The Fiftyfaces Podcast Aoifinn Devitt

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.