The Fiftyfaces Podcast

There is no better place to start that this outstanding LinkedIn post by the extraordinary David Hickey. Please add to this list and feel free to write a recommendation.

Many keen young grads have recently asked me about resources for starting a career in investment management. While this may have been a ploy to try and engage me so I might give them a job, I have taken their requests seriously and come up with some ideas for books, podcasts, and other resources.

Given my heavy involvement in Responsible Investment and all the opportunities for collaboration that brings, I thought I might approach my network and see what others were thinking. After all, in finance there’s no right or wrong; if you want to be a buyer, there has to be another market participant who is a seller. Getting a broad array of views and then deciding yourself is critical. Stay curious and question everything! Before I give away the top picks from my collection and my network, I’ll quote Rachel Lord (head of EMEA, BlackRock), who was kind enough to leave some very good advice to ANY reader (fresh grad or seasoned executive):

“My advice: It’s important not to think about finance and investing in a vacuum. Mastering the technical skills is absolutely critical, but I’d advise anyone starting out to think about the context in which those skills get used, and to remember just how important the skills of communication are. With that in mind I have two recommendations:

1. Subscribe to Foreign Affairs. Understand the broader geopolitical drivers that impact people, society and the world’s economies; and

2. Read great poetry, novels, philosophy and plays, in whichever language you are fluent in. Understanding people, their basic motivations, and how they respond to communication will matter tremendously as you progress in your career, whichever part of investing or finance you may work in.

And remember that an insatiably curious mind is the most important skill of all in this industry.”

And with that, here is a list of things you may find useful

Books

Title Author

Bad Science Ben Goldacre

Factfulness Hans Rosling

Fooled by Randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Prisoners of Geography Tim Marshall

Start With Why Simon Sinek

The Infinite Game Simon Sinek

Thinking, fast and slow Daniel Kahneman

Rebel Talent Francesca Gino

Deep Work Cal Newport

The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee

Zero to One Blake Masters and Peter Thiel

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Charles Mackay

Nudge Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein

Freakonomics Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

The Great Crash, 1929 JK Galbraith

Irrational Exuberance Robert Shiller

Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari

The Defining Decade Meg Jay

Grow the Pie Alex Edmans

Modern China Cary Krosinsky

Liars Poker Michael Lewis

Talking to my Daughter - a brief history of Capitalism Yanis Varufakis

The Decisive Moment Jonah Lehrer

The Intelligent Investor Ben Graham

Finance for Ordinary People Meir Statman

The Rule of Law Tom Bingham

Podcasts

Outrage & Optimism

Freakonomics Radio

FiftyFaces

The Daily – a New York Times Podcast

Man Group – A Sustainable Future

The Ethical Compass Podcast

Capital Allocators (check out especially the episodes with Hiro Mizuno and David Blood)

Climate Rising

Motley Fool

Articles

Hugh Rockoff ‘The “Wizard of Oz” as a Monetary Allegory’ https://economics.rutgers.edu/joomlatools-files/docman-files/RockoffWizardofOz.pdf

Letters to Investors from the likes of Howard Marks etc. Here is a good list to get you started

https://www.vintagevalueinvesting.com/the-complete-list-of-q1-2020-hedge-fund-letters-to-investors/

Anything about Charlie Munger, ever in Buffet’s shadow https://www.thendobetter.com/investing/2017/8/29/charlie-munger-life-lessons

And of course Warren Buffet’s Letters to Berkshire Shareholders https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html

Organisations with great output!

CFA Institute Research Foundation - https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/research/foundation

PRI - https://www.unpri.org/investment-tools

IIGCC - https://www.iigcc.org/resources/

Pensions for Purpose - https://www.pensionsforpurpose.com/

GMO - https://www.gmo.com/europe/research-library/

Asset TV - https://www.asset.tv/

IEA - https://www.iea.org/

Girls are Investors (GAIN) posts job opportunities in the investment arena here. Their summer internship program for 2022 is now closed, but check back for details of other opportunities and their 2023 program.

Twenty Wealth Management provides tailored guidance in wealth management and experience design and is looking for an intern.  Please write to them directly at this link for more information.

Georgeson, a Computershare Company, is searching for an ESG Analyst to join their advisory team.  Arun Kelshiker is Head of Environmental and Social at Georgeson (UK/Europe).  Please find further details here.

