The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Henry Song is a portfolio manager for Diamond Hill, a asset manager headquartered in Columbus Ohio with approximately $30 bn in AUM. He joined the firm in 2016. Prior to joining Diamond Hill, Henry was a portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2005 to 2016.  He specializes in securitized credit. Our conversation races Henry’s somewhat unorthodox background and path into running money in fixed income. We discuss the interviews conducted in asset management firm and question whether they are optimized for the right characteristics and strengths. We look at how they might be done differently and how that would improve the cognitive mix within firms. We spend a little time on personality types, especially as assessed by the various psychometric tests that are conducted on teams, and note how certain traits are under-represented. Returning to his own career path we reflect on the importance of living through financial crises and the invaluable petri dish that presents and then discuss market conditions in fixed income today and how investor needs are evolving. In the reflection section we turn to the importance of humanistic approaches in finance, understanding the counterparty, and not making irrational decisions based on fear and greed. Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025. GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments. With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.com Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.  

Jo Kempton is Head of Lincolnshire Pension Fund, where she has spent most of her career in various roles, including as the manager of an internal UK equity portfolio. She is an active participant on the local government pension scheme circuit.  Our conversation starts with Jo’s early career and how she ended up pursuing a role in pensions. We speak about her work on the stock picking side, and discuss whether the market backdrop has changed since then for UK equities. We ask then whether this stint in internal equity investing has informed her approach to other active asset managers and the challenges they face today. Moving now to the whole fund oversight that Jo provides, we discuss the future of pooling, and its benefits as well as the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing, particularly in light of the challenges facing all public funds today. Finally we reflect on a career of public service and the wisdom gathered over those years.Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

Stuart Dunbar is a Partner at Baillie Gifford, based in Edinburgh, where he has worked since 2003. He previously held a range of institutional marketing roles, but before that there were some unexpected interests and pursuits.We start there, with his move to Hong Kong and some of the cultural differences that he perceived when working overseas more broadly, much of them to do with self-confidence and presence in the workplace. We move then to discussing the evolving shape of institutional investing and how asset managers can adapt to changing investor needs. We speak about predicting the shape of future demand, seeing where the puck is moving to, and changing how asset managers work with clients. Some of this is the consultative approach, some of this is simply adapting to changing needs. We also discuss the future of active asset management more broadly.Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

Jen Choi is CEO of ILPA – the Institutional Limited Partners Association, where she has spent over a decade. She previously spent over 7 years at the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.Our conversation traces her background and her path to representing LPs and their interests in the fast-pace private asset arena. Our conversation has a strong emphasis on transparency – we open with a quote around sunlight being the best disinfectant.This takes us to a discussion about demystifying the often-opaque world of private assets, the evolution of the position of the LP and the current state of the pendulum in terms of where it is sitting. We hear about the evolving ILPA standards, getting buy-in across a global LP population and the importance of collective action as well as standardization.Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

We are delighted to release as a bonus episode this conversation with long-time industry member, mentor and advocate Jennifer Strickland.  Over the course of Jennifer’s career she has held a series of roles starting out in the annuity space, moving into private wealth, hedge fund business development, alternative asset business development and most recently was Head of Business Development for Pretium, a $50 bn specialized asset manager focused on real estate, structured credit and legal opportunities. She is a Board Member of Women in Private Credit and an active advocate for mentorship and diversity within the financial services industry. Our conversation traces Jennifer's upbringing in Arizona, her early university career, and her first career at Morningstar which pushed her out of her comfort zone and into the limelight. I have always known Jennifer as an unparalleled business development and client service professional and we talk about what it takes to build relationships of trust and transparency, and the time that needs to be invested in these networks. We note the importance of networks and mentorship and the feedback loop of recognizing the wisdom and learnings that we pick up along the way,We move then to discuss Jennifer's cancer diagnosis in 2022 and Jennifer candidly and openly discusses the cascade of emotions that followed, from its effect on family and friends to what it means to have a career prematurely interrupted, with more work to do, more impact to make.  This deeply personal discussion is a reminder of what it is we live for, and what we leave in our wake. We are encouraged to appreciate what we have learned from others - what we  - how appreciating others' legacies is a step in ensuring our own.Today's podcast release coincides with the launch by Jennifer and her family of the Strickland Fellowship and Foundation, which honors her legacy by supporting the growth of Women in Private Credit and the next generation of private credit talent  through personalized mentorship, education and networking with the industry’s top investors and business leaders. You can read more about Women in Private Credit here: https://www.womeninpc.com/

Krishna Mohanraj, an International Portfolio Manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management, shares his unique journey from South India to the world of finance. He discusses how chance and adaptability shaped his career, emphasizing the undervalued power of teams in portfolio management. Krishna highlights the role of cognitive diversity and autonomy in remote teams, along with the importance of long-term thinking both in investing and personal growth. He also reflects on how his grandmother's love for learning inspired his educational values.

