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Fiftyfaces Focus Podcast - The Next Chapter

Fiftyfaces Focus Podcast - The Next Chapter

By: Aoifinn Devitt
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About this listen

 In this Fiftyfaces Focus - The Next Chapter series we are delighted to bring you insights from 17 investment professionals around the world whose expertise includes investment committee, director, trustee and Chair roles. A portfolio career is often what many executives pursue as their next chapter, but there is no guidebook, no rule book for what makes an effective non-executive director or board member. There is even less guidance as to what makes an effective chair. Join us in this tour de force as we capture what these professionals view as the key ingredients of being an effective board or committee member, or even a Chair. Episode 1 brings us three veterans of the London investment management scene - Sally Bridgeland, Debbie Clark and Caroline Burton, as well as Sharmila Kassam, based in the US. In Episode 2 we meet with Margaret Casely-Hayford, Chancellor of Coventry University whose board and chair experience is prolific and varied, as well as William Bourne, an adviser to local government pension funds, Julian Tregoning, a legend in the City of London Fund Management circles and Sandy Urie, Chairman Emeritus of Cambridge Associates, and the holder of multiple board and committee roles over the years. Episode 3 introduces us to Alex Noble, who after a long career of leadership of her own is committed to training the next generation of leaders now. Susan Martin is also enjoying her own portfolio career, after decades in an executive role, and is also a consultant that helps to manage change in organizations. Daniele Beasley is on the board of Mission Bank and is committed to financial literacy and ensuring an inclusive environment for all while Henry Tapper discusses the lifetime he has dedicated to improving transparency and choice in pensions. In Episode 4 we provided a sneak preview into two guests from our 2022 series - Kimberly Smith and Rania Azmi, based in the US and Kuwait, each of whom hold non-profit board roles and are passionate about education and better governance. We hear also from a formidable legal mind, Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit and justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, who featured in our Fiftyfaces Focus - Inspiring People in Law Series, as well as the equally formidable Gerald Chen-Young whose portfolio includes a deep commitment to diversity, inclusion, ESG and investment matters. This episode is rounded out with a discussion about the profoundly impactful Jan Nicholson, who runs her own family foundation, has had numerous public company board roles and a long investment career of her own. Please help us to keep the conversation going by spreading the word about this podcast series and sending us your own words of wisdom on this critical area.Copyright 2025 Aoifinn Devitt Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Episode 10: Catherine Foot of Phoenix Insights: On Preparing for a Longer Script and Aging Better

    Episode 10: Catherine Foot of Phoenix Insights: On Preparing for a Longer Script and Aging Better
    Aug 9 2023
    Catherine Foot is Director at Phoenix Insights, a new longevity think tank launched in 2021, which reimagines how we work, learn, save and live in an age of longer lives. She previously was Director of Evidence at the Centre for Aging Better and prior to that was Assistant Director, Policy, at the King’s Fund. Our conversation traces Catherine's early interest in older people, aging with dignity and thinking about what it means to live longer, fuller lives. She relays an anecdote around thinking about a life span like a play to which a 15 minute addition has been given and challenges us as to how we would amend the play with that in mind. Would we simply add another 15 minutes to the end.. without a plan or would we add some minutes to different stages of life. Would we add a few minutes to our work lives, to our volunteering and to the phases that pre-date the end of life. This thought experiment is a trigger to "talk" more about age - the topic of a recent campaign at Phoenix Insights around the later years in life and how to make them count. It is a powerful and important movement. This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns.
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    31 mins
  • Episode 9: Veronica O'Keane: On the Making of Memories and the Wisdom of Age

    Episode 9: Veronica O'Keane: On the Making of Memories and the Wisdom of Age
    Jul 27 2023
    Veronica O’Keane has recently retired from her position which was as a professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trinity College Dublin. She has over 30 years of experience in the field and has published numerous research papers, especially on mood disorders and on perinatal depression. She is the author of the book A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are and The Rag & Bone Shop, How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us. She lives by the sea in north Dublin and is a passionate open sea swimmer. Our wide-ranging conversation starts with what drew Veronica to psychiatry and her path through medicine. We speak about the evolution of psychiatry over her career, and the integration of it with our growing understanding of neuroscience and neuro-imaging. We speak about an age of enlightment of sorts that the area is entering given the ability for neuroscience to further explain the mysteries of the brain. We dive in then to some of the specialist areas that Veronica focuses on, some of which are the subject of her books, such as the science of memory and how it evolves, as well as the way that studying the extreme expressions of an illness can help us to understand more mainstream versions of it. We speak about the development of the brain as we age and some of the abstraction that we can develop, which is, in effect an advantage. A lifelong advocate for women in medicine, Veronica speaks about her own experience as a practitioner and the position of women in the healthcare system and how much improvement still needs to occur. This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns.
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    44 mins
  • Episode 8: Charlotte Gibson of The Rewirement: Redefining Retirement through Coaching

    Episode 8: Charlotte Gibson of The Rewirement: Redefining Retirement through Coaching
    Jul 19 2023
    Charlotte Gibson is a coach, actuary and pensions consultant. She is a senior manager at ISIO and the founder of The Rewirement, which is focused on redefining retirement through coaching . She previously worked in management at KPMG and prior to that was an Actuarial Analyst at AON Consulting. Our conversation focuses on modern definitions of retirement and how they are evolving. We discuss the different life experiences that are now commonplace and question whether the traditional model of retirement applies. We explore the difference between retiring "from" something and retiring "to" something and look at why many people benefit from coaching to aid and frame that transition. This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns.
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    23 mins
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