Abdiel Santiago is Secretary (CIO) of the Fondo de Ahorro de Panama, a role he has held for over 11 years. He holds a number of board roles in addition – including Advisory Committee Member of the Export-Import Bank of the US, a Board Advisory Committee Member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds and a Committee Member of the Milken Institute. He is also a Board Leadership Fellow at the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Our conversation starts with his early years in the US military, and the lessons learned there around leadership, team work and chain of command. We cycle through his career in finance, some of its ups and down and what led to the offer he couldn’t refuse to join the start up sovereign wealth funding his home country of Panama.

This series we have a special focus on sovereign wealth funs with the coming podcast with Victoria Barbary, Director of Strategy & Communications for the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Abdiel provides on the ground insight into building a fund from scratch, responding to governance concerns and considering local impact.

Our discussion ends with a discussion of board roles and governance, and how the allure of these roles might not be always as they seem.

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