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.

We are delighted to release as a bonus episode this conversation with long-time industry member, mentor and advocate Jennifer Strickland.  Over the course of Jennifer’s career she has held a series of roles starting out in the annuity space, moving into private wealth, hedge fund business development, alternative asset business development and most recently was Head of Business Development for Pretium, a $50 bn specialized asset manager focused on real estate, structured credit and legal opportunities. She is a Board Member of Women in Private Credit and an active advocate for mentorship and diversity within the financial services industry. 

Fernando Vinzons is Chief Investment Officer at the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund, a role he has held for almost 3 years. He previously spent over 13 years at the Cook County Pension Fund and started his career in investment research.

Rich Byrne is President and CEO of Benefit Street Partners as well as a decorated Brailian Jiu Jitsu champion. In this fascinating podcast we discus his journey from a fine arts major to a leading figure in finance and the many twists and turns in between. 

Erik Hirsch is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Hamilton Lane, where he is responsible for the firm’s strategic direction and operations. The firm currently has over $900 billion in assets under management and supervision and is committed to driving meaningful change in private markets for the institutions and other clients that it serves. 

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. 

In this special episode we are thrilled to share the stage with Robert Morier, host of the Dakota Live Podcast and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital at Drexel University. 

We reflect on what podcasting has taught us, how our respective platforms have evolved, how diversity factors in to our guest list and our approach, and what the future looks like for podcasting, for our industry and for how we talk about it. 

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.