The Fiftyfaces Podcast

We are thrilled to launch Series 2 of the 2026 Fiftyfaces Podcast with a bumper collection of guests featuring three senior professionals at UK LGPS pools  - Richard Tomlinson (CIO at LPPI), Richard Law-Deeks (CEO at LGPS Central) and Ryan Boothroyd (Head of External Management at Border to Coast). We also feature titan of the industry Michael Davis of T Rowe Price on the cusp of his retirement from heading up retirement solutions there and he reflects on that decades in the industry taught him about client relationships and trust.We hear from an experienced venture professional  (Carol Strobel of Antler) about the venture environment in Brazil and why some boards need a reboot, while John Harney of AON reboots our thinking about pensions - again. Ami Galani of TIPT ventures describes her move from industry and Dick's Sporting Goods into running her own venture firm and the potential in women's sports, while Alex Ambroz founder of the Allocator Training Institute  discusses his background in foster care and the US army and how this formed his work ethic and his approach to investing. Lin Yue discusses her upbringing in China and how she learned to seek to build a new table and not just find a place at an existing one, while Jennifer Marques of Oaktree discusses the burgeoning world of private credit as well as discussing a personal hardship that shaped her approach to resilience. This podcast series is kindly sponsored by Benefit Street Partners and PIMCO. Founded in 2008, Benefit Street Partners – BSP – is Franklin Templeton’s specialised private credit manager with $92 billion in assets under management.  The firm provides a wide range of private credit strategies across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, including direct lending, special situations, commercial real estate debt, infrastructure debt, asset backed finance, structured credit and liquid credit.  PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company LLC) is a premier global investment management firm founded in 1971, specializing in active fixed-income with over $2 trillion in assets under management. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, it offers diversified investment solutions across public and private markets, serving institutional and individual investors worldwide.

Alex Ambroz is CEO of the Allocator Training Institute, which grew out of a career-long observation of the gap in the market for the kind of training that allocators need. Our podcast discussion starts with his own upbringing and he describes how he grew up in foster care and moved around a lot during his childhood in the US North East. The US Army was then a natural place to find his bearings given his lack of family supports and he went from there into university from where his career in finance began. Alex discusses how he found his role at Morgan Creek Capital Management and the range of skills and mentorship that he had access to there. We move then to discuss his investment beliefs and Alex highlighted the "Ferrari effect" and "fake alpha," stressing the need for systematic evaluation of factor exposures. He also introduced a novel emerging managers program involving a structured three-year investment bake-off. Alex is currently based in Ireland and we discuss what brought him there, his role in Aberdeen Investments Ireland and what drove him to create the Allocator Training Institute and the vision behind it.  We discuss the value of networks, continuous learning, and the importance of getting stakeholder buy-in for successful change management.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Benefit Street Partners and PIMCO. Founded in 2008, Benefit Street Partners – BSP – is Franklin Templeton’s specialised private credit manager with $92 billion in assets under management.  The firm provides a wide range of private credit strategies across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, including direct lending, special situations, commercial real estate debt, infrastructure debt, asset backed finance, structured credit and liquid credit.  PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company LLC) is a premier global investment management firm founded in 1971, specializing in active fixed-income with over $2 trillion in assets under management. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, it offers diversified investment solutions across public and private markets, serving institutional and individual investors worldwide. 

