Frank Dixon is an expert on Systems Change.  He has been interested in sustainability since his MBA, joined one of the first ESG research firms, saw ESG wasn’t enough, and has been working on system change ever since.  Our conversation traces the evolution of Frank’s thinking around the need for system change and what this actually means. He established Global System Change and developed the System Change Investing (SCI) approach. It provided the first model for rating companies on system...

Carol Geremia is president of MFS Investment Management® (MFS®) and head of Global Distribution. She leads the firm's worldwide client-facing teams as well as product and marketing strategy. Since joining MFS in 1984, Carol has held roles focused primarily on fiduciary responsibility, stewardship and sustainability, and she has actively engaged with clients at all levels to ensure that the firm builds products and services aligned with their needs. Carol is a member of the Investment Company...

Steve Foresti is a Senior Advisor, Investments, at Wilshire, where he has spent almost 30 years.  He previously held a role as Chief Investment Officer, among other roles and is currently in a part-time role as he pursues other interests.  Steve was recommended to us as a guest because of his extraordinary career arc in which he overcame a substantial loss of vision as a child to pursue a fulfilling career. We begin by discussing Steve’s career journey and turn then to the nature of the...

Matt Whineray recently retired from the role of Chief Executive Officer at the NZ$77 bn NZ Super Fund, where he had spent close to 16 years in a series of roles, culminating in CEO but which included 4 years as CIO. He previously worked in a series of corporate finance roles, and currently holds a number of Chair and Board roles. Our conversation starts with his early career in finance, which saw him move from New Zealand to New York and Hong Kong.  We discuss the moment he knew that he...

Tiffany Wilding is a managing director and economist based in the Newport Beach office of PIMCO.  She leads PIMCO’s Cyclical Forum, crafts the firm’s outlook for the global economy, and analyzes key macro risks for the firm’s Investment Committee. Previously, she was a U.S. interest rate strategist in two firms and a Treasury market policy analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she helped structure and implement the central bank’s response to the 2008 financial crisis.Our...

Veena Aiyer has launched a community app for neurodiverse audiences called QRKIEZ.  The goal of QRKIEZ is to be an innovative platform designed to support neurodivergent individuals by fostering social connections, providing mentorship and offering tailored professional services. She previously worked in a series of startups  and tech companies. In our conversation Veena describes her upbringing in India and the path that took her to the US.  She describes her own discovery of neurodivergence...

Lindsey Stewart is Director of Stewardship Research and Policy at Morningstar Sustainanalytics, where he is a sustainability and governance specialist. Based in London he writes regularly about how institutional investors engage with companies and policymakers on environmental, social and governance themes and is a regular speaker on these topics. He previously was head of Stakeholder Engagement at the Financial Reporting Council and spent 8 years at KPMG in various engagement roles. Our...

Julie Koeninger is Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager in Agriculture at Manulife Investment Management, where she serves as the senior agricultural portfolio manager for the Hancock Timberland and Farmland Fund and leads business development for Manulife Investment Management global agriculture strategy.  She has over 30 years of experience in agriculture investing, having worked in a series of roles at other institutions prior to joining Manulife and led the first ever...

Mike Tiedemann was a Founding Partner, CEO and Chairman of the Internal Investment Committee at Tiedemann Advisors, as well as CEO at Tiedemann Investment Group (TIG), before leading the merger that created AlTi. Early in his career, Mike lived and worked in Brazil as part of the equity research group at Banco Garantia and later ran the equity sales and trading operations for Latin America.Mike serves on the board of multiple organizations and has been recognized multiple times for his...

Sarah Fromson, who is Chair of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund Investment Advisory Board.  She also holds a number of other Non Executive Board roles, including at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Quilter Investors, Capital Generation Partners among others. She spent 11 years as head of Investment Risk at the Wellcome Trust and prior to that was a Chief Investment Risk Officer at RBS Asset Management.  Our conversation starts with Sarah’s ascent through the City in various...

Rob Gardner is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rebalance Earth, which redirects the flow of capital to protect and restore nature at scale, He was a guest on this podcast in 2021, and that show is available here.  He has recently written a book with the title FR££DOM, which advocates three money moves to transform your finances. EARN IT, KEEP IT, GROW IT. This is just one part of his career-long mission to further financial literacy, education and investing for a world worth living in.  This...

"An investment in education gives the best returns” Benjamin FranklinTony Miller is managing director of Excolere Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on the education space.  He holds a number of board roles including Apollo Education group, ACT, Criteria Corp and Go Guardian.  He was co-founder of the Vistria Group, a Chicago based private equity firm and prior to that was Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in the US Department of Education.  Our conversation traces his...

