nordis Capital, based in Montreal. He is also Managing Partner in Sustainable Market Strategies, an independent investment strategy research service tracking global developments in ESG/impact-investing worldwide.  He was formerly Chief Investment Officer at Fiera Capital.   Our conversation starts with Francois's life long obsession with data and statistics, and how this ultimately led him to a life in numbers. We cycle through his investment career and what it was that led to his pivot to sustainable investing, strategy and research. Given the breadth of topics that Nordis and Sustainable Investing Strategies cover we cover a range of topics here in term including ·      Impact investing ·      Net zero targets ·      Sustainability standards ·      Global divergence and the backlash against ESG ·      How will engagement evolve and what will it look like in the future?  ·      How will investment strategies adapt as the backdrop changes We speak about inequality and how its persistence will likely affect how we live, vote and invest and about some of the books and thinkers who have inspired Francois over the years. Some of the books mentioned by Francois are: Neil Howe and William Strauss : The Fourth Turning Neil Howe : The Fourth Turning is Here Peter Turchin : End Times …. Didier Sornette : Why Markets Crash Michael Lewis : Moneyball You can find the Future Positive Investor newsletter here: https://futurepositiveinvestor.substack.com/ Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series - provided by Julia Kwamya - is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Paula Horn is Chief Investment Officer of the public securities group of Brookfield Asset Management. She has had an extensive career in investing, which has spanned investment grade credit, credit derivatives and other public investing. She holds a number of investment committee and Trustee roles. Our conversation starts with her upbringing in an Italian American family in the suburbs of Boston, where she was the first member of her family to graduate with a four year undergraduate degree, during which she spent time studying in Russia. Graduating into a recessionary environment led her to a consulting career, which took her to Bermuda and ultimately - via a circuitous route - to investing, and credit in particular. As she moved through various kinds of entities, including some start-ups and witnessed some mergers she became adaptive, flexible, and ultimately resilient to set-backs and the need to pivot to where opportunity lies. We translate these skills now into her role at the helm (CIO) of the public securities group at Brookfield and examine the kinds of products now on the horizon, how client demand is evolving and how the sector is likely to look in years to come, including its likelihood of further adaptation to meet the sustainability agenda. Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series - provided by Julia Kwamya - is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Debbie Fielder is deputy head of Clwyd Pension Fund at Flintshire County Council, where she has spent over 27 years. She is a leading voice on the LGPS investment circuit having been an early adopter of broad diversification and a founding member of the Welsh Pensions Partnership. Our conversation traces her start in local government and finance functions and how this led to a role in pensions.  We speak about her early mentors and the process and advice that led to Flintshire being an early adopter in many alternative asset classes.  Debbie did not realize at the time that this aspect of the approach taken in Flintshire was somewhat unusual among LGPS peers and her experience in this area led to her being a unintended thought leader in this respect. We speak about the pooling process then and the launch of the Welsh Pensions Partnership and the vision for LGPS pooling and how it may enable scalable local investment in Wales.  This is another one of Debbie’s passions and we discuss this in some detail.  This podcast is part of a collaboration with Crispin Derby Limited.  Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series - provided by Julia Kwamya - is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

It is our last official series of The Fiftyfaces Podcast for 2023 but we have a ton of actionable content for you for the rest of the year. In Series 5 we are looking around the corner at the future of AI, and how it will enable us to go back to the future.  We will look at what lies ahead for digital health and how better inclusion, particularly of people with disabilities, empowers all employees.  With this central focus on the future, we examine the future of sustainable investing and whether it will focus on “flashy” engagement and at how asset management is evolving into a service business from a product business. We hear from a Corporate Responsibility Officer about the advances her company is making around disability, a thought leader in the public pensions space, a legendary leader who has built world class operations business and an investment professional who used to be an actor, singer and voice-over artist. A long-time credit expert walks us through her career while a financial planner tells us about the race of her life – to be tackled later this year. Find out why Attitude, Belief and Determination are what it all comes down to.Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series - provided by Julia Kwamya - is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

Claudia Buffini is Corporate Responsibility Advisor to the Chief of Staff at Schroders. In this role she supports Schroders on delivering its purpose –whilst being a sustainable business, addressing The Sustainable Development Goal 10, ‘Promoting Equalities’. She previously worked as a communications consultant in the branding industry to help companies articulate their values and purpose to both internal and external stakeholders. Her prior roles include a royal charity, a global workforce operating in an Iraqi oil field and a branding agency. Our conversation starts with Claudia’s childhood, and she describes how it was discovered that she was deaf and the interventions that were made to her schooling to ensure that she could thrive. We speak about why these interventions are not better generalized and discuss the importance of expectations and how the “soft bigotry of low expectations” can stymie development and career progression. Shifting then to career progression, Claudia discusses the path to her role at Schroders and the interventions in the workplace that can improve inclusion for all.  We extend the conversation then into her extra-curricular activities – her volunteering and affinity groups and the impact that she enjoys from them. Series 5 of 2023 is sponsored by With Intelligence, which connects investors and managers to the right people and data to raise and allocate assets effectively. The music in this podcast series - provided by Julia Kwamya - is available on her album on Spotify: Feel Good about Feeling Bad https://open.spotify.com/album/7lTQWSHeaVo3xHuF9q8ilv?si=uvGJZX7FQ9-2wX-0e951ZA&nd=1

As a special treat in the run up to the release of Series 5 we are delighted to bring you this additional conversation with Dr. David Kelly, Chief Global Strategist of J P Morgan Asset Management. Our conversation is filled with Dr. Kelly's trademark turns of phrase and is a relatable tour through market dynamics. We start by asking why so many market pundits got the recent market strength wrong and were premature in predicting a recession in 2023. We examine whether some of the older and traditional market indicators are still fit for purpose and ask what to use in replacement. In analyzing the shape of inflation trends he invokes the shape of the Eiffel Tower - steep inclines followed by a symmetrically steep decline on the opposite side of the peak, and think about the future path for inflation. Moving then to interest rates we interrogate the "higher for longer" narrative and whether it can stand, and look at the likely path of interest rates, with a sidebar of a discussion around the likely shape of any coming distressed cycle and what central banks are really good at doing. We move then to the the hot topic of AI, ask whether it is a hype cycle and whether AI is one of those things that really will change our lives. This takes us to compare the US market to China, India and other markets and we look at whether a diversified approach to equity investing is supportable today. We end on an intriguing discussion of the role that low interest rates have played in rising wealth inequality and how these disparities both get to the underlying distress among some consumer segments and the potential for political surprise. This is another whistlestop tour through the issues of our time. Please enjoy.