Jennifer Marques is Head of Strategy and Structuring for Structured Credit and Asset-Backed Finance at Oaktree, based in Los Angeles. She started her career as a corporate lawyer, first in private practice and then within Oaktree.  She discussed her career journey from law to finance, emphasizing the importance of resilience. She highlights Oaktree's focus on asset-backed finance, which involves lending to lenders, and its strategic partnership with Brookfield. She discusses in particular the recent SAAS-pocalyse and why it has affected certain areas more than others. Marques noted the evolving role of banks in asset-backed finance and the opportunities for private alternative lenders like Oaktree. Turning to personal reflections She also shared her personal resilience after losing her home in the 2025 LA wildfires, underscoring the importance of community support. Marquez advised taking risks, providing solutions, and remaining calm in crises.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Benefit Street Partners and PIMCO. Founded in 2008, Benefit Street Partners – BSP – is Franklin Templeton’s specialised private credit manager with $92 billion in assets under management.  The firm provides a wide range of private credit strategies across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, including direct lending, special situations, commercial real estate debt, infrastructure debt, asset backed finance, structured credit and liquid credit.  PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company LLC) is a premier global investment management firm founded in 1971, specializing in active fixed-income with over $2 trillion in assets under management. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, it offers diversified investment solutions across public and private markets, serving institutional and individual investors worldwide.

Adam Blitz is CEO and Co-CIO at Evanston Capital, where he has spent 24 years. He previously worked as a trader at AQR and in the prime brokerage division at Goldman Sachs. Our conversation starts with the serendipitous turn that saw Adam move from the prime brokerage division into the very early days of Evanston capital at the heyday of hedge funds going mainstream. We speak about the risk that that involved, and the vision of expanding upon the endowment investing model that had been in place at NorthWestern University in Illinois.  We move then into what has made Evanston’s approach to hedge fund investing stand the test of time – such as a continuing commitment to uncovering fresh talent in smaller, more nimble funds. Adam discusses the importance of “polish” in a manager’s presentation style, and how sometimes it is necessary to see through that to assess the true edge that a manager may have. We examine the role of hedge funds in a portfolio and how that has evolved over time and I cite the notable transparency that has always characterized Evanston’s approach, and we discuss the merits of that. This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm.

Matthew Rice is Chief Investment Officer of Vistamark Investments LLC where he leads the creation and execution of innovative, research-driven investment strategies anchored in disciplined portfolio management .He launched the firm in June of 2025 after a long career at Fiducient Advsors.  Our conversation starts with his career as a college and then professional athlete and the way that this experience shaped him in terms of resilience and teamwork. We move then to his continued formative years in investment consulting at the firm that was then DiMeo Schneider and follow this with what led him to launch Vistamark.  Matt emphasized the importance of qualitative analysis alongside quantitative models and shared his approach to maximizing return at a given risk budget. He also discussed the challenges of mission-driven investing, such as removing fossil fuels from portfolios. His final advice is around the importance of being honest, hardworking, and true to oneself as an investor.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm.

Welcome to Series 1 of 2026 – we are now approaching the age of 6 – if we were a person we would be entering school, so we have come of age, and we are going deep.Tune in to a series in which we question what it is to stick to one’s investment beliefs, hear about the changing world of OCIOs and take a different take on pension fund thinking. Our guests are: Kirsty Gibson of Baillie Gifford who discusses investment beliefs and the conviction of being an active manager Rich Nuzum of Franklin Templeton, who discusses the evolution of OCIOs Klaus Peterson of Apera Capital, discussing the opportunity in lower and middle market lending in Germany and the surrounding region Corey Then, general counsel - regulation at Circle, lifts the veil on Stablecoin and their promise Thomas Knowles of the Gratitude Railroad reveals the evolved state of impact investing William McGrath of C Suite Strategies has an unorthodox view on DB pensions and he would like you to know why Larissa Herczeg of 1 Seed, who shares the secret to seeding managers in the real estate arena Alison Taylor, of NYU Stern school, a legend in the corporate responsibility area Matt Rice of newly formed Vistamark Capital on the potential for OCIO and family advisory businesses. Adam Blitz of Evanston Capital, who explains their unique approach to unearthing talent in hedge fund investing  This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm

