The Fiftyfaces Podcast

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.

David Carthy is Managing Partner Ireland of DLA Piper.  He was previously a partner at William Fry in Dublin as well as President of the Irish Exporters Association..  He previously spent over 7 years with the Ireland India Business Association where he spent 5 years as Chairman.   Our conversation starts with David's path into law and his early focus on the commercial aspects of his practice.  He was intentional about building business networks through trade bodies and held various leadership roles in groups that grew in relevance as Ireland's role in international trade increased. Moving to his role as Managing Parter Ireland at DLA Piper we detail how he built the business from scratch - where he was the first employee in 2018 to over 110 lawyers today.  He details how he looked to other branch offices of the firm in order to develop a model as to how to grow the Dublin office and began to recruit using a values-based approach.  The values that he focuses on are a global perspective - a comfort level with working with team members in a network around the world, as well as a boldness and comfort level with change.  Finally, he seeks team members who are genuinely collaborative and go beyond paying lip service to this notion. When the values are aligned around growth, collaboration and reach goals in this way, the organization grows in a cohesive way that can be diverse by design.  David describes the intentionality with which he approached developing a diverse workforce and the office has significant female representation at all levels.  We end with some words of wisdom relating to the satisfaction of working in teams and the introduction of balance between one's professional and personal life.

As we take a short break before Series 5 of 2023 launches, we wanted to share with you some nuggets of a conversation with fellow podcast host Anthony Amunategui that we are launching over on our founders podcast channel. It is jam packed full of insights on leadership, learning to create an image with words and ultimately make the sale. Enjoy! Anthony Amunategui is founder of CDO Group, a women owned business that provides general Contracting and Construction Management. He now spends most of his time as podcast host of The Future Factory Podcast, a podcast focused on diving into conversations about what the future holds for us personally and professionally and the adventures that shape that journey. Our discussion starts with Anthony’s upbringing in Florida and how he got his start – painting houses, and then as a stockbroker. We speak about how he learned to grow his sales technique, and the mentor who taught him about using his language to convey images. We hear about the relentlessness needed to make 300 calls a day, and how he processed the rejection and the no. We jump then to his work in construction management and how he devised the concept of outsourcing construction management and how the business achieved its growth. We hear about mindset – about letting go of some of the baggage that weighs us down, weighing on our confidence and outreach. Anthony is the founder and host of The Future Factory Podcast – which you can find here: https://www.futurefactorypodcast.com He tells us what drove him to gather this collection of leaders and the sparks that unite them. We hear about the importance of working on oneself as an attribute of leadership – of pushing oneself to learn and change. He touts the benefit of coaching in many

Cathie Wood is CEO of ARK Investment Management LLC (“ARK”). Prior to ARK, Cathie spent twelve years at AllianceBernstein as Chief Investment Officer of Global Thematic Strategies where she managed $5 billion. Cathie joined Alliance Capital from Tupelo Capital Management, a hedge fund she co-founded which, in 2000, where she managed $800 million in global thematic strategies. Prior to her tenure at Tupelo Capital, she worked for 18 years with Jennison Associates as Chief Economist, Equity Research Analyst, Portfolio Manager and Director. She started her career in Los Angeles, California at The Capital Group as an Assistant Economist. This was our second podcast recording together but the first for the Fiftyfaces Podcast. We started by tracing Cathie's upbringing and the fusion of innovation, entrepreneurship and travel that led to a peripatetic youth, including a spell in Ireland. We hear what drove her interest in finance and investing, and how she started her career. Our conversation moves then to the founding of ARK, and the almost spiritual reckoning that led to Cathie's decision to strike out on her own. We hear about her commitment to transparency and openness when it comes to research, and to the overarching importance of making their research open source. The team at ARK believes that this makes their process more robust, more resilient and adaptive, and they give the example of the evolution of their "autonomous cars" segment to embrace all of AI and how they have cross-checked some of their assumptions around growth in other sectors. Given how topical the subject is, we dive into a discussion about AI and its likely impact on the investment management industry. Cathie's thesis is an optimistic one, that should get the industry back to its original, forward-looking focus on themes and creativity. Finally we speak about pushback, criticism and debate that ARK and its theses have occasionally attracted. This podcast will be part of Series 5 of the 2023 Fiftyfaces Podcast which is kindly sponsored by With Intelligence, which has the mission of connecting 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

Caroline Lovelace is Founding Partner at Rose Hill Park Alternative Asset Managers, as well as Preserver Partners as CIO and Co-Portfolio Manager. Preserver is diverse-owned and Memphis-based. It runs a multi-strategy fund that invests through external managers. She has had an extensive career in researching and investing in hedge funds and in promoting emerging private equity and hedge fund investment programs. Our conversation starts with her upbringing and academic career and the mentors who spotted her talents and nurtured them. We talk about the sometimes painstaking process of learning to take risk, about career setbacks, pivots and restarts. We learn about the importance of plan B and beyond and the importance of developing the agility to pivot to these alternatives. This requires a dose of realism and we talk about how to set expectations appropriately and how to advocate for oneself and to be coachable. Moving through Caroline's various roles, we look at the skills needed to progress successfully through investment banking, then onto the buyside, then into a founder role. We move to speak about the challenges faced by diverse founders more broadly, and how we might move the needle more in this area. This podcast is brought to you with the kind support of Tom Raber and Alvine Capital, a specialist investment advisor and fund placement boutique with offices in London and Stockholm. An early adopter of the “reverse enquiry” form of placement, Alvine relies on insight and dialogue with its pan-European investor base to develop and source investment solutions from a wide variety of industry providers.