Kristin Staffeldt is a Senior Portfolio Analyst in the Real Assets area at the University of Chicago endowment, which has around $8.5 bn in assets under management. She has spent most of her career in a range of roles in real estate, having focused on land economics in her university degree.

A deep dive into the characteristics of the real estate asset class, how to approach it as an institutional investor and perspectives of the profession for a mid-level vantage point.

Roy Kuo is team head of alternative strategies at the Church Commissioners for England, which has £8.5bn in assets under management, with £1.4bn in hedge fund strategies and £1.7bn in alternative private market strategies. He previously held a series of roles in consulting and asset management, and is an active participant on the conference circuit for alternative assets, as well as a thought leader for institutional investors.

A broad-ranging discussion of what it means to “think like an owner” in the stewardship of institutional assets.

Peter Wilson is Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, a private markets specialist firm with over $140 billion in assets across 14 offices. Peter has worked at HarbourVest for most of his career, in a series of roles, most recently as one of two members of the firm’s Executive Management Committee which ran the firm from 2012 to 2024.

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.

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.

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. 

Denise Le Gal is Independent Chair at Brightwell as well as a Chair and Trustee Director of JP Morgan Chase Retirement Plan among other portfolio roles  She was Chair of the Brunel Pension Partnership Limited for close to 8 years

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.

Stephen Oxley is founder of Oxley Capital Connections – OXC a firm he founded in the UAE in 2024 dedicated to helping global investment managers raise capital in the Middle East. He was formerly held a serious of business development functions in the Middle East and Europe and worked as an investment consultant.

Stephanie Niven is a Global Sustainable Equity Portfolio Manager at Ninety One. She started her career as an equity analyst and subsequently held a series of portfolio management roles.  She was previously an ambassador for the Diversity Project and sits on the Advisory Board of Girls Who Invest.