The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Kourtney Gibson is President of Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets, one of the largest privately-held investment banks in the country. After joining the company as an intern more than 20 years ago, she has held various roles at the firm, including spearheading its global equity division for more than a decade.She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and sits on the board of trustees of the University of Miami and Viterbo University as well on the board of Lululemon Athletica Inc., the MarketAxess Corporation, Dibia Dream Foundation and the Chicago Scholar’s Foundation. She is a frequent network contributor who provides commentary on market trends and events and is a trailblazer for women and minorities both in finance and more broadly.Our conversation traces how Kourtney rose through the ranks of Loop Capital and the values that have always grounded her. We speak about sponsorship, why it matters so deeply, the importance of competing on a level playing field, and what she brings to her Board Roles as a female, an African American and a millennial. She shares her views as to how we can effect real progress on these metrics and continue to shape the conversation.

In this bonus series of the Fiftyfaces podcast we meet eight accomplished women who offer a frank assessment of their journeys into the investment world and their experience in it. We hear about being underestimated, and whose problem this is, really. We discuss the imposter syndrome, the high drop-out rate of senior women, and how a Board Director is using her position to drive inclusion and knowledge among private equity firms and boutique firms without grand plans and comprehensive policies. There is a lot of "grandmother" wisdom in here, some motivation from faith, stories of advances in academia, and a discussion of the contribution to excellence of HBCUs. We hear from female founders who hit more than a few stumbling blocks and how the glass is both full and empty according to one's point of view.

Carrie Pickett has had a long career in asset management, and was recently a founder and principal of Blueprint Capital Advisors, having held a series of roles as Controller, director of operations, and marketing and investor relations in other asset management firms. She is a frequent contributor to the dialogue around the need for more diversity in the asset management industry. Our conversation discusses Carrie's experience as a founder, which has taken many shapes and forms over the years, and is a shot of reality in terms of the kind of capital needed and type of trajectory that can be expected. She discusses her experience of diversity and inclusion, and the lessons learned in her journey.

Ariane Barker is CEO of Scale Investors Ltd, based in Melbourne, which invests patient capital in female-founded Australian early stage businesses. She has had a long career in global finance, including roles in investment banking in the US, Europe, Japan and Australasia, and in 2011 was identified as one of seventy high potential board-ready women after being awarded an AICD board diversity scholarship. She holds a variety of Board roles including the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation and at a variety of not-for-profits in the education, healthcare and the arts. Our discussion begins with Ariane's early instincts for finance and investing, which started in high school, and how she translated that into a fast-paced global career. She talks about her move to Australia, and what motivated that, and how Scale Investors presented the perfect opportunity to unite her broad skillset to empower the next generation of founders. We talk about her passion for education and some of the exciting challenges ahead for that sector. And we have a frank discussion about juggling career and family, and how compromises take shape and pan out.

GuyLaine Charles and I met when we started on the same day as junior associates in a NYC law firm in the mid-90s. GuyLaine became a specialist in derivatives and recently launched her own firm, Charles Law PLLC, to represent clients in the negotiation of financial agreements including prime brokerage, futures and options, limited partnership and credit agreements - in fact anything that might represent the “plumbing” that is vital to the operation of the investment world. She also has a particular interest in documenting social impact investments. For a change in this series we examine the experience of diversity in the legal profession, how it has evolved since the mid-1990s and some of the challenges that all working parents experience. We speak about the impact of a strong and engaged manager, the enduring importance of inclusion and representation and the challenges and opportunity in striking out on one's own.

Daniel Booth is Chief Investment Officer at the Borders to Coast Pensions Partnership, which manages assets on behalf of 11 partner funds within the UK Local Government Pension Scheme. He has extensive experience as a chief investment officer, and he has had a particular emphasis on alternative investments throughout his career, where he has spent time in Saudi Arabia, Frankfurt as well as the UK. Our discussion traces Daniel's journey through finance and some pivots along the way that saw him build businesses and investment portfolios in far flung places. We discuss what these experiences taught him about knowledge sharing, trusting others, and not taking stability and predictability for granted. We move to what he looks for in a team, who has inspired him in his career and how he drives towards sustainability and longevity in an investment operation.

Elizabeth Burton is CIO at the Hawaii Employee’s Retirement System, a US public pensions plan with over $17 bn in AUM. Before moving to Hawaii in 2018 she was managing director of the quantitative strategies group at Maryland State Retirement and Pension System. Prior to that she ran her own strategy consulting business, and worked as an economist, in portfolio management at a fund of hedge funds and a as fixed income securities trader. Elizabeth is a recipient of the CIO Magazine’s 2019 Innovation Award, and was named as one of CIO’s Forty Under Forty in 2017, and was recently appointed to the Board of CAIA. Our conversation reveals Elizabeth's passion for sports, and some of the inspiration she has drawn from elite athletes. We also talk about her love of statistics, and how she uses confidence intervals to inform her investment approach and navigate complex decision making. We discuss about diversity in the industry currently, how it enriches groups, and how sometimes taking a broad and inclusive approach to recruiting from various disciplines can further expand the candidate pool.

Ivory Day is Managing Partner at Ivory Day Clear Investment Consulting based in the Chicago area. He started his career close to 50 years ago and has held a long succession of investment consulting roles, during which he advised public, Taft-Hartley, corporate, endowment and foundation plans. He is a frequent participant on the industry conference circuit where he discusses his views on asset allocation and the active v. passive divide. Our conversation covers his early career, when he juggled three jobs, including one as a cab driver, and how he learned the ropes of investment consulting. We spend some time on his long held investment beliefs, the use of passive v. active managers, and the importance of asset allocation v. manager selection. Ivory is not afraid to speak truth to power, and to tell clients what they need to know, not simply what they want to hear.

Erin Archer is Treasurer at Syracuse University, which she recently joined after a period as Treasurer and Director of Investments of DePaul University in Chicago, where she oversaw the endowment. She started her career in sell-side research and has had a global career including four years in London and two years in South Africa, where she focused on the consumer sector. Our conversation covers Erin's time in investment banking and an adventurous period covering the consumer sector across Emerging Markets. That triggered a discussion of her views on using Emerging Market allocations in institutional portfolios. We move to discussing values, and some of the behaviors that work well in life, and should translate more to the business of finance.

Rod June is Chief Investment Officer of the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, (which has $19.5 bn in AUM), where he has spent over 8 years. He previously held the same title at the Hawaii Employees Retirement System, where he spent over 4 years. In this podcast we discuss Rod's long history of public service in public pension funds, how he entered finance and some of the key influences on his decisions. We focus for a time on the issues at the forefront of his mind as a CIO of a public fund today, including where the decision making really resides, the need to maintain a long-term perspective and the importance of building a diverse and resilient portfolio. He talks about how he has shored up his team and approach amid pandemic disruptions and how he has carefully crafted a roadmap for inclusion. This is the most astonishing part of this podcast - the clear and systematic way that Rod builds an environment that fosters inclusion and enables "crossing over" into new communities. There is something in it for all of us.