The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Angela Miller May is CIO at Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund a public defined benefit fund based in Oak Brook IL which has over $40 bn in assets under management.Angela is a regular figure on the asset management conference circuit and has become a leading voice in promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry. She appeared as the third guest on the podcast in 2020 during her tenure as CIO of Chicago Teachers.This wide-ranging discussion follows Angela into a larger plan, which has a solid funding level (98%) and the same bold vision around emerging managers that many Illinois plans share.  She discusses what keeps her up at night - the desire to always improve the portfolio, leaving no stone unturned as she does so. We move to the challenges with strategic planning, and setting reasonable targets for execution of broad, sweeping change. In particular we look at the decision to manage equity in house or externally, and the objective of investing in emerging managers.  IMRF goes above and beyond in nurturing this community and we hear about the network it creates and the feedback it provides - which are all part of Angela's desire to make a mark, use her position to creat impact and to influence the direction of travel for the industry. We end with reflection on the peers in the industry, and what she has learned from them. Please enjoy this conversation with one of our industries most industrious and committed leaders. Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future

The start to a new year is a perfect time to check in with one of our favorite strategists and thinkers, Dr. David Kelly, Chief Global Strategist of J P Morgan Asset Management.  In this live discussion we cycle through a host of topics including: The 2024 inflation outlook Why the US consumer has proven so resilient, and why have bad vibes sometimes dominated despite this. The likely future direction of rates Do small cap stocks make sense any more? When will they look attractive again? Should we read anything into the rise of Bitcoin interest (again)? What do geo-political risks and looming elections mean for markets? This is a fast-paced discussion delivered with David's inimitable wit and charm. Food for thought as we embark on a 2024 laden with promise and macro events. 

Julie Castro Abrams is the Managing Partner of How Women Invest and CEO of How Women Lead. How Women Lead was established in 2011 and is driving for a world where women have a seat at every table where decisions are made and is currently a network of over 100,000 professional women. How Women Invest is an early stage venture firm seeking to realize untapped economic potential by focusing on the intersection of female founders and female investors. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Limitless Bridge Capital, sits on the Advisory Board of Nia Impact Capital among multiple other roles.   Our conversation is a sweeping one which traces the origins of Julie's passion for empowering women in professional settings and spends considerable time on the benefits of networking, knowledge sharing and developing a voice. We talk about the benefits of a community, and how to build one, and how to bridge the confidence gap that many women experience when it comes to finance and money matters. This relates to empowerment and inviting more women in to finance and investing, which for some is angel investing.Julie discusses the importance of angel investing as both spark and growth capital in an ecosystem, and how going about it can generate the virtuous cycle of more confidence, more status and better community and relationship.We move then to discuss the need for a New Table, at which women and men are represented equally, and how to message this so that women respond and get the support they need.  There is more information about How Women Lead here: https://www.howwomenlead.com/the-movement Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Paul Richards is a decision making expert with a particular focus on investment manager and trustee decision-making.  He is the founder of Better Decisions, and was previously Head of Governance and Decision Research at the consulting firm Redington.  He is also the host of the Decision Nerds podcast.Our conversation is an ambitious one, seeking to dive into the science of better decision making, what makes an effective Board process, the nature of corporate culture and its evolution and how it contributes to better outcomes. We start with Paul's early instinct to understand things, and how things work, and how he first became interested in the emergent area of behavioral science at the beginning of his career. Moving then to the science of decision making, Paul notes how we often try to import structures and frameworks from one context to another, which entirely ignores the subtle nature of context, the unique corporate backdrop, place in time, and the unique (and dynamic) personalities involved around the table.  We talk about nurturing conflict - the healthy kind, and how vulnerability and admitting lack of knowledge can be both disarming and empowering (c.f. the nine words that are the hardest to say but that every trustee should know). We move then to the massive area of corporate culture and what some of the Decision Nerds podcasts have revealed in that respect and the link to better investment and corporate performance. There is more information about Better Decisions here: https://www.better-decisions.co/ and about the Decision Nerds podcast here. https://decisionnerds.buzzsprout.com/Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Asha Mehta is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Global Delta Capital, where she has a thematic focus on Emerging and Frontier Markets as well as Sustainability Investing. She was previously Lead Portfolio Manager and Director of Responsible Investing at Acadian Asset Management and prior to that an investment banker.  