Ian McKnight is a long-time asset management CIO who currently holds a portfolio of roles, including as Chief Investment Officer of Tontine Trust, Senior Adviser of Cartwright, Hineni Capital and Giants Shoulders Capital as well as a series of other roles. He previously was Chief Investment Officer at Royal Mail for over 13 years.

Our conversation starts with Ian’s start as an actuary and how he found himself gravitating towards pensions – his affinity for working with people and problem solving made him a natural fit. We discuss some of his core investment beliefs including how to take calculated risks, and use examples of some of the innovative strategies he employed while CIO at Royal Mail. We discuss how government regulation (and attitude to risk) can hamstring investment opportunities and what can be done to avert this.

Ian explains Tontine Trust's potential to disrupt the annuity market by offering income for life with better returns. Ian also stressed the importance of networking, mentorship, and entrepreneurial spirit, advocating for a cultural shift in the UK to foster innovation and risk-taking.

Series 5 of 2025 is kindly sponsored by Diamond Hill. Diamond Hill invests on behalf of clients through a shared commitment to its valuation-driven investment principles, long-term perspective, capacity discipline and client alignment. An independent active asset manager with significant employee ownership, Diamond Hill’s investment strategies include differentiated US and non-US equity, alternative long-short equity and fixed income.

Deanne Stewart is CEO at Aware Super, an Australian superannuation fund with over 200 billion AUD in assets under management and the third largest superannuation fund in the country. She has held this role for close to seven years, and was previously Chief Executive Officer at MetLife in Sydney, and prior to that, held a series of financial services roles.

Because Deanne is no stranger to podcasting (you can see a range of her other appearances below) we wanted to pick up where some of the other podcasts had picked up and we start by asking what it was about her varied roles - what she calls a "grab bag of experiences - in asset management, life insurance and management consulting that shaped her leadership style and approach at the helm of Aware Super. We reflect on what she seeks to channel as a leader, and Deanne highlights the importance of curiosity about her team, ideas, approaches, and about listening and plugging in to "learning mode".

Moving to discuss the priorities now at Aware Super, we discuss their strong ethos around essential workers, and how this translates into a twin focus on achieving the required return but also channeling the responsible ownership ethos that is important to their mission. We discuss recent acquisitions and the consolidation going on within the Australian superannuation fund environment and the need to find global investment opportunities as the funds under management grow.

You can find more podcasts featuring Deanne here:
Leadership Series with Helen McCabe https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deanne-stewart-on-the-pivotal-moment-that-shaped-her-career/id1469503665?i=1000703776587
Top CEO Series, The Mentor with Mark Bouris https://open.spotify.com/episode/0R0hHl3Q6wfdaBb4JI5WNd?si=K5CBUkSiRSGyfE8dMGQ2qA
Blenheim Partners https://blenheimpartners.com/episode-109-deanne-stewart/

Series 5 of 2025 is kindly sponsored by Diamond Hill. Diamond Hill invests on behalf of clients through a shared commitment to its valuation-driven investment principles, long-term perspective, capacity discipline and client alignment. An independent active asset manager with significant employee ownership, Diamond Hill’s investment strategies include differentiated US and non-US equity, alternative long-short equity and fixed income

Have you heard about the fraud triangle? Do you know what graduate trainees look for in an employer?

We are delighted to launch Series 5 of the Fiftyfaces Podcast this week. Featuring a range of voices from the Australian Superannuation Fund Aware Super to a legend of the UK local government pension scheme, we hear what drives their leadership styles, their insights on the dynamic backdrop to pensions the world over as well as novel approaches in which they see interesting opportunities.

We dive into key investment topics - like the opportunity in healthcare and how to do real operational due diligence. We hear about the European emerging manager scene and why the UK should not be written off as an investment destination.

We listen to a CIO who risked it all, lost it all and bounced back in an institutional setting that proved just the right combination of support and challenge and from a Brazilian institutional investment adviser as well as a leader in modern diversified financial solutions in the alternatives space.

Tune in starting this week to hear from our guests Deanne Stewart, Ian McKnight, Pilar Gomez-Bravo, George Graham, Lindsey Bass, Rebecca Heun, Jo Natauri, Jamila Osman, Everaldo Franca and James Clarke.

Series 5 of 2025 is kindly sponsored by Diamond Hill. Diamond Hill invests on behalf of clients through a shared commitment to its valuation-driven investment principles, long-term perspective, capacity discipline and client alignment. An independent active asset manager with significant employee ownership, Diamond Hill's investment strategies include differentiated US and non-US equity, alternative long-short equity and fixed income.