Debby Blakey is CEO of Hesta a $91 bn AUD Australian superannuation fund dedicated to the health and community services sector. She is also President of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and a director of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). Our conversation traces Debby's personal and career journey from South Africa, where she did consulting work, to build a new life in Melbourne, and how she developed her network from scratch. We move then to her role at Hesta and how it has evolved, and spend some time discussing the unique positioning that Hesta holds, as well as putting the role of all Australian Superannuation Funds into context.We discuss why Hesta is a "Super with Impact" and dig in to how impact is defined, and how and why Hesta engages with its members. We talk about the challenges of the road ahead and how Hesta is preparing for its future journey. Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

We are delighted to bring you Series 3 of our 2025 series, which we again are launching amid significant volatility in markets. However, as you will hear, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We start this series down under, hearing from Debby Blakey, CEO of Hesta, who describes what it means to be a “Super with Impact”, and a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community.  We turn then to portfolio management, as Krishna Mohanraj of Diamond Hill talks about the power of the team, and how he approaches international investment, and then take the LP perspective, and chat with Jen Choi, CEO of ILPA, about the changing face of private equity and LP advocacy.  Stuart Dunbar of Baillie Gifford talks us through the changing shape of client engagement when it comes to large asset managers, while we dive into the topical issue of LGPS pension fund pooling with long-time LGPS fund leader, Jo Kempton of Lincolnshire Pension Fund. We are back to Diamond Hill with a fascinating interview with Henry Song, who explores the human side of finance and what we get wrong in competency interviews and moving then to the world of quantitative investing, Artemiza Woodgate lifts the veil on quantitative investing, and what we sometimes overlook. We stay somewhat in the world of quantitative investing in our interview with Kristen Van Gelder, who has spent her entire career tracing the evolution of hedge funds, and the relevance of hedge fund of fund solutions for client portfolios from her role at Evanston Capital Management. Then we pull the lens back, with Nick Spencer of Milliman who advocates for a systems thinking approach to risk when it comes to sustainability issues – and we explore what this means for the future of the investing style.  We end then coming full circle with our exploration of values-based investing with a wonderful interview with Lisa Laird, who is CIO of Mercy Investments Services, Inc. Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.  GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments. With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.com Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

Daniel Gore is a Founding Partner of Orthogonal Partners, a boutique asset manager investing in "next generation" alternative investment strategies.  He has had an extensive career in investing, including time spent in angel investing, in a family office and in film finance. He is currently pursuing opportunities in small and mid market UK firms.   Our conversation starts with the path that Dan took to this point, which included numerous different opportunities for learning – and we hear about the importance of trust and integrity as values that transcend different investment areas. Dan reflects on his unconventional career, gaining a broad understanding of different asset classes and the importance of backing the right teams. Moving now to Orthogonal partners, we speak about its range, and why it is a source of unconventional returns, and we discuss the structural funding gap in the UK SME market and the government's efforts to address it through the British Business Bank. We dive in to some details of the UK SME market, which presents a meaningful opportunity set with 5.6 million SMEs accounting for 99% of all businesses and 60% of private sector jobs.  We conclude with some reflections on the power of networking and the value of building relationships from the start of one's career. Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

Fernando Vinzons is Chief Investment Officer at the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund, a role he has held for almost 3 years. He previously spent over 13 years at the Cook County Pension Fund and started his career in investment research. Our conversation starts with Fernando's initiation into stock picking, and how he earned the ropes pitching stock ideas to a legendary hedge fund manager. We move then to his move to an allocator role, and the entrepreneurial nature of his formative years, when resource constraints required the wearing of many hats.We move then to the Chicago Teachers Pension Plan and we discuss their diversity program in detail - we hear how the pension fund is leading the way in diversity, with over 51% of their portfolio managed by MWBE firms. The Fund's "First Look" program gives smaller investment firms a platform to showcase their talents and break through traditional industry barriers.  We discuss the benefit that this dialogue can create for these emerging managers who still struggle to get air time. Ending with advice and reflections, Fernando offers a reminder to stay calm, focus on long-term strategies, and remember that there's more to life than work stress. He also touts the benefit of travel to broaden the mind and offer more perspective. Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.