Bruno Kaiser is CFO at Smile CDR Incl, a digital health company based in Toronto. He previously spent over 20 years in a series of investment banking leadership roles with a particular focus on the Metals and Mining Sector. We were classmates at INSEAD from 1999-2000.   

We have brought you this story to showcase an extraordinary physical challenge – the world’s toughest row – that one of our own – investment manager Laura Langton – is about to embark upon. We examine what motivates a person to take on something so extreme and so obviously strenuous and physically taxing. We look at the preparation and mental journey that is involved, and ask what it teaches her and how she brings these learnings into the workplace.

Laura Langton an investment manager at JM Finn. She was previously involved in developing partnerships and revenue streams in financial services. Our conversation starts with her very sporty upbringing in the idyllic Cotswolds. Her mother was a jockey and Laura found rowing had its own rich history within her family.

Ben Phillips is Head of Asset Management Global Advisory Services at Broadridge Financial Solutions, based in New York, He has had a long background in consulting at firms such as Casey, Quirk, Deloitte and Cerulli Associates and has focused for much of his career on the dynamics and evolution of the asset management industry. I asked Ben here to let us look over his shoulder into his crystal ball to chart the future course of the asset management industry.

Melanie Pickett is Executive VP and Head of Asset Owners, Americas at Northern Trust, based in the Chicago area.  She oversees the Alternative Asset Servicing Group and directs the firm’s strategy , growth and delivery of all firmwide products for asset owners and allocators in the America’s region. She was named 2021 Top 40 Women in Fintech and the 2021 Global Banking & Finance US Business Woman of the Year. She previously was Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Emory Investment Management at Emory University and prior to that spent over 10 years at Morgan Stanley. 

Francois Bourdon is Managing Partner of Nordis Capital, based in Montreal. He is also Managing Partner in Sustainable Market Strategies, an independent investment strategy research service tracking global developments in ESG/impact-investing worldwide.  He was formerly Chief Investment Officer at Fiera Capital.  

Paula Horn is Chief Investment Officer of the public securities group of Brookfield Asset Management. She has had an extensive career in investing, which has spanned investment grade credit, credit derivatives and other public investing. She holds a number of investment committee and Trustee roles.

Debbie Fielder is deputy head of Clwyd Pension Fund at Flintshire County Council, where she has spent over 27 years. She is a leading voice on the LGPS investment circuit having been an early adopter of broad diversification and a founding member of the Welsh Pensions Partnership.

It is our last official series of The Fiftyfaces Podcast for 2023 but we have a ton of actionable content for you for the rest of the year. In Series 5 we are looking around the corner at the future of AI, and how it will enable us to go back to the future.  We will look at what lies ahead for digital health and how better inclusion, particularly of people with disabilities, empowers all employees.