The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Pippa Gawley invests in what she describes as deep science hard tech innovations to accelerate the zero carbon transition.  She is the founder and director of Zero Carbon Capital, a fund she founded in April 2019, and holds various non-executive director and mentor roles. She has extensive experience in tech, and, latterly, in climate-tech in particular. Our conversation traces her roots and her coming of age as an angel investor.  We learn then what ultimately led her to climate tech, and to the potential that she believes that this area holds.  We speak in particular about innovation in three areas: food and agriculture, carbon capture and the hydrogen economy.We move to her experience as an angel investor and what she looks for in a founder or an idea or concept to back.  She recounts her own experience in raising capital for her current fund and how being a female founder factored in, as well as how she had to embark on a process of education around the whole concept of climate tech. We speak about the industry at large, and how in the UK 81% of all VC deals have all male teams on the company side, and what needs to be done to slowly redress this balance.There is more information about Pippa's approach and zero carbon capital here: https://www.zerocarbon.capital/This podcast is brought to you  with the kind support of Pluscios Capital, a women-owned, WBENC certified investment management firm based in Evanston, IL. With over 60+ years of combined investment management experience, co-founders Constance Teska and Kelly Chesney are committed the development of bespoke investment solutions on behalf of institutions and intermediaries. In addition to broadly diversified core and catalyst solutions, Pluscios provides hands on product development support and custom solutions with a focus on diversity-led and emerging managers.

Bob Snigaroff, who is President and CIO at Denali Advisors, based in San Diego.  The firm is named after Mount Denali, the highest peak in the USA located in Bob’s native Alaska (and the name for the mountain means "High One or Great One").  The firm is classified as a minority run firm due to Bob’s native American heritage and we discuss his upbringing in a fishing village in Kenai Alaska and how this influenced him in both striking out from the area and remembering his roots.Bob has a PhD in economic sociology and a host of other interests alongside his passion for value-based asset management, and we trace the evolution of his investment style as well as the trials and tribulations of starting a new firm and what the fundraising process has been like. We also speak about the underrepresentation of native Americans in US public life as well as in the finance industry and the fact that they remain one of the poorest demographic groups in the US, attracting little coverage, even during the current focus on diversity and inclusion. We end with a tour through his inspiration from classical literature and the rooting in simple values that we sometimes lose sight of.  I have always loved Bob's meditative calm and the manner in which he stands apart from the typical pace of asset management and finance.  I hope that you enjoy these 20 minutes of his journey. This podcast is brought to you  with the kind support of Pluscios Capital, a women-owned, WBENC certified investment management firm based in Evanston, IL. With over 60+ years of combined investment management experience, co-founders Constance Teska and Kelly Chesney are committed the development of bespoke investment solutions on behalf of institutions and intermediaries. In addition to broadly diversified core and catalyst solutions, Pluscios provides hands on product development support and custom solutions with a focus on diversity-led and emerging managers.

In the final series of the main Fiftyfaces Podcast for 2021, we have a number of treats in store - from members of underrepresented groups that we often don't hear as much about - such as the Native American and the Asian American population - from Bob Snigaroff who moved from a fishing village in Alaska to Wall Street - but via one of Alaska's biggest allocators, and from Susan Soh, whose American-Chinese upbringing often made it seem that everything was planned out - but for whom Adaptive Intelligence (or AQ) has been key. We hear from a number of women making strides and enjoying success in the areas of Climate Tech, where Pippa Gawley shares her vision that this area is the only way to ensure we meet our climate goals, and Margaux O'Brien who has brought her love of asset allocation from South Africa to the University of California with many global stops in between.  Elina Kovaleva muses why more women don't see what a wonderful, flexible, career hedge funds can provide and Alexandra Noble reflects on a long, storied career and why she is now focused on giving back and mentoring the next generation of leaders. Moving to London, Andrien Meyers is a true renaissance man, blending a role as an elected official with one in finance, and a broad commitment to social justice in which he is involved in the City of London tackling racism taskforce, while Tim Hodgson, co-leader of the Thinking Ahead Institute takes on a journey of thinking ahead which ends on a surprisingly optimistic note.We also include the voices of wisdom of long-term practitioners in the areas of investment management and private wealth, hearing from Pat Lynch, former leader of Chicago Equity Partners and David Miller, whose weekly diary now reaches over 15,000 readers in 57 countries. Series 5 is brought to you with the kind support of Pluscios Capital, a women-owned, WBENC certified investment management firm based in Evanston, IL. With over 60+ years of combined investment management experience, co-founders Constance Teska and Kelly Chesney are committed the development of bespoke investment solutions on behalf of institutions and intermediaries. In addition to broadly diversified core and catalyst solutions, Pluscios provides hands on product development support and custom solutions with a focus on diversity-led and emerging managers.

