The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Series 2 of the 2025 podcast was born into a time of tremendous market turbulence. In our ten conversations with a diverse range of guests – sourced globally, we go top down, and bottom up – into the weeds, and take helicopter views. Tune in to hear about the technologies in venture capital and climate tech that excite even the most experienced investors who have seen multiple cycles with podcasts featuring Hunter Somerville and Beverley Gower-Jones, OBE on topics of big swing innovation in venture capital and what is on the cutting edge of climate tech. Erik Hirsch of Hamilton Lane describes private equity's evolution, the essential role of data and what lies ahead, while Peter Wilson of Harbourvest shares his views on the topic as well as the importance of authenticity.Fernando Vinzons, CIO at Chicago Teachers Pension Fund updates us on the fund's growth and in particular the resilience of its emerging manager strategy, while Dan Gore of Darwin Alternative Asset Management describes the opportunity in small and mid-cap UK firms. Rich Byrne seamlessly marries lessons from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (in which he is a decorated champion) with lessons from the private credit world, while Cathy Bevan, also of Benefit Street, walks us through the evolution of structured credit over the past decade. Staying on credit, Sonali Pier of PIMCO describes her own journey from working as a credit trader into her current role, and we dive into the fascinating and emerging area of NAV lending with a discussion with Tom Doyle of Pemberton Asset Management.Please follow us for the launch of the second part of Series 2 next week: You can find all of our podcasts on The Fiftyfaces Hub, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

Victoria Barbary  is Director of Strategy & Communications for the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) in which her focus is to help sovereign wealth funds become better investors for the benefit of their citizens.  She formerly worked in research roles relating to Sovereign Wealth Funds and prior to that was a PhD student in the field of Victorian History. Our conversation starts by setting the stage with sovereign wealth funds around the world, setting out the different sizes, structures and objectives that characterize the landscape. We move then into the goals of IFSWF, which are standard setting, knowledge sharing and representation, and describe what each goal means in real terms. Given the reach of sovereign wealth funds and their influence on local economies, we focus on the current trends around productive finance, sustainability, governance and staffing, and look to the future in terms of the surge of influence of these institutional investors.This podcast - a throwback to our first Series is is proudly brought to you by bfinance—a trusted partner to the world’s leading institutional investors. With a proven track record in strategy, implementation, and oversight, bfinance delivers bespoke investment consultancy that empowers asset owners to achieve their unique objectives. Whether it’s refining portfolio strategy, selecting fund managers, monitoring performance or getting better value for money, bfinance combines global expertise with tailored solutions to unlock value for their clients. To learn more about how they’ve supported over 500 clients in 45 countries, managing assets totalling over $9 trillion, visit bfinance.com.

Rich Byrne, President of Benefit Street Partners and a decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion, dives into the crossover of finance and martial arts. He shares his unique journey from fine arts to finance, emphasizing creativity's role in the industry. Rich discusses how lessons from Jiu Jitsu—like embracing discomfort and learning from failures—can enhance resilience in professional life. He highlights the importance of humility in leadership and nurturing company culture, while exploring the evolving landscape of alternative credit and real estate lending.

Sonali Pier is a Managing Director at PIMCO in Newport Beach, with a particular focus on Multi-Sector Credit.  She previously worked as a credit trader and was named recently to the Marketwatch 50 most influential people in markets.  Our conversation starts with her education, and a stock picking competition at the tender stage of sixth grade, which launched an interest in finance and economics.She moved then through various trading and finance roles into a credit specialty, and shares some of the insights that she learned along the way. Now at PIMCO we discuss the current landscape for multi-sector credit and some of the opportunity set. We discuss how PIMCO strives in particular to hone the culture within its investment teams to optimize contributions from every level of the organization. In looking back at her career in financial markets,  Sonali emphasizes the importance of adaptability, citing her exposure to six bosses in five years.We round up by highlighting the need for diverse investment teams and the importance of embracing change in the financial industry. 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 $77 billion of assets under management.

Erik Hirsch is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Hamilton Lane, where he is responsible for the firm’s strategic direction and operations. The firm currently has over $900 billion in assets under management and supervision and is committed to driving meaningful change in private markets for the institutions and other clients that it serves. We start with discussing Erik's unconventional path into finance, starting from a government and philosophy background.  We hear about his journey that led him to this senior role at Hamilton Lane,  and the firms evolution from a consulting company into the diversified financials firm it is today. We also get fairly deep into our discussion of private markets and Erik emphasizes the importance of data in this new, more mature, phase of the private markets. Returning to the culture at Hamilton Lane, we discuss the importance of culture, collaboration, and data in decision-making as well as establishing cognitive diversity within the teams at the firm. In a discussion of governance and the various board roles that Erik has held and holds, he highlights the need for boards to understand their decision-making environment and have a clear North Star, believing in simplicity, getting people aligned and understanding of the goal.  These are, he believes, central to building a better organization.We cover the significance of self-awareness and mentorship in leadership. before rounding up the conversation on Hamilton Lane's culture, and how it is reflected in its humorous videos, showcasing a team-oriented, non-serious approach to finance.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 $77 billion of assets under management.

Beverley Gower-Jones, OBE FEI is Managing Partner at The Clean Growth Fund and Chief Executive Officer at Carbon Limiting Technologies. She is an independent member on Governments Net Zero Innovation Board (NZIB). The Board provides strategic oversight of government funding of net zero innovation programs. Our conversation starts with Beverley’s start studying geology and working in industry in emerging markets, and chart her transition to corporate ventures and then venture capital.  We discuss the prevailing backdrop (culturally) to her moves and how that may or may not have influenced her. We move then to the consulting work being done by Carbon Limiting Technologies and how this squares with raising and running the Clean Growth Fund. We focus then on that fund’s investment across sectors like power, transport, and agriculture.  We discuss the importance deep sector expertise, particularly in industrial biotechnology and carbon capture technologies.  We conclude with discussing the role of governance, the ongoing need for diverse, supportive boards and the significance of perseverance in overcoming challenges. 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. Visit www.eaglepointcredit.com to find out more.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 $77 billion of assets under management.

