Vitali Kalesnik is a partner and senior member of the investment team at Research Affiliates, a Newport Beach headquartered investment firm.  Vitali is based in London.  He has focused his career in equity based research and has a Phd in economics.  He has written extensively in academic journals and has received various industry rewards for his content.  He is originally from Belarus.

Our conversation starts with his upbringing in Belarus and how a basic first computer sparked a love for coding.  A deep commitment by his parents to his education and tutoring led to a branching out in terms of third level education, which saw Vitali study in the US and ultimately pursue a PhD.

Given that Vitali’s focus is factor investing, we examine the sentiment towards this form of investing and how it has evolved over time, in particular during periods of challenging performance. in particular we look to ESG integration across this arena.

We speak about the concept of academic collaboration and how well that type of partnership can work across one’s career, even outside the academic realm. We also look at the importance of recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses and addressing those items that promote success – such as presentation skills.

Series 1 of the 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast is brought to you with the kind support of Heard Capital, a Chicago-based asset manager invests in public equities in the technology, media, telecommunication, financial and industrial sectors.  The firm was founded in 2011 and manages assets via a long/short fund and a long-only fund.