Terry Mellish, Ambassador at The Diversity Project, discusses his upbringing in Essex, how he felt when he entered the city and how his path was somewhat different than most: 2 to 9.36

Darren Johnson, of Impax Asset Management, grew up in South London and had some unusual role models that inspired him to enter the corporate world: 1.09 to 6.16

James Penney describes his early years during college doing missionary work in Latin America and the profound effect that that had on him, and what it taught him about human dignity: 1.52 to 8.08

Tremaine Wills, a financial advisor committed to helping the under-served black community, details some of the issues she encounters when it comes to furthering financial literacy: 14.36 to 19.55

Kimberly Smith describes her passion for education and why she is driven to give back: 20.24 to 25.40

Rachel Green tells the story of her own upbringing with searing honesty (6.18 to 8.32).  She the describes why her Skills Workshop is such a passion project and the leverage and effect that it has: 11.34 to 18.35

Les Bond reveals the moment that he realized that social change was inextricably tied up with political power: 0 to 1.14

Jessica Portis, of TIFF Investment Management, enjoyed the backing of an Inroads program to introduce her to the corporate world and has not looked back since: 0.56 to 2.22

Judy Chambers, of Meketa, had a mom who set a high bar for her daughters, and thanks to her, as well as a program called “Better Chance” she found an internship at JP Morgan at the age of only 15: 1.11 to 3.50

Anji Kaur Kang-Stuart, of Man Group, tells a poignant story of her upbringing and the challenging early years of her adult life: 1.19 to 5.52

Elois Joseph, co-founder of The Greenwood Project, discusses growing up in Chicago’s West Side and how her first job came from an unexpected place: 1.11 to 2.13

Andrew Osayemi former Trader turned Netflix Producer on using his true voice, and his South London accent, in the City, and the liberation that that brought: 5.28 to 11.40

Marisa Hall of the Thinking Ahead Institute on empowering underrepresented voices in finance: 16.04 to 21.28

David Hickey discusses growing up in a Yorkshire pit village and how he entered university 2.12 to 3.37

Rob Gardner of St. James Place describes his passion for financial literacy and why he believes it should start very young: 17.05 to 22.46

Dawid Konotey-Ahulu, founder of 10,000 Black Interns, reveals his vision for what has now become the 10,000 interns program: 17.28 to 26.39

LaRoy Brantley of Meketa describes his background in teaching and how that set him up for a career in finance. 18.36 to 20.10

Meredith Jones discusses her passion for the "Rock the Street" initiative that introduces young women to roles in the financial world: 20.16 to 22.33

Cynthia Tusan, in addition to being a successful founder of her own asset management firm, also has a passion for making education accessible and rich in its offerings.  Hear about her non-profit initiatives here: 7.11 to 9.50

Robin Powell is a journalist and consultant dedicated to advocating for transparency and education when it comes to choosing investment products. Hear just part of his vision here: 5.13 to 13. 48

Kimberly Smith of Techstars discusses her passion for education here: 20.24 to 25.40

Daniele Beasley reveals why financial literacy is critical at every age: 4.07 to 6.04

Henry Tapper is passionate about making pensions more transparent and more accessible in the UK. Find out why here: 3 to 8.03

Rachel Green founded The Skills Workshop to light a spark for thousands of young people and inspire them to enter the investment profession. Find out why: 11.23 to 15.30

Bevon Joseph discusses the Greenwood Project, which aids black and Latin-x students to enter the finance profession: 3.49 to 12

Justin Onuekwusi, host of A Rolling Start podcast, discusses mentoring, breaking down biases and where we go from here: 29.56 to 32.47

Angela Miller May, an Illinois based CIO, discusses her commitment to diversity in her team and portfolio: 5.28 to 3.56

Elizabeth Burton, CIO of the State of Hawaii, describes what is at the forefront of her mind: 3.35 to 8.38

Mark Steed gives some examples of his “out of the box” thinking that enables him to seek outsized returns for his public plan in Arizona: 3.08 to 6.49 and 18.27 to 25.44

Daniel Booth believes that we should always start from a position of trust and relies on his global background to inform his investment decisions: 16.01 to 16.57, 23.43 to 25.19

Rod June of Los Angeles provides insights into the right approach to governance in a public plan, as well as insights into how to create an atmosphere of true inclusion 5.52 to 9.47 and 17.44 to 23.56, 26.50 to 31.32

