Libby Cantrill is a managing director in PIMCO’s portfolio management group. In her role, she analyzes policy and political risk for the firm’s Investment Committee and leads U.S. policymaker engagement and policy strategy for the firm. She also works closely with PIMCO’s Global Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2007, she served as a legislative aide in the House of Representatives and also worked in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley.

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. 

Our guests on this episode are Rob Gardner and Eoin Murray, both previous guests on this podcast, join us again to discuss how they have come together at Rebalance Earth.  

In this podcast – which was recorded with co-host Tom Raber of Alvine Capital, the co-hosts sit down with Björn Thelander, who is an experienced Family Office manager with broad international investment and industrial experience. His background is varied and involved many stints in emerging markets, punctuated by market crises which often necessitated a pivot – or two.