I am thrilled to launch Being Invested with my first guest, Alex Ivanova. The aim of this podcast is to bring to life the people behind the markets. I'm so glad you have tuned in.

Alex is the perfect guest to start us off. Her journey to a life in a town along the Thames, managing $10bn in bond portfolios for Invesco, speaking five languages, starting a non-profit, and raising two children with her husband, all started in Yakutsk, in the far east of Russia. It took determination, focus, adaptation and an ability to spot an opportunity. Her favorite quote is "If people don't laugh at your dreams, your dreams are not big enough." I can imagine she has left a lot of people laughing as she's followed - and realized - her dreams. I hope you enjoy this absorbing conversation as much as I did!

If you would like to suggest someone to be a guest, please message me on LinkedIn.

WHAT'S IN STORE:

• “I get an email saying we would like to accept you for an MBA programme, can you please send us your bank details where you have $18,000 to show us that you can pay for it. I was earning $100 a month. I had zero in my bank account. If I had one. I might not even have had one!”

• “Equity investment was very different. … I always felt like it’s algebra, it’s too easy for me.”

• “In the end, they didn’t buy the car. A couple of weeks later there was this Russian internal default, the ruble collapsed and there was hyperinflation... and before we could do anything with the money, the life savings of my parents, the value almost disappeared. And I remember my mum going to the market and buying a sack of potatoes and a pair of jeans for me. That was all she could get for all the money that they had. So that was my very first personal experience of how inflation can eat into your savings.”

• “We are all human beings. You have to remember: what is the market? The market is a collection of thousands and thousands of decision makers like myself and individual investors making decisions on a daily basis, and that is what moves the price. And if you understand the emotional part of it as well as the dry and analytical side of the business you get a better picture of what the risk balance has to be.”

• “In our industry, you don’t actually know if you’re good at it until you do it. There’s no university or school or even a course that teaches you how to be the best fund manager. The perception of risk is very different from person to person.”

HUGE THANKS:

• Sound engineer - Alexander Russell
• Artwork - Sophie Hardy
• Music - Tom McKean

SHOW NOTES:

• Alex: linkedin.com/in/alexandra-ivanova-31470874

• Alex is Chair of Save the Permafrost, a non-profit raising awareness and funding research around how to save the permafrost - to protect against accelerated climate warming and preserve vital ecosystems. Please engage with Alex to learn more. https://www.savethepermafrost.org/who-we-are/

• Recommended book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/12176421

• Recommended podcast: Conflicted, with Aimen Dean and Thomas Small https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/conflicted/id1443491069

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