The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Ciara Hurley is an investment committee member at the Trinity College Dublin Endowment. Ciara recently retired from Quilter Cheviot, where she was a financial advisor for over 20 years.  She has worked as a portfolio manager, as well as serving in various director and Board roles. Our conversation charts both Ciara’s career and the evolution of wealth management in Ireland over that 30 year period. We discuss how she developed her own identity and risk tolerance as a financial advisor, and the way that she encouraged clients to “walk with her” during turbulent market conditions to ensure that their portfolios were resilient. We conclude by discussing Ciara’s next chapter now, post retirement, which will involve a lot of travel and pursuit of her love of art and art history in particular.  We speak about what she has learned from studying this area and the enhanced perspective and insight it provides. Series 3 of 2024 is supported by Ruffer and Nuveen. Ruffer is a London based asset manager - founded in 1994 - managing over $25 billion for institutions, pension funds, charities and individuals. They have a single investment approach that aims to deliver positive returns across the full range of market conditions.  Nuveen has provided investment excellence for 125 years. With expertise across income and alternatives, Nuveen continues to expand its capabilities while maintaining its legacy as a leading investment manager. Visit Nuveen.com to learn more.Investing involves risk; loss of principal is possible.

Marcie Frost is the Chief Executive Officer of CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the US with over $400 billion in assets under management and serving over 2 million members in its retirement system. She was recently elected to the board of the Toigo Foundation.Our conversation starts with her very early days in public service, and how typing and softball were an unusual combination that led to an opening opportunity.  She recalls how she rose through the ranks in Washington State, ultimately running the Department of Retirement Systems and chairing the Washington State Investment Board. She notes that what people say about you you in the form of endorsement can be more effective than what you say about yourself.We move then to her role at CalPERS and the change that it involved and ask what is at the forefront of her mind today.  We discuss a wide range of topics from the challenges of funding, stakeholder management and flexing the muscle around change that steering this level of assets.  Topics that CalPERS is particularly active around include climate change - and it has committed $100 bn to climate innovation as well as diverse managers, where it has contributed $4 bn just in recent allocations. We conclude with a broad discussion on pension fund governance, the challenges and opportunities of working in the public arena and the mindset that sets one up for success. Series 3 of the 2024 Fiftyfaces Podcast is sponsored by Ruffer and Nuveen. 

Summer is coming, and so is Series 3 of the 2024 Fiftyfaces Podcast, and this series is filled with themes that we have not touched in as much depth before. The notion of service, and in particular serving public funds – whether in an officer, trustee or consultant capacity is explored in depth – we look at the mindset required, the rewards that accrue, and how to attract new talent into this segment.We move then to private wealth to discuss the unique ways to serve clients such as athetesOur guests on Series 3 of 2024 are Marcie Frost, CEO of Calpers, Kevin Leonard of NEPC, and Kurt Summers of Blackstone, all of whom talk about their work lives in public funds and the satisfaction they derive from this.  Staying with pension funds we chat with Jim McNamee about his career in the police and his transition into pension funds. We move from there to Canada to catch up with Derek Walker of CPP Investments about the total return approach that they espouse. Moving then to private wealth, we speak with the legendary Ciara Hurley about her 30 years in private wealth in Ireland, Stephanie Drescher of Apollo about the massive opportunity for growth in this segment, and Anna McDonald from Moneta talks about her practice with professional athletes. We cycle back to asset management then to hear about the case for Emerging Markets from Varun Laijawalla, as well as the culture of culture at Golub Capital, as told by David Golub. Series 3 of 2024 is sponsored by Ruffer Investment Management. 

Carina Diamond is a wealth management leader with particular experience in growing and building businesses. Late last year, she founded Stella Secunda Partners, a consulting firm that helps financial services locate and retain next generation talent and guide business owners through succession planning. She is a motivational speaker and coach, as well as the founder of Diversitas, a national education program at The University of Akron designed to expand diversity in wealth management.Our conversation starts with her early career, and the philosophy of abundance v. scarcity that informed her approach to growing a firm and financial planning. We move then to talk about the evolution of financial planning, to invoke more psychology, sociology, focus on financial literacy and human centricity. This is a recurring theme in the industry recently. On the topic of the next generation and succession, we speak then about the impact of Diversitas, and how targeting education programs in this way can be so pivotal to inspire an interest in wealth management as well as creating a network of support and motivation.This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing.

Rick Weissinger is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Moneta and a veteran of financial services marketing. He previously held roles at Brightworth and Craneware. Our conversation starts with Rick’s passion for marketing – how it developed and why the connection with the consumer is so critical. We refer to the Star Wars analogy of hero and guide or mentor and translate this into marketing financial services, asking who the true hero of that story should be?This lyrical conversation shifts from music to consumer goods marketing, to notorious marketing fails to unforgettable classics in terms of consumer connection. We end with an examination of impact and higher purpose, and look at how companies that draw this connection end up enjoying long term success.  So we ask – what is your purpose – and who is the hero of your story? This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is  a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing. 

