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.
Ayo Ayodele and I got to know each other when he was working as an Assistant Treasurer and Deputy Chief Investment Officer at the City of Chicago. He now works in Global Wealth Management at a large firm in Chicago, and prior to his role at the City of Chicago worked in a series of investment banking roles, including 3 years at Afrinvest West Africa, based in both London and Lagos. He was educated in Nigeria, Harrogate in the UK and the University of Arizona.
A broad discussion of Ayo’s move to the US, his shift from institutional asset management and public service to private wealth and what he perceives to be the differences between the two.
Klaus Peterson is a founding partner at Apera Asset Management, based in Munich. Apera is a lower mid-market private debt investor that provides financing solutions to European SMEs and asset management services to investors. Apera focuses on the DACH region, the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, France and Benelux.
James Clark is senior managing director at Blue Owl and the Global Head of Institutional Capital. He has 26 years of asset management experience, and prior to Blue Owl, worked for Pimco, Golden Tree Asset Management and Landmark Partners. We had met on the circuit during my time as an allocator with Chicago Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund, and I recently enjoyed listening to him on this podcast with Ted Seides of Capital Allocators. https://youtu.be/laLuf6XrrDw?si=uixmWOvMGnPNeydf
Lauren Juliff is Climate and Sustainability Product Lead and Head of UK Institutional at Storebrand Asset Management UK. Her educational background is in science and she has a MSc in Climate Change: Environment, Science and Policy. We start our conversation with Lauren’s background and a passion for dance that she has carried throughout her life. We mention this as a reminder to take time to nurture health, and joy, even in the small moments.
Stuart Dunbar is a Partner at Baillie Gifford, based in Edinburgh, where he has worked since 2003. He previously held a range of institutional marketing roles, but before that there were some unexpected interests and pursuits.
Jen Choi is CEO of ILPA – the Institutional Limited Partners Association, where she has spent over a decade. She previously spent over 7 years at the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.
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.
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.
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.