Hunter Somerville, a partner at Stepstone Group, where he focuses on venture capital investing with a particular specialty of digital assets and micro venture capital. Based in the Baltimore area, we reflect on what made him stay in and return to that area and the path he took to get to venture capital. Our conversation digs into the weeds of venture capital investing including digital assets, blockchain as well as the market in secondary venture capital interests. We discuss liquidity, M&A, the IPO window and current headwinds for the venture capital industry as well as how investor use of these strategies is changing. We turn then to innovation and how people have started to embrace "big swing innovation" - innovation that can tackle big problems in categories such as defense, climate, aerospace and energy. AI does feature, but not as a lead character, more in a supporting role.  This Series is sponsored by Eagle Point Credit Management and Benefit Street Partners. 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. Visit www.eaglepointcredit.com to find out more.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 $77 billion of assets under management.

This summary is less a trailer than a highlight reel. The year started with a new administration in the US and an explosion of the culture wars and backlash against DEI and ESG labelling. Even engagement has become more cumbersome and some may feel the hard won policies of years ago are going into reverse.  Because we had lined up a list of industry experts with a focus on sustainable investing for this series, we had an excellent opportunity to ask them about the headwinds and the view of them. The views were surprisingly nuanced and positive, from the insights of a sustainable equity manager about the impact that was still happening, to the views of two founders of a nature based solutions manager about the decline of net zero alliances and how the shift of focus from carbon might be a good thing. The guests of Series 1 are Chelsea Smith of Bernstein Private Wealth, Anastasia Guha of Redington, Denise Le Gal of Brightworth, Abdiel Santiago of the Panama Sovereign Wealth Fund, Bjorn Thelander (formerly of the Dyson Family Office), Stephanie Niven of Ninety One, Rob Gardner and Eoin Murray of Rebalance Earth and Steve Neel of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board and Stephen Oxley of OXC. This series of the Fiftyfaces Podcast is proudly brought to you by bfinance—a trusted partner to the world’s leading institutional investors. With a proven track record in strategy, implementation, and oversight, bfinance delivers bespoke investment consultancy that empowers asset owners to achieve their unique objectives. Whether it’s refining portfolio strategy, selecting fund managers, monitoring performance or getting better value for money, bfinance combines global expertise with tailored solutions to unlock value for their clients. To learn more about how they’ve supported over 500 clients in 45 countries, managing assets totalling over $9 trillion, visit bfinance.com.

Chelsea Smith is Senior National Director, Family Office Services at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, based in Chicago. She started her career as an equity trader, and in recent years has been heavily involved in diversity initiatives designed to attract a more diverse pipeline into the finance industry. Our conversation starts with Chelsea's upbringing - as one of three triplet girls, she had a unique family structure from the very beginning and spent her childhood cycling through different schools and neighborhoods with her father's work. We follow then the mentor that advised her to work in finance and the ongoing role that mentors like that played in shaping her career.Now in private wealth, we discuss the evolution of the private wealth product offering, where alternatives fit, and where values fit. We also talk about values in the workplace and some of the ways that Chelsea is instilling her values in the pipeline of talent, by nurturing it and helping it grow. This is a poignant story of triumph and grit, which should serve as an inspiration for future generations. It is particularly appropriate that we are releasing this in Women's History Month and in celebration of International Women's Day. This episode of the Fiftyfaces Podcast is proudly brought to you by bfinance—a trusted partner to the world’s leading institutional investors. With a proven track record in strategy, implementation, and oversight, bfinance delivers bespoke investment consultancy that empowers asset owners to achieve their unique objectives. Whether it’s refining portfolio strategy, selecting fund managers, monitoring performance or getting better value for money, bfinance combines global expertise with tailored solutions to unlock value for their clients. To learn more about how they’ve supported over 500 clients in 45 countries, managing assets totalling over $9 trillion, visit bfinance.com.

Denise Le Gal is Independent Chair at Brightwell as well as a Chair and Trustee Director of JP Morgan Chase Retirement Plan among other portfolio roles  She was Chair of the Brunel Pension Partnership Limited for close to 8 years.Our conversation goes back to Denise's roots, and she describes how she grew up in a large family on a farm near Winnipeg - a place where nature and its force loomed large. This taught a deference towards nature and the impact of climate, and it has been something that Denise has remembered throughout her life.We trace then her academic path through music and business, and how she ultimately found her way into finance, and then eventually into the type of finance that suited her.  International moves, a stint in politics and a long term role in public pensions followed.We discuss the current outlook for governance and public pensions as well as the likely further role of pooling in the UK LGPS. This is a rich conversation with many twists and turns.This episode of the Fiftyfaces Podcast is proudly brought to you by bfinance—a trusted partner to the world’s leading institutional investors. With a proven track record in strategy, implementation, and oversight, bfinance delivers bespoke investment consultancy that empowers asset owners to achieve their unique objectives. Whether it’s refining portfolio strategy, selecting fund managers, monitoring performance or getting better value for money, bfinance combines global expertise with tailored solutions to unlock value for their clients. To learn more about how they’ve supported over 500 clients in 45 countries, managing assets totalling over $9 trillion, visit bfinance.com.