Hallie Label, is the founder of Expect Equity, based in Baltimore.  She was previously Chief Operating Officer at Rock Springs Capital, and prior to that was a principal at Makena Capital and held numerous financial industry roles.  We start by tracing that career evolution – and Hallie’s early days playing competitive sport. We look at lessons from that and how she developed an interest in finance and investing. Given her experience in OCIO firms, we speak about the development of that industry and the evolution of client demand.  We move then to discuss Expect Equity and the pivotal role it plays in supporting, seeding and nurturing emerging investment managers.  We discuss the initial cohort of portfolio managers and ask what it takes to be supported and to thrive.  This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is  a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing.

Brent Mattis is a Principal at the Cleveland Clinic Investment Office. He specializes in idea generation, manager selection and financial modeling for the investment portfolio and likes to look “off the beaten path” for opportunity. Prior to joining the Cleveland Clinic in 2017 he worked for 6 years in a family office in NYC with a particular focus on alternative assets, direct private investments and public equities. We chart Brent’s path to finance and hear early on about his interest in gaming, poker and riding motorcycles.  This prompts a few detours around parallels between these interests and the art of investing – we hear about risk taking, decision making and strategy. Brent describes a career path that was not exactly a smooth road, but the destination was still a fulfilling one, and we then move to discuss portfolio construction, governance and what “off the beaten path” looks like in terms of portfolio construction. We discuss orthogonal return drivers as well as rethinking more conventional ones.This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is  a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing. 

Aditi Javeri Gokhale is Chief Strategy Officer, President of Retail Investments and Head of Institutional Investments at Northwestern Mutual, based in Milwaukee.  In her role she leads teams that manage more than $627 bn in company and client assets, including nearly $310  bn in institutional investment portfolio and over $280 billion in retail client assets  She is also accountable for the Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures -the company’s venture investing arm and the consumer digital disruptor Wysh.  Our conversation starts with her journey from India to the US, and her career path through marketing and strategy that led to her current role at Northwestern Mutual. We spend some time on that role – and on the integration of insurance, investment and annuities that lie behind the unique approach to financial planning there.  We then cycle through a range of topics including AI and its impact on financial planning, the importance of values and how leadership styles evolve. We end with a reflection on the role of directors and how alignment with the purpose of an organization is key.  This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is  a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing.

Grace Reyes, is the CEO and Founder of TIDE – The Investment Diversity Exchange, which she founded in January 2020 as a way to connect key industry players to promote diversity and inclusion in the investment industry. She has recently extended TIDE’s reach beyond the US and has a base in both the US and the UK.  TIDE as a partner to the largest US public pension plans, their emerging and diverse manager efforts. Our conversation starts with a story about a father, a daughter and a starfish – and how each of us has the ability to make a difference to one piece of the puzzle.  This ability to make impact – large or small – far or near – is a hallmark of Grace’s role at the center of connections in the investment industry and as founder of TIDE.   We hear about her first entry point into finance – how she didn’t hide her love of socializing, and how, while maybe not a conventional attribute for finance, this proved to be the secret sauce that enabled her to grow her network. We hear then about the origins of TIDE, and how its birth during the pandemic was full of both challenge and opportunity.  We hear about the challenge of access to capital for emerging managers and how smaller, more personal networks help to bridge some of the gap.  As a networker extraordinaire Grace has some excellent advice as to how to build and nurture connections and we are delighted to share them here with you. This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing.

Randy Cohen, is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business school. His main research focus is the interface between the actions of institutional investors and price levels in the stock market and has helped to start and grow a number of investment management firms. He is a partner at Exsight Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage impact investments in innovative ophthalmic diagnostic and treatment solutions. This has particular resonance forRandy, who is blind from retinitis pigmentosa.We start our discussion by tracing how Randy used a process of elimination to decide on finance as a focus for his career and how he found his calling in academia. We spend some time delving in to the valuation patterns in equity markets and he describes what he calls the “lot little lot world” that we live in. A robust discussion on market efficiency then brings us to another corner of finance – venture capital, in this case with a particular focus on a venture capital firm that specializes in funding cures for blindness.Randy describes his own experience with retinitis pigmentosa and how being blind has affected his professional trajectory and the technologies that have been so crucial to enable participation and promote inclusion. Now, he has enough vision to be dangerous – and his website dangerousvision.com highlights the importance of looking at blindness through a different lens.This podcast is kindly supported by Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. and Ninety One Asset Management.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. Ninety One Asset Management is a global asset manager with emerging markets roots that brings a different perspective to active and sustainable investing.