She has traveled to over 80 countries and lived in six, and recently released a book, The Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist’s Journey to a Sustainable Future. Our conversation starts with her upbringing and her parents' immigration story, and winds its way through Asha's college years and her early interest in biological sciences.  A setback to funding of a vaccine distribution project in India, led to her finding work experience in Microfinance, and there a belief in impact and the power of capital was born. Asha then takes on a world tour, first through an investor's lens - we hear about her travels around the world and the areas where technology is enabling leapfrogging of existing infrastructure and breakthroughs that improve living standards and ultimately create impact. We travel from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia, from Tunisia to Cambodia, and apply also the lens of sustainability, examining what meaningful ESG data looks like and how it can be used to fashion investment decisions. We spend some time speaking about Asha's book, The Power of Capital, which is written in the spirit of a true Adventure Capitalist, and the labor of love that that entailed.  Another labor of love was Asha's founding of her own firm Global Delta Capital, and we discuss the "adventure" of entrepreneurship and capital raising. You can find the book here: Link to powerofcapital.com and Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist's Journey to a Sustainable Future: Mehta, Asha: 9781119906032: Amazon.com: BookAs final words of wisdom, Asha encourages listeners to be the change they wish to see in the world. Similarly, to learn to work through change and even embrace it. Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Jason Singer is Partner and Global Lead for Product Development & Innovation in the Client and Product Solutions group at Apollo. Prior to joining in 2021, he worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) for 22 years. At GSAM, he was Managing Director and Global Head of Product, leading the Public Capital Markets team within GSAM’s retail client business.   Our conversation starts with Jason’s studies at Syracuse University, where he majored in finance and entrepeneurship and moves then to his early entry into the asset management industry at Goldman Sachs, where he cycled through nine different roles across the business in 22 years.  We return then to his training and roots in entrepreneurship to link it to building client solutions, which is his current focus, and look at the craft involved in this. We also bring in the global perspective, given his recent trips to clients around the world.  This brings us to the evolving role of alternatives in client portfolios, the increased awareness of income and its importance, and the future of the 60/40 portfolio.   Staying on innovation, we look to the evolving nature of private wealth offerings, how the advisory world is shifting as client needs change, and the role that accessible and digestible education and training plays in this.  .  In the context of product launches and assessing client appetite Jason broaches the topic of where this fails, and what can be learned from maybe evolving too quickly.  Delivered through a lens that embraces complexity and the challenge of pattern recognition, this is a master class in the art of building client solutions and its many facets.Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Elizabeth Browne is Managing Director and Co-Head, Elevate at GCM Grosvenor, where she works in the Sponsor Solutions division. She was previously Head of Entrepreneurship and Family Office Partners at RedBird Capital Partners and was a senior member of the investment team at DNS capital, a family office. She has held numerous board roles.Our far reaching conversation starts with Elizabeth's upbringing in Chicago and her family's history, in which glass ceilings were shattered and women were expected to have every opportunity that men had. We chart her course through college in Montreal and then her early roles in emerging markets including China.  As a witness to corporate transactions amid the M&A boom in China we discuss lessons learned.  This is a fascinating discussion which examines the customs of how business is done, the importance of viewing networking in a non-transactional way, and how, especially in emerging markets, improvisation is sometimes the order of the day. Championing the rights and causes of women and girls is a lifelong dedication for Elizabeth through both industry groups and NGO and charity work and we talk a little about the origins of this passion and how the cause has evolved. Moving back to her professional path, we speak then about the Grosvenor Elevate Platform, its seeding activities and the kind of opportunity set it perceives among Emerging Managers - which tend to be mostly first and second vintage funds that are below $1 bn. We end with a rousing reminder of the importance of industry networks, supporting eachother and being the change we wish to see. Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Uwe Schillhorn is Program Director at Emerging Markets Investors Alliance.  He previously was CIO at Principal International Americas, where he managed the investment teams and developed the business in Latin America.  Prior to that he was previously a global bond portfolio manager at UBS, and his most recent role was as CIO of a Chicago based public fund. Our conversation starts with his high school years, and his early interest in trading stocks - we hear about trades placed on Italian options from the phone booth during high school lunch break, and the rest might be deemed to be history.  