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.

It has been a highly charged summer.  Between the big year of elections, a series of political and geopolitical surprises and a few market shocks, it has been anything but the silly season.  We have launched a few episodes of Fiftyfaces TV focused on investor identity and responsible investing and we have continued covering the issue of maternal mortality, women in sports and other matters close to our hearts.  

David Golub is President at Golub Capital, a direct lender and credit manager established in 1994, and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. As the son of a psychiatrist and psychologist, a path into finance was originally a divergent path, and a somewhat non-linear one at that.

Summer is coming, and so is Series 3 of the 2024 Fiftyfaces Podcast, and this series is filled with themes that we have not touched in as much depth before. The notion of service, and in particular serving public funds – whether in an officer, trustee or consultant capacity is explored in depth – we look at the mindset required, the rewards that accrue, and how to attract new talent into this segment.

Apurva Schwartz is a portfolio specialist at Harding Loevner LP. She was previously a principal at Rocaton Investment Advisors, where she was a senior member of the investment team. Prior to that she held a series of roles in equity analysis and investing. Our conversation starts with her serendipitous start in finance and how that experience of picking stocks drove her to launch her own hedge fund. Her interest then expanded to analyzing managers themselves and a career in investment consulting. This came full circle then when she chose her next move, which was back into the investment management field.

Kirsty Gibson is an investment manager at Baillie Gifford, where she has spent over 13 years.  She is currently focused in particular on investing in US equities with a growth orientation.

James Fletcher is the founder of Ethos Investment Management, based in Salt Lake City. He has over 19 years of investing in Emerging Market and was previously Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of the $1billion EM Small and Mid-cap fund at APG Asset Management. 

Nick Spencer is a senior consultant and sustainability risk specialist in the Milliman Life and Financial Services practice based in London. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and past Chair of its Sustainability Board and a past Council Member. He has written extensively on the integration of climate risks into actuarial work as well as on natural capital, biodiversity and broadly on aspects of the climate transition.