Maggie Coleman is Chief Investment Officer Real Estate Equity, North America as well as Global Head of Client and Portfolio Solutions at Manulife Investment Management.  Prior to joining Manulife, she spent most of her career in real estate and capital markets. 

Our conversation traces her journey in which she considered an academic life, spent time in her own firm, and cycled through various firms across the spectrum of real estate. We discuss the key drivers of real estate returns, its role in a portfolio, how clients are using real estate today and what she sees as the compelling opportunity set today. We hear about the importance of "going to know", and how there is little substitute for on the ground experience and lessons learned through doing, and in particular with developing one's network early. 

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations.

Professor Crawford Spence is a Professor of Accounting at King’s College London and an experienced researcher and educator across an array of business disciplines with specific expertise in financial service professions. He is a genuinely international scholar, having lived and taught on a number of continents and also happens to have been my PhD supervisor. 

His most recent book is Inertia – Purposeful Inefficiences in Financial Markets (co-authored with Yuval Millo and James Valentine), and our podcast explores some of the books main themes and assertions here. We start with the idea of purposeful inertia – as it exists between different groups within the financial sector – explore what is this and is it ever likely to be broken? We discuss the “ossified ideas”  that he had in mind when thinking about this.  Digging deeper into inertia we ask if inertia and long-term relationships facilitate the building of trust and validation networks? 

The research is particularly focused on the social structures that support our economic systems, and we ask how these are shifting particularly with AI and/or hybrid working? Finally we ask if everything in financial markets is noise and end by discussing whether he believes in any form of investment alpha.

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations.

Brett Hickey  is founder and chief executive officer of Star Mountain Capital, a specialized private investment firm with approximately $5 billion in assets under management, focused exclusively on the US lower middle market. Since founding the firm in 2010 he has built Star Mountain into a differentiated investment platform spanning private equity, private credit and secondary solutions, with a focus on low market correlated returns, alpha generation and tax advantage strategies. He's over 25 years of experience across private investing and investment banking, and prior to founding Star Mountain was with Citigroup Global Markets in New York.

Our conversation starts with his upbringing and how finance was a second choice but ultimately a fulfilling one. We move then to discuss how he discovered the opportunity in the lower middle market and ultimately made the decision to found Star Mountain. We turn then to discussing his value system and unique leadership style. The star in Star Mountain is broken down as follows - S is to think like a shareholder, T is building trust, A is accountability, R is respect.

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

Kristina Hooper is  Chief Market Strategist at Man Group, a global alternative investment manager. In this role, she provides views and insights on the economy and markets and appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo Finance, and Reuters TV. Prior to joining Man Group in 2025 Christina served as the chief global market strategist at Invesco and previously worked at Allianz Global Investors. 

Our conversation covers her early career, the lasting effects of her Catholic school education and how an investment club inspired a love of stocks and investing. We move to her focus on economics and behaviour and how her legal training assisted her with creating an argument. She shares some of her more contrarian takes today and shares some of the inspiration that has shaped her career.

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

Dr. Michael Viehs is a globally recognized expert on responsible investment, stewardship and long-term value creation with over 20 years of experience in practice and academic life. He has advised leading institutional investors on a combined asset base worth more than $4 trillion and currently blends a combination of academic and advisory roles. 

Our discussion traces his career in which he has switched between an academic career and the private sector and traced an evolution in the understanding of and demand for sustainable investment strategies. He discusses his own current approach in this area and how it has evolved over time, and discusses the likely shape of stewardship in the next decade.

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

This podcast is our final podcast released and produced by the Always a Pensions Angle podcast series by DG Publishing. While the recording was made earlier in the Spring, the governance concerns remain pertinent and in flux for the LGPS. Clair Alcock is a highly respected leader in UK public service pensions, with over 20 years of experience dedicated to making pension systems more transparent, fair, and accessible. She currently serves as Head of Pensions at the Local Government Association (LGA) and Secretary to the LGPS Advisory Board, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of public sector pensions.