Alison Taylor is Clinical Professor at the NY Stern School of Business – her Linkedin profile describes her as having “lots of other hats and even more opinions”. She is the author of “Higher Ground – How Business can do the right thing in a Turbulent World”, and has a successful Substack as well as being a member of multiple governance oriented boards such as the FT Moral Money Advisory Board as well as holding senior advisor roles at KKR and Unilever. Our conversation starts out with her career journey, in which before joining the academic world she had such intriguing roles as a fraud and corruption investigator in the US and the Middle East. We discuss how this framed her mindset entering the corporate world, and then the pathway that led her to Stern School of Business.Moving then to the central theme of corporate governance and corporate responsibility we discuss what it means to do the "right" thing, and some of the challenges that performative responsibility has led to. We speak about the prime importance of leadership and culture, and Alison emphasizes the need to focus on group behavior and predictable actions rather than individual morality. The importance of authenticity is noted as well as the need for credible and defensible approaches to diversity and sustainability.Alison notes the trend of thinking becoming a luxury good and the need for offline, in-person events to foster critical judgment and EQ and we discuss the impact that AI will have on all of that.Finally we discuss Alison's recent launch on Substack and the reception that that kind of engagement has received compared to Linked In.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm. 

Larissa Herczeg is Founder and Managing Partner of 1 Seed Partners. One Seed Partners backs rising stars across the real estate complex Prior to founding 1 Seed she was Head of Seeding at Blue Owl, and prior to that CIO at Oak Street Capital before which she had series of financial roles. She was a 2025 Honoree for the Influential Women in Institutional Investing Awards.  Our conversation traces Larissa's first foray into real estate - how it was a default option rather than an original direction - but how it turned out optimally. We discuss the reasons she was attracted to the industry and the strong "human" component that drives deal success as well as organizational sustainability.We turn then to discuss the seeding business in particular, and how so much more than capital is involved. We discuss today's landscape for emerging managers, how the goal posts have changed and how barriers to entry affect capital raising as well as getting a head start.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm

Corey Then is the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel - Global Policy at Circle, a global financial technology company. He previously held a series of legal roles, and spent a period in the White House as an economics and Department of Justice lead. He's also an adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law. We got to know eachother while Corey was in-house counsel at Moneta in St Louis. Our conversation starts with Corey's entry into law and how his stint in the White House was formative in terms of his approach to problem solving and working with teams. We move then to what interested him first in crypto assets and what brought him to Circle. Corey explains what it is about Stablecoins that makes them so transformational. He suggests that they will  enable commerce to speed up and that this increase in money velocity, will bring more prosperity to more people around the world..In terms of the risks to this trajectory, Corey suggests that if there are not comparable laws around the world, that StableCoin won't meet its full potential. He suggests that if there are balkanized regulatory structures around the world, we could end up with stable coins stopping at borders, which would be a huge disservice to consumers around the world. This podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm.

William McGrath is CEO of C suite pension strategies. He has a financial and industrial sector background and was a longtime CEO of AGA range master. He has an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University for work to sustain the relevance of the Midlands industrial heritage. He returned to the financial sector after 25 years working in industry.In our discussion we trace William's own career path and the source of his interest in pensions and the financial sector more generally. Moving then to his current perspective on pension funds at  C Suite Pension Strategies, he discusses the importance of corporate pensions, emphasizing that they should be seen as a corporate wealth fund rather than a burden. He highlights that there is still £1.2 trillion in private sector investments in the UK, advocating for a "run on" strategy over "buyout." William criticizes the lack of scrutiny in actuarial work and calls for better regulation and oversight of some of the workings of this sector. Overall he emphasizes the importance of a "members first" approach which puts member interests at the center of pension fund governance.   We move then to broader governance issues and we talk in some detail about his experience in leadership at Aga and getting back to his love of history and the industrial heartland refers us to “Aga, Allied and Ogilvy – The Management of Groups”, which contains remarkable Boardroom records of a group of allied iron founders seeking to integrate businesses between the 1930s and 1950s – https://homehearthistory.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/aga-allied-ogilvy-book.pdfThis podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm.