Nick Spencer is a senior consultant and sustainability risk specialist in the Milliman Life and Financial Services practice based in London. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and past Chair of its Sustainability Board and a past Council Member. He has written extensively on the integration of climate risks into actuarial work as well as on natural capital, biodiversity and broadly on aspects of the climate transition.

Our sweeping discussion starts with risk, which, as an actuary, has been the backbone of Nick’s career – analyzing it, measuring it, mitigating it. We look at the challenge of sustainability through a risk lens, and ask whether carbon should remain at the forefront of the discussion or whether it is more critical now to expand the list of priorities.

Staying on the topic of risk we speak about standards, reporting and mitigation, and circle into adjacent areas such as the challenge of biodiversity loss, renewable agriculture and the hydrology cycle.

Naturally, some of these seem to be at times insurmountable challenges, and we assess the right mindset for staying in this industry long term.

Nick suggested the following resources - see fiftyfaceshub for more details.

Sustainability Accelerator - Chatham House

https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review

https://global-tipping-points.org/resources-gtp/

Planetary Solvency – Finding Our Balance with Nature and Planetary Solvency Dashboard ;

Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.

GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.

With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.com

Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

In Part 1 of this special series focused on our brain power and whether we are losing our minds, we addressed the slide we are reported to be experiencing in terms of attention span and critical thinking capacity.

Now In Part 2 we ask what we can do now to address slide. We are joined again by Carolina Pacheco-Punceles. She is a Behavioral Economist, AI Survival Kit Creator, Executive Function Strategist and her Linked In bio states that she is Equipping Humans with the Skills to Think Clearly, Lead Wisely & Thrive in a Disrupted World

We suggest that the first step is acknowledging the problem – we then discuss the idea of training our minds and “going to the mental gym”, and look at strategies from those discussed by Niall Ferguson – creating an analogue study system where books are read in paper form and discussed without the use of electronic devices, to hybrid strateiges that encourage us to harness AI without relying it on exclusively.

If you enjoyed this short podcast series please send us your ideas for addressing the slide in our cognitive capacities.

Kristen Van Gelder is Partner and Co-CIO at Evanston Capital Mangement, where she has spent her entire career since college.

We begin our conversation with the roots of Kristen’s career, which corresponds quite closely with the roots and growth of Evanston Capital Management from the Northwestern University Endowment Management Team. Her career has spanned a significant period in the evolution and use of hedge funds in a portfolio and we spend some time on this, given the enduring focus on Evanston on this particular asset class.

Kristen’s view is nuanced and original and it is particularly interesting to probe beneath the headlines to assess the true state of affairs for this still significant asset area.

Finally we reflect on advice she internalized in recent years (from a unique source, it must be said) to be secure in “running her own race”. We discuss this as advice for the next generation.

Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.

GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.

With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.com

Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.