We speak in particular about the challenges of certain governance changes - the introduction of the independent person role as well as the Senior Officer within every Administering Authority. We discuss training, the importance of knowledge sharing and upgrading the skill network. We look to the future finally, to determine the direction that many of these pooled entities are likely to take. 

The Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

Matthew Kentridge, a strategy consultant with over 30 years experience, who is a trustee and advisor and also works as an executive coach. We were both at INSEAD together, and I have followed his career ever since – and am delighted now to bring some of his learnings to our audience. 

Our conversation starts with his early consulting career and the experience that growing up in South Africa generated, as well as his early career there. We move then to his move into coaching and the principles that he brings to coaching sessions, including the four big questions that he believes everyone should spend time thinking about. He runs a course around these four big questions, which everyone, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or educational level, has to confront and address at some point in their life:

We move from this into the importance of successfully navigating key inflection points and keeping strategy simple.

This podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

Sally Bridgeland, was one of the first 5 guests on this podcast back in 2020, and needs no introduction in London institutional investing circles.  Her original podcast is here:  since then there have been many exciting career updates to mention – including the fact that the chess and drama club that Sally talked about in 2020 have now made their way into their own book – entitled: Chess Club and Drama Club Building Creative and Resilient Businesses Together.  

Our conversation tracks Sally’s movements since our last discussion, how she finds fulfillment in so many different areas, including now her work with the Development Bank of Wales. We speak then about her insights on leadership culminating in the lessons of her book. 

Why we made this:

·      Sally is one of the most service-oriented professionals in the UK investment arena – never failing to bring her warmth, insights and leadership skills to a range of organizations

·      Her energy is infectious and her capacity is limitless

·      Her insights on culture are human, well researched and always fresh perspectives on the challenges organisations face today

This podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

Kirstie Sneyd is an organizational psychologist, executive coach and the author of “Returning Well”, a practical, evidence-based guide for working parents and their managers. We were both at INSEAD together, and I have followed her career ever since – and am delighted now to bring some of her learnings to our audience.

Our conversation starts with Kirstie’s roots in consulting, and what drew her to organizational behaviour at INSEAD. The first glimmers of what made a job worthwhile though stemmed from much earlier, and a beachside holiday in Devon. 

A career in consulting evolved into one that focused on coaching executives to find their voice, retain visibility and, in some cases, return to the workplace after a period of absence.

We speak about her book and the reception that it received, and the themes that Kirstie is now working on with her coaching clients. Many of these relate to coping with an increasingly heavy and complex cognitive load, as well as the pressure that social media creates in terms of comparisons to others. 

You can find Kirstie’s book here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Returning-well-working-parents-managers/dp/3111618277  and more information about her coaching practice on her LinkedIn profile here: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kirstiesneyd

This podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations

James Mitchell was a director at Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Phoenix Group before developing a portfolio career including a strategic advisory role with Re-wired Earth as well as Empathy, a company committed to supporting families through bereavement. He holds a number of other advisory and director roles.

Our conversation traces James's career through various roles and some of the realisations that dawned as businesses went through various transformations - such as through outsourcing. He notes that the cost savings realised are rarely those that are expected, and we discuss the various governance changes that are taking place across the financial services industry.

Moving then to his portfolio career we discuss with James the mission of Empathy, and the various strands involved in supporting families through bereavement, while Re-wired Earth has its own exciting opportunity sets. We finish with a discussion of life's passions - from snow boarding to cycling and epic travel to photography.

This podcast is supported by Franklin Templeton and Alvine Capital. 

Franklin Templeton is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds, ETFs, alternative investments, wealth management, and technology-enabled financial services. Founded in 1947, the firm manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and serves individual and institutional investors across more than 150 countries

Founded in 2005, Alvine Capital is a European focused private capital advisory and placement agent that provides capital raising services to investment managers. From its base in London and its office in Stockholm it creates bespoke capital raising programs that blend appropriate investor targeting and sophisticated marketing to deliver a fundraise aligned with institutional expectations