Terry Mellish just recently retired from a head of international public policy diversity and inclusion role at Natixis Investment Managers, capping a career in the city that spanned over 50 years. He is continuing in an active role in the industry as an ambassador of The Diversity Project where he heads up the ability work stream, and is a frequent participant in industry networking events and diversity and inclusion themed initiatives.

We discuss a legendary career that has spanned many decades of change in the city and how his own social-mobility sparked an interest in furthering this and other workstreams with The Diversity Project.

Saker Nusseibeh is Chief Executive Officer of the international business of Federated Hermes. He has previously headed equity teams in a range of asset managers, and is a passionate advocate for responsible investing and the integration of ESG factors into investment processes. He is a frequent contributor to industry dialogue on these topics and received the honour of Commander of the British Empire in January 2020 for services to responsible investing and the financial sector.

A City leaders rise to the top of asset management, his passion for sustainable investing and how his understanding of history informs his leadership style.

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.

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. 

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.

Ciara Hurley is an investment committee member at the Trinity College Dublin Endowment. Ciara recently retired from Quilter Cheviot, where she was a financial advisor for over 20 years.  She has worked as a portfolio manager, as well as serving in various director and Board roles. 

Kelly Chesney is principal and co-founder of Pluscios Management, a fund of hedge funds manager based in the Chicago area. The firm, founded in 2006, has two female founders, and we interviewed Connie Teska, the other founder, in this earlier episode of the Fiftyfaces Podcast.  She has a long history in investment management, particularly in the area of funds of hedge funds, investing and consulting and started her career as an attorney.

Elizabeth Browne is Managing Director and Co-Head, Elevate at GCM Grosvenor, where she works in the Sponsor Solutions division. She was previously Head of Entrepreneurship and Family Office Partners at RedBird Capital Partners and was a senior member of the investment team at DNS capital, a family office. She has held numerous board roles.

Uwe Schillhorn is Program Director at Emerging Markets Investors Alliance.  He previously was CIO at Principal International Americas, where he managed the investment teams and developed the business in Latin America.  Prior to that he was previously a global bond portfolio manager at UBS, and his most recent role was as CIO of a Chicago based public fund. 

2024 will be a year of tremendous change, and tremendous noise.  With elections in key regions, we are likely to be subjected to a volley of rhetoric and uncertainty will be the order of the day. In times like this, it seems even more important to reach out to our wise community for their insights on what should stay the same, and evolve, amid this uncertainty.