The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Bev Durston is Managing Director of Edgehaven, an alternatives partner which works with mostly institutional clients to select alternative investments. She splits her time between her native Sydney and London and has over 30 years of experience in financial services. She previously worked at a number of Superannuation Funds in Australia as well as the British Airways Pension Fund in the UK and has held a range of investment committee roles. Our conversation covers her long career in finance, and her experience in various global roles. We talk about institutional appetite for alternatives, and how it varies, and touch on fee sensitivity and the role of performance fees and their complexity. We also discuss various choices that Bev made throughout her career - choices to travel or take global roles which involved more inherent change and risk, and how these have contributed to the richness that is her career journey.

Rendel Solomon, who recently worked in a Chicago-based private equity firm, is a leading voice for diversity in finance. He is the founder of the One Stock One Future, an initiative which aims to turn one million youth into public company shareholders. He serves on the Board of NASP and West Side Forward, and he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Latin School, which he himself attended. In this wide-ranging discussion we discuss Rendel's roots in the West Side of Chicago, his path through education and his mentorship under the watchful eyes of some giants in the industry. We discuss minority-run firms and how their fortunes are not improving as they should, and discuss his bold vision to spread equity ownership more widely, and into some unlikely corners. This vision is grounded in the ABCs of his One Stock One Future initiative - Attitude, Behaviors and changing the Conversation. We see how this can be translated beyond share ownership into driving more inclusion and more opportunities in the financial services industry. We talk about the wealth and opportunity gap, and how this thwarts progress and finally discuss the importance of creating a sense of belonging within the investment industry, and why all roads lead to inclusion.

Kristin Staffeldt is a Senior Portfolio Analyst in the Real Assets area at the University of Chicago endowment, which has around $8.5 bn in assets under management. She has spent most of her career in a range of roles in real estate, having focused on land economics in her university degree.Our discussion covers the nuances of real estate investing, how it fits an institutional portfolio and how she became interested in it. We also touch on how the current Covid crisis is impacting the sector and how longstanding trends have been accelerated.We then turn to Kristin's own journey, the people who have been mentors throughout her career, the networks she has found most useful and the skills that she has developed as her career has progressed.

Gary Greenberg leads the Emerging Markets Equity team at the international business of Federated Hermes. He has had the role of portfolio manager in the flagship fund for over 9 years, and recently passed the baton on this to his co-portfolio manager Kunjal Gala on September 1 of this year. He has had a long career in investment, but what has fascinated me most about Gary is his parallel focus on spirituality. Our conversation traces Gary's somewhat unconventional path into investing, how his spiritual journey has guided him throughout his life and the people who inspired it. We speak in particular about his views on sustainability and investing through this lens and why he considers this to be the only path that makes sense. We also discuss why a 1980 Chevrolet Camaro amped up as a muscle car may not in fact be the compelling investment it sounds.

Leslie Lenzo is Chief Investment Officer at Advocate Aurora Health, a hospital plan in Illinois with over $10 bn in Assets under Management. She has worked in asset management at hospital plans for over 16 years and has also spent time in equity research. She is an advocate for building both a diverse investment team within her own organization as well as for promoting more diversity within the investment world as a whole. Our conversation covers how she grew up in a hog farm in Iowa, her early entry into stock investing thanks to the encouragement of her grandparents and her career in asset management. Leslie shares some particular challenges she has faced and overcome over the years as a busy working parent. There are also particular challenges in investing a hospital plan, whether it be the cash flow and budget challenges that come with a public health emergency or the desire to invest in a way that is consistent with the mission of the institution. Leslie shares what she is doing in each of these areas as well as how she manages the growth of the plan through corporate acquisitions.

Tom Soto is Founder and Managing Partner at Diverse Communities Impact Fund, a Los Angeles based private equity fund focused on making impactful investments in local communities, which he founded in 2018. He has had a long career in asset management, and an expansive portfolio of board and committee roles, with a particular focus on raising the profile of the American Latino community.His roles include new Energy Nexus, an international non-profit that supports clean energy entrepreneurs, New American Alliance, which is committed to building on American Latino success to forge a stronger America, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and the offical team charity of the LA Dodgers, among other roles. He is a passionate advocate for diversity within the investment arena. Our conversation discusses Tom's upbringing in the Los Angeles, his iconic parents, and how he is continuing that legacy by getting "lost in the service of others". We discuss how one's roots don't necessarily determine destiny and why this makes sourcing talent and providing opportunity so critical.

Yvonne Bajela is an investor in early stage companies at Impact X Capital, which invests in start-ups across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She has worked across the globe in investment banking, corporate venture capital and in academia, and is a frequent speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship and female empowerment. She was listed as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30. Our conversation covers Yvonne's early interest in markets and finance, her career journey, and how she identifies talent across the venture capital arena. We discuss what both her upbringing and her role in venture capital taught her about failure, and how she resorts to the lessons of some well-known figures to overcome imposter syndrome. Yvonne is a thought leader for diversity in venture, female empowerment and entrepreneurship and is instrumental in efforts to create stronger, more broad reaching networks to provide support and mentorship globally.

Luke Ellis is the Chief Executive Officer of Man Group, and has had a long career in asset management, with a particular focus originally on fixed income and derivatives and later hedge funds. He is vice chair of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Greenhouse Sports, which focuses on developing young people through sport. Our conversation starts with Luke's early embrace of odds through learning to play cards at the age of 3, and his move through the ranks of finance. We discuss his family dinner table discussions growing up, his avid love of sports, and how this has influenced his approach to business.We turn to the question of leadership and the opportunity to increase diversity in the industry, and how this has to be approached in a way that grows the opportunity set instead of creating a zero sum game.

Machel Allen is President and Chief Investment Officer of Metis Global Partners, a firm she founded in November 2013. The firm, based in San Diego, is focused on global equity investment across the size spectrum from micro-cap to large cap. She previously spent time as an equity and research analyst at a range of asset management firms.Our conversation covers the entry level roles that revealed to Machel the opportunity to develop a proprietary investment process, and the fragments of inefficiencies that she loves about the investment world. Her persistence in setting up her own firm and building it in a sometimes tough asset raising environment are testament to her tremendous grit, but as we discuss, Machel has been upsetting apple carts for most of her life.We will hear why she is optimistic about the future for diversity in the investment world, and some of the mentors and influencers that have shaped who she is as an investor.

Greg Williams is a business development manager at Wellington Management Company, a Boston-based asset management firm. Greg is based in their Chicago office. Before pivoting to a career in finance he worked as a professional actor, and after business school spent time as an equity research analyst and has long experience in consultative selling and business development.As an Alum of the Robert Toigo Foundation, Greg has firsthand experience of the impact of the organization on its fellows and now at Wellington he continues to work with Toigo as a corporate partner. Greg is also deeply involved with the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP), another Wellington corporate partner and is a member of Wellington’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee as well as Vice Chair of the Wellington Management Foundation, which supports organizations that are focused on improving educational opportunities for youth from underserved and economically challenged communities. He is also a member of Shades Leadership Team - the Wellington business network focused on employees from Black heritage.Our conversation traces Greg's upbringing in Cleveland Ohio and his unusual trajectory from a job in acting to business school and on to investing. We discuss the impact that the Toigo Foundation had on his career path, and how he is now committed to passing this on to future generations through his advocacy and interest groups.