Susan Martin is MD of Greenstone Consulting, a change and and transition management firm.  After a long career in the public sector, culminating in a CEO role at a financial services business, she now holds a number of director roles and works as an executive coach. Our conversation tracks Susan's childhood and early career, and how she became used to frequent change and adaptation.  This led to her becoming a committed change advocate and consultant.   We talk about the challenges of change - the need to sometimes pause to allow change to settle, and how to mobilize an employee body behind a change initiative without fear. As a generalist who has worked in a range of industries we talk about the tension between generalists and specialists and the role that interpretation and intuition play in this case.  We turn then to what makes a valuable director or chair of a Board, and how diversity contributes to the richness of this discussion. Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

Amanda Pullinger is Chief Executive of 100 Women in Finance, where she leads a staff team and provides direction to 500 volunteer practitioners globally.  100 Women in Finance is focused on empowering women in the finance industry and inspiring the next generation of pre-career young women and has over 20,000 registered members globally. She previously held a series of roles in asset management and is a member of BAFTA and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Our conversation tracks her many divergent careers that ultimately led to one in finance and the resilience that she built in her early childhood and young adulthood.  Moving then to her current life's work and passion we speak about the origins of 100 Women in Finance - which started out as 100 Women in Hedge Funds and how the organization's mission started with visibility and fellowship but has evolved into so much more of an empowering platform. I hope that you enjoy Amanda sharing her vision of this extraordinary and ground breaking organization and the important work that it has done, but also what remains to be done. Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

Elois Joseph is co-founder of the Greenwood project, which is an organization that connects Black and LatinX students with career opportunities in financial services and fintech. She previously held a series of roles in investment banks and other financial service firms, mainly in the trading support and compliance divisions.Our conversation traces her upbringing in Chicago, the positions and mentors that shaped her early career progression and the break that led to her roles in financial services. We talk about the philosophy behind the Greenwood Project, which she co-founded with Bevon Joseph - a guest on episode 88 of the series, and why more women need to heed the advice she was given to "sit next to the power" because that is where decisions are made and where visibility is essential. Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

Johara Farhadieh is Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of The Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI), in which she oversees a $20 bn defined benefit fund and a $5 bn dollar defined contribution plan with over 150,000 beneficiaries. She has been at ISBI for over 13 years, and prior to that was a financial analyst. She was named an All-Star Chief Investment Officer by Trusted Insight and ISBI was ranked number one in private equity returns among public pension funds in 2020 by the American Investment Council.   Our conversation talks about how public funds can set the standard for diversity and inclusion in their manager mix, and how, through a combination of OCIO and direct mandates ISBI is doing this.  Often, in this arena, politics and wrangling can interfere with governance, and we talk about how serving the Board and frequently involving the Board as stakeholders can be the recipe for smooth decision making and progress. Johara also talks through her own background, her roots and how she was raised to be a survivor.  As we move through the pandemic disruptions and its implications on how business is done, this is a particularly appropriate tale.Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

David Vafai is Chief Executive Officer at bfinance International Limited, an investment consulting and advisory firm that he founded over 20 years ago.  The firm is known for its innovative service model, which has shifted some of the traditional structures in investment consulting, manager selection and asset management. Our conversation traces David's early entrepreneurial roots which saw him cycle through newspaper delivery to a hotdog stand in his early 20s and later a photo business.  The unifying feature of each of these diverse business lines was a commitment to customer service and ensuring high degrees of customer satisfaction. We turn then to the origins of bfinance and how the business model evolved into a global franchise.  We dissect what it means to provide investment consulting services and how the industry is evolving in this area to address the "information asymmetry" that continues to persist. As a citizen of the world with global roots David offers a unique perspective on the immigrant story, the meaning of the hustle and why customer satisfaction should be the starting point and ending point of all enterprises.Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

Jessica Portis is Head of Member Portfolio Management and Services at TIFF Investment Management.  She previously had a long career in investment consulting, first at Summit and then Mercer. Our conversation start with her first internships - and the Inroads program that she participated in.  This opened the door of opportunity to her - and not only provided an internship, but committed to broad educational support. This included advice on networking, how to "dress for success", and provided a safety net to ensure the best chances of succeeding in and sticking with the role.  She rose through the ranks of investment consulting and we discuss why more women are not given that opportunity - and why maybe they don't "lean in" to seize it.We spend some time discussing diversity in finance, and how we can do better to present challenge to women who are hungry for it.  We examine why the biggest obstacle is women not being given the opportunity, and the tendency to hire in one's own likeness.  We ask how do we make sure that women and people of color are given those opportunities?Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.

Henry Tapper is the CEO at Agewage, a firm committed to helping people understand their pension pots, and the Founding Editor of the Pension Playpen, which provides guidance on pensions.  He has been involved in financial services for his whole career, and is a high profile advocate for pensions education and transparency. We start with Henry's background, his year on a herring fleet in Iceland and how he fell into selling financial products because he couldn't find another job. We reflect on the staggering differences between training for such roles then v. now, and how this ties back to the value for money discussion that is now pervasive in asset management.  Henry is a high profile voice in the cause of creating fairer, more transparent pension solutions, and his initiatives AgeWage and the Pension Playpen, a procurement website, which was set up to help employers choose their workplace pension. AgeWage is designed to help people feeling confident about the pensions decisions that they're taking and to make use of investment data in a way that they can understand. This returns to the topic across this series of financial literacy, and how it is essential across every age group. We mull on the importance of the industry reporting on the outcomes of the work done for ordinary people in a way that ordinary people can understand, and end with some beautiful quotes from some of Henry's favorite poets. Series 4 is brought to you with the kind support of Federated Hermes, Inc., a leading global investment manager. Guided by their conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, their investment solutions span equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity strategies and a range of separately managed accounts, distributed through intermediaries worldwide.