Katie Wyatt, CIO at Loyola University, on running a mission-driven and values-based portfolio: 11.02 to 16.45

Leslie Lenzo, CIO at Advocate Aurora Health, on nurturing a diverse team and managing hospital assets: 1.53 to 2.50, 8.51 to 15.08

Genia Diamond breaks down the essential steps in building billions of dollars in assets: 10.59 to 16.39

Kerry Duffain reveals the variety that characterized her early career and how this led to her flexible and adaptable approach to business building: 3.14 to 8.36

Marquette Chester is another legend in the field of business and team building.  He discusses how he had stayed the course here: 10.22 to 11.48

Rahul Moodgal, described as a master fundraiser, describes his own long-term and relationship driven approach:2.58 to 6.13,

Kimberly Smith of Techstars discusses how listening to learn was the key to developing a successful career in client relations and business development for hedge funds. She describes her passion for education here: 3.49 to 5.44

Machel Allen, fund founder, describes her vision of building a value-driven asset manager and the steps that it involved: 5.50 to 8.17

Cynthia Tusan, fund founder, shares her experience of founding a firm, her insights into how to retain staff and what kind of mentorship and advice really makes a difference 13.31 to 23.56

Jenna Gerstenlauer has an all-female executive team at her firm focused on real estate debt. Hear about her journey as a founder: 8.22 to 13.58

Tom Majewski, CLO equity fund founder, plans his life in 5-year stages – find out how he builds for success: 1.11 to 2.31

Connie Teska, fund of hedge funds founder, faced an interesting reaction when she and her female co-founder announced they were launching their own fund of hedge fund firm: 5.36 to 10.59

Aman Kapadia, hedge fund founder, believes in intellectual curiosity and orthogonal thinking at his young hedge fund firm. Find out how this culture translates into success: 6.18 to 8.33

Bob Snigaroff, founder of a value-based asset manager, on the challenges of running a small active manager amid today’s surge of interest in interest in passive investing: 7.15 to 9.05

Carrie Pickett, serial founder, reveals some inconvenient truths about starting a business: 5.57 to 10.31

Roxanne Martino, original founder of a $11 bn hedge fund of fund firm, on blazing a trail through hedge funds: 5.09 to 7.52

William Heard on starting small and winning the trust of backers: 3.21 to 7.38

See our entire Next Chapter series for excerpts from 17 non-executive directors, chairs and committee members for how to build successful portfolio careers and how to be effective in such roles.

In our 2022 Series Cynthia Steer shares what she brings to her portfolio of Board Roles. Listen from 18.30 to 21.59.

Chris Hitchen shares his views on creating institutional resilience and how to build it as well as what he focuses on in his portfolio career. Listen from 11.46 to 15.14.

From our Inspiring People in Law Series Nancy Stern gives us her take - "Nose in, Fingers out". Listen from 20.40 to 21.45

David Hutchings is embarking on his own portfolio career and shares some wisdom from a legendary tour through private equity.  Listen from 22.16 to 22.54

Dr. Namukale Chintu has an illustrious and varied portfolio career which sees her help not only entrepreneurs in her native Zambia but also focus on adding value at a variety of asset management firms. Listen from 14.17 to 18.23.

Mitesh Sheth, OBE discusses the spirituality that has grounded him throughout his career: 11.34 to 12.51

Gary Greenberg, who also hosts our Meditations series, discusses his Buddhist meditation practice and how it co-exists with his day-job of finance: 7.42 to 11.36

Hear from Matteo Dante Peruccio about how he thinks about the current wave of digital assets and how to make sense of it - from 13.55 to 17.24.

Maureen Downey is at the forefront of alternative asset innovation at The Beneficent Group, she tells us about innovations in the secondary market area and how they are helping to democratize access to and exit from these assets. Listen from 22.50 to 29.57

Hardeep Rai describes his business focusing on empowering disabled business owners and entrepreneurs and details some of the shortcomings with true inclusion for people with disabilities across various careers. Listen from 14.24 to 17.26

Matthew Sherwood shares why his blindness has taught him to see persons with disability as people with determination - and why we should perhaps all reframe disability as this.  Matt shares what new technologies have made possible and how we need to break the bias against persons with disability. Listen from 4.18 to 17.45.

In our Inspiring People in Law series Richard Daly, blind from birth, shares how his career was affected by shortcomings in technology as well as a "can't do" attitude instead of a "can do" one. Listen from 2.54 to 5.41.