Bob Snigaroff, who is President and CIO at Denali Advisors, based in San Diego. The firm is named after Mount Denali, the highest peak in the USA located in Bob’s native Alaska (and the name for the mountain means “High One or Great One”). The firm is classified as a minority run firm due to Bob’s native American heritage and we discuss his upbringing in a fishing village in Kenai Alaska and how this influenced him in both striking out from the area and remembering his roots.

A unique insight into Native American heritage, a childhood in Alaska, and how it informed a career in finance.

Kate Nevin is President and Portfolio Manager at TSWII Capital Advisors, a role she has held for over 20 years.  She is active with many industry groups (such as The Academy of Institutional Investors and Nexus) and community organizations focused on conservation and gender equality. She was a Riley Diversity Fellow.

In Series 4 of the Fiftyfaces Podcast of 2023 we gather 10 guests who share a passion for excellence – in very different fields. We hear from a legendary business builder about how he closes the deal while a hedge fund manager shares the humbling effect of market downturns. A CIO reveals her ups and downs and the importance of learning to take risk and having a backup plan, while a serial builder of banks and financial institutions who started her career decades ago tells us what has changed, and what has not and sharpens the focus on what kind of mentors really matter

Matt Sherwood, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WeVidIt Media, a video streaming platform that leverages data and analytics for a more inclusive and profitable entertainment industry. We met while he worked as an asset allocator, where he headed up public market investments for MMBB Financial Services.  He has spent time as a guest lecturer and an appointed professor at Columbia University and The King’s College in New York, and has authored a textbook on the topic of ESG Investing. He is a board member of the Guide Dog Foundation and American Vet Dogs and serves on the Lavelle Fund’s Investment Committee.

In our summer Series 4 of the 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast we invite you to see our industry through fresh eyes through hearing the stories of 10 extraordinary professionals.  We hear of the training and perspective obtained through playing tennis at a professional level, challenging ice-skating routines and practicing the ancient Japanese martial art of Kendo.  We hear about formative life experiences, such as mission-work in a violence-rocked Latin America as well as the challenges of becoming legally blind early in one’s career. 

Johara Farhadieh is Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of The Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI), in which she oversees a $20 bn defined benefit fund and a $5 bn dollar defined contribution plan with over 150,000 beneficiaries. She has been at ISBI for over 13 years, and prior to that was a financial analyst. She was named an All-Star Chief Investment Officer by Trusted Insight and ISBI was ranked number one in private equity returns among public pension funds in 2020 by the American Investment Council.

A story about resilience and a refusal to accept “no” for an answer when it comes to building diversity in an institutional portfolio.