Ilya Zaides is CIO and Founder of 14B. He started his career as a lawyer, eventually transitioning to an allocator role within two leading hedge fund allocators. He then made a switch into fund management, founding 14B 15 years ago.Our conversation starts with Ilya’s childhood and the impact of his parent’s immigrant’s journey – in which they   traveled from the former Soviet Union. We examine the impact that this has on work ethic, subject choice, and some of the philosophical underpinnings...

Jeanie Coomber is the founder of the Warriors at Work platform, and an executive coach.  Our discussion charts her journey from a corporate career at Alliance Bernstein to becoming a coach. We talk about the personality type necessary to be a coach, and Jeanie Coomber highlighted her unique approach to coaching, integrating her mother's psychotherapy expertise. There is more information on the Warriors at Work platform here: https://jeaniecoomber.com/warriors-at-work-show/In discussing what...

Shan Chen was until recently a portfolio manager focused on mostly private investments at the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, where he spent over 17 years. He previously worked primarily within information technology and did research work in biochemistry. He has recently retired from the PSPRS and is focusing full time on developing AI solutions for investment management.  Our conversation traces his route into the investment world from his science background and his years...

Wendy Li is the co-founder and CIO of Ivy Invest, a FinTech asset management firm.  She previously worked in the investment office of the endowment of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. In our discussion we start with her immigrant background in Pennsylvania, and her ascent through studying finance to a role in an allocator. Our discussion then turns to the founder's journey - the challenge and opportunity that FinTech and WealthTech present, and why the human element is unlikely to be...

Jennifer Ryan is Head of North American Distribution at Lazard Asset Management.  She previously was Head of UK Institutional Sales at BlackRock and Head of the US Institutional Pensions at Blackrock, and started her career at Goldman Sachs.In our conversation we tackle the craft of fund distribution, and Jennifer highlights the importance of understanding client ecosystems, building trust, and adapting to evolving client needs. She stresses the significance of team-based approaches and...

 It has been a highly charged summer.  Between the big year of elections, a series of political and geopolitical surprises and a few market shocks, it has been anything but the silly season.  We have launched a few episodes of Fiftyfaces TV focused on investor identity and responsible investing and we have continued covering the issue of maternal mortality, women in sports and other matters close to our hearts.   Now we are back to our main series and we are delighted to bring you another 10...

Tammy Parlour, is the co-founder of Women’s Sport Trust.  She works with leaders from across sport, media and business to understand how to practically raise visibility, increase impact and create a stronger women’s sport ecosystem and was awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to gender equality in sport. She is a Master in the Korean martial art of Hapkido, having practiced for over 40 years, and currently runs a club in central London. She is a club rep on The FA Women’s National League Board...

Jessica Karr is the founder and managing director of Coyote Ventures, an investment firm that focuses on backing founders who are solving problems that disproportionately affect overlooked populations with a foundation in women’s health.  She is also a limited partner of Portfolia FemTech II Fund, designed for women who want to back entrepreneurial companies for returns and impact, among other advisory roles.Our discussion starts with her early career and what led her into venture and an...

Jennifer Devine is Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, and a thought leader in the field of sustainable investing. I was thrilled to welcome her to the podcast in order to capture some of the vision that she implements at Wiltshire and translates for its members in easy to understand and relatable posts on social media and their home page that highlight concrete examples of impact investments.This podcast starts with chemistry  - which was Jennifer’s initial focus at university, then followed by...

Marguerita (Rita) Cheng is CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, based in the Washington DC area, as well as being a Founding Member of Kiplinger Advisor Collective and The Authentic Asian.  A keen runner, she was co-founder of 261 Fearless Incl, a global non-profit organization that uses running as a vehicle to empower and unit women, as well as Girls on the Run, where she is a Soulmate. She is a podcast host – of Margaritas with Marguerita, where she shares financial literacy and financial...

Penny Green finally retired from the investment industry in June following an over 30-year career.  She started her career in pensions with TPAS, where she was Deputy Chief Executive when she left, then became Chief Executive of SAUL, where, over the past four years I have had the privilege of working with her on the investment committee. Upon retiring from the Chief Executive role in 2014, she became an Independent Trustee with BESTrustees, and her portfolio included a Trustee role at SAUL...

Tony Dote, just recently retired from a role of Managing Director at Lazard Asset Management, where he spent over 40 years, focused on business development with a particular focus on large institutional investors including public pension funds. He started his career in insurance and later investment consulting. Our conversation starts with Tony’s upbringing in a large and close Italian family in his native Chicago. We learned about the bonds of family and community that were laid down there...