He studied economics and then transitioned to emerging market debt, which opened up a career path through emerging markets which saw him spend over 5 years in Chile.  We talk in detail about the reality on the ground in emerging markets, and what the media can sometimes get wrong about them. Uwe mentions the potential for political instability and unrest, which he himself had underestimated, despite living on the ground there.  This, among other risks, change the shape of emerging markets investing.From the land of some uncertainty then, we move to discuss uncertainty in investing and how the art of investing and client liaison links so directly to human conditions of doubt and the craving for certainty or closure. Uwe compares investment advice and financial planning to the ancient shamans who divined answers in early medicine.  Many of the answers then were unknowable, but people were drawn to guides who could provide assurance.  While modern medicine may have changed, arguably financial markets have not.  There are no scientific truths or certainties about outcomes - so the desire for guidance is stronger than ever.  This entertaining and sometimes philosophical discussion helps us map then landscape even if finding the way is ultimately up to us. Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

Catherine Beard is SVP of Alternatives Consulting at Callan, the investment consultants. She has had a long career in investment consulting and allocation with a particular focus on private credit and is based in Chicago. Catherine is a veteran of the private credit arena, having cycled through time on a bond trading desk at a hedge fund, and having the irreplaceable experience of being "in the room where it happened" in the financial crisis of 2008. We briefly tour through her roots in Kentucky and growing up in a family of bankers, then explore her rise in the ranks of finance. The good, the bad and the ugly of the hedge fund world pre and post 2008 is dissected as only Catherine can - with candor, realism and a good dose of humor.We move then to her move into consulting and a spell at an allocator where she built a private credit portfolio before pivoting back into the consulting role. We talk about the private credit opportunity set, distinguish what is sustainable and here for the long haul from the fly-by-night fad strategies.  We look inside the mindset not only of an allocator but also of a credit investor and ask what it takes to stay to course. Some of this includes pattern recognition, and how to flex one's entrepreneurial muscle even within a large firm, because entrepreneurial instincts rarely die away. We look at the strain that can come from M&A at a firm level, and how cultures don't always meld and can ultimately destroy each other. One plus one can sometimes be negative. Finally we turn to Catherine's personal reflections, which may be summed up by the great French icon Edith Piaf, "Je Ne Regrette Rien".  Given Catherine's love of all things French and her inspiring sense of adventure it is a fitting creed for a bold and adventurous career.Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future. 

2024 will be a year of tremendous change, and tremendous noise.  With elections in key regions, we are likely to be subjected to a volley of rhetoric and uncertainty will be the order of the day. In times like this, it seems even more important to reach out to our wise community for their insights on what should stay the same, and evolve, amid this uncertainty. Tune in to hear about the power of networks, the importance of investing in relationships for the long term, the need for certainty and the importance of hearing the bad news early - particularly as a credit investor.  We also talk about the blue economy, the power of capital, company culture and blockages to effective governance, as well as the transformational role of alternatives in individual portfolio.  Tune in to hear from Catherine Beard, about her path through private credit and Jason Singer about what it means to provide solutions to clients on a global scale, and how alternatives will grow as portfolio components.  Uwe Schillhorn charts his career, which involved stints in Latin America and other Emerging Markets, and describes how the desire for certainty drives advisory behaviors even amid great market volatility while Paul Richards takes us deep inside the governance mindset and teaches us some words that every board member and executive should learn.Elizabeth Browne charts her extraordinary career and family history of female empowerment and shares the kind of founder she is now committed to supporting, while Asha Mehta takes us on a journey of her own, describing the Power of Capital, the book she wrote with the same title, and how being an Adventure Capitalist has become her life's mission.Chris Gorell Barnes describes the depths and opportunities in investing in the Blue Economy, and Shane Lanigan describes why credit investors need the bad news upfront, while discussing the opportunity set in Ireland and the UK. Julie Castro Abrams talks us through creating a seat at the table for all women, while Angela Miller May returns to the podcast to update us on her new CIO role at IMRF in Illinois, and how she is determined to leave no stone unturned in making an impact.  Series 1 of 2024 is supported by Apollo Global Management, a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement services solutions. Apollo seeks to provide clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum and is focused on empowering retirees, building and financing stronger businesses and driving a more sustainable future.