Cathy Bevan is Head of Structured Credit at Benefit Street – Alcentra.  She has spent most of her career in credit structuring with roles on the sell side and buy side.

Series 2 of the 2025 podcast was born into a time of tremendous market turbulence. In our ten conversations with a diverse range of guests – sourced globally, we go top down, and bottom up – into the weeds, and take helicopter views. Tune in to hear about the technologies in venture capital and climate tech that excite even the most experienced investors who have seen multiple cycles with podcasts featuring Hunter Somerville and Beverley Gower-Jones, OBE on topics of big swing innovation in venture capital and what is on the cutting edge of climate tech. Eric Hirsch of Hamilton Lane describes private equity’s evolution, the essential role of data and what lies ahead, while Peter Wilson of Harbourvest shares his views on the topic as well as the importance of authenticit

Victoria Barbary  is Director of Strategy & Communications for the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) in which her focus is to help sovereign wealth funds become better investors for the benefit of their citizens.  She formerly worked in research roles relating to Sovereign Wealth Funds and prior to that was a PhD student in the field of Victorian History.

Rich Byrne is President and CEO of Benefit Street Partners as well as a decorated Brailian Jiu Jitsu champion. In this fascinating podcast we discus his journey from a fine arts major to a leading figure in finance and the many twists and turns in between. 

Erik Hirsch is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Hamilton Lane, where he is responsible for the firm’s strategic direction and operations. The firm currently has over $900 billion in assets under management and supervision and is committed to driving meaningful change in private markets for the institutions and other clients that it serves. 

Sonali Pier is a Managing Director at PIMCO in Newport Beach, with a particular focus on Multi-Sector Credit.  She previously worked as a credit trader and was named recently to the Marketwatch 50 most influential people in markets.  Our conversation starts with her education, and a stock picking competition at the tender stage of sixth grade, which launched an interest in finance and economics.

Beverley Gower-Jones, OBE FEI is Managing Partner at The Clean Growth Fund and Chief Executive Officer at Carbon Limiting Technologies. She is an independent member on Governments Net Zero Innovation Board (NZIB). The Board provides strategic oversight of government funding of net zero innovation programs.

This summary is less a trailer than a highlight reel. The year started with a new administration in the US and an explosion of the culture wars and backlash against DEI and ESG labelling. Even engagement has become more cumbersome and some may feel the hard won policies of years ago are going into reverse.  Because we had lined up a list of industry experts with a focus on sustainable investing for this series, we had an excellent opportunity to ask them about the headwinds and the view of them.

Hunter Somerville, a partner at Stepstone Group, where he focuses on venture capital investing with a particular specialty of digital assets and micro venture capital. Based in the Baltimore area, we reflect on what made him stay in and return to that area and the path he took to get to venture capital.

Chelsea Smith is Senior National Director, Family Office Services at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, based in Chicago. She started her career as an equity trader, and in recent years has been heavily involved in diversity initiatives designed to attract a more diverse pipeline into the finance industry.