Trinity SMF Podcast

Matthew Barnes sits down with Kingsley Aikins - Founder and CEO of The Networking Institute, former long-time head of the Ireland Funds, and one of the world's leading voices on networking and diaspora engagement. 

Kingsley grew up in Dublin and studied Economics and Politics at Trinity, playing rugby alongside future Ireland and Lions internationals. After a postgraduate degree in export marketing, he joined the Irish export board and was posted to Sydney, arriving without knowing a single person in the Southern Hemisphere. There he co-founded the Lansdowne Club, wrote a letter to Tony O'Reilly that turned into a 21-year working relationship, and went on to lead the Ireland Funds from Boston for more than two decades. 

In this conversation, he explains why "other people" hold the keys to every career, how a diaspora-funded trip to meet Nelson Mandela helped pave the way to the Good Friday Agreement, why introverts can make better networkers than extroverts, how to build a reputation that speaks for you when you're not in the room, and what Ireland, India and even Cornwall can teach the world about engaging their diasporas. 

Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dEDNq6-R8Ds

 For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected] 

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf/

🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/

🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes/ 

Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.

VIEWER NOTE: This episode was recorded on September 22nd, 2026. Facts and figures discussed in the episode may have since changed.

Matthew Barnes sits down with Sarah Holton - Head of the Prices and Costs Division in the Directorate General Economics at the European Central Bank, whose team builds the inflation picture that comes before the Governing Council.

Sarah's path began at Trinity, studying Business, Economics and Social Studies, where a semester at Erasmus University Rotterdam gave her a first taste of an international environment. She returned to Rotterdam for her master's, joined the Central Bank of Ireland, and earned a PhD in economics from UCD before moving to the ECB in Frankfurt.

In this conversation, she explains how much of the current energy shock is still in the inflation pipeline, why oil and gas shocks pass through differently, why large shocks move prices disproportionately more than small ones, how the ECB's wage tracker sees pay deals months before official data, and why she sees investment in renewables and grid capacity as a route to lower inflation, not higher.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf-nsqYc6R0

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf/

🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/

🔗 Matthew Barnes' Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes/

Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Antony Jancic | Dublin, Japan, and Thirty Years in BankingMatthew Barnes sits down with Antony Jancic - Chief Executive of Bank of America Europe DAC and the firm's Country Executive for Ireland.Antony was born in London to parents from the former Yugoslavia, and joined banking through a UK graduate trainee programme more than thirty years ago. He has since built a career across multiple countries, including a move to Japan he was given 24 hours to accept. He joined Bank of America over 13 years ago during the European sovereign debt crisis, built out the international credit franchise and the client selection framework behind it, and now runs the legal entity that sits at the centre of the firm's European model, headquartered in Dublin with 11 branches across the EU.In this conversation, he reflects on why Ireland was the natural choice for the post-Brexit hub, how credit has changed since the financial crisis, what Japan taught him about building trust, and why he believes good leaders ask questions rather than hold all the answers. He also discusses Bank of America's Arts Conservation Project, including work with the National Gallery of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin Library, and closes on the best piece of advice he has ever been given.For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.🎧 Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMwUC0YeFsg4vGOHYJeakALOBTT_7D8f9🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf/🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes/Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.#antonyjancic #bankofamerica #banking #dublin #ireland #finance #leadership #TrinitySMF #trinitycollegedublin #podcast

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Robert Mann | 18 Years in the CIA, Goldman Sachs, and Rebuilding European Resiliency at Marshall Bridge Ventures

Matthew Barnes sits down with Robert Mann - US Army veteran, former CIA officer, and Co-Founder of Marshall Bridge Ventures.

Robert spent 18 years in the CIA, serving across South Asia, North Africa and Europe, after joining the Counterterrorism Center in 2006. He left the agency for Goldman Sachs, where he worked on M&A transaction risk, and has since co-founded Marshall Bridge Ventures with Mengwen Li to invest in dual-use technology and founders building for European resilience.

In this conversation, Robert explains when he thinks the post-Cold War peace really ended, whether Europe is rearming fast enough, and why Marshall Bridge Ventures is his answer to that.

Robert also discusses the unlikely parallels between his background and current work, why supply chain diligence has become a national security question, and his case for public service.

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.

🎧 Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@trinitystudentmanagedfund7865

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf

🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/trinity-smf-podcast

🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes

Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.

#TrinitySMF #venturecapital #CIA #intelligence #defencetech #europeansecurity #ukraine #goldmansachs #podcast #trinitycollegedublin

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Conor Hillery | Co-CEO of J.P. Morgan EMEA

Matthew Barnes sits down with Conor Hillery - Co-Chief Executive of J.P. Morgan for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Head of Investment Banking for the region.

Conor grew up in Dublin, studied commerce at UCD and trained as a chartered accountant at KPMG, before an advert in the Irish Times took him to London six weeks later. He joined Cazenove in 2002, came into J.P. Morgan when the firm was acquired, and has spent the years since building its investment banking franchise across Europe.

In this conversation, he explains why Europe has fallen behind on competitiveness, where the €1.2 trillion a year of investment the continent needs is going to come from, and why US buyers are circling UK companies trading at a 40% discount.

Conor also discusses co-leadership, what he looks for in the people he hires, and why he worries that AI may stop the next generation from ever learning the fundamentals.

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.

🎧 Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2KCU3PAzG5vzeg6nKshDvk

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf

🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/trinity-smf-podcast

🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes

Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.

#TrinitySMF #conorhillery #jpmorgan #investmentbanking #finance #europeanmarkets #dealmaking #leadership #podcast #trinitycollegedublin

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Jim Chanos | Inside the Golden Age of FraudMatthew Barnes sits down with Jim Chanos - founder of Kynikos Associates, the short seller who called Enron, and lecturer on the history of financial fraud at Yale.Jim's career began in 1980, when Wall Street was so far out of favour that he earned more in three months at a steel mill than in his first full year in finance. The first major company he analysed, Baldwin-United, became the largest bankruptcy in US history. Two decades later he read Enron's footnotes and recognised the same accounting. In between he was fired by Deutsche Bank over a front-page story about short sellers, and turned that firing into Kynikos Associates.In this conversation, he reflects on how bubbles repeat across cycles, what Baldwin-United and Enron had in common, why he calls this the golden age of fraud, and what the AI capital expenditure boom has in common with the telecom build-out.For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.🎧 Also available on Youtube and Apple Podcasts.🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/@trinitystudentmanagedfund7865

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf/🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes/Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.#jimchanos #enron #shortselling #fraud #AIbubble #TrinitySMF #trinitycollegedublin #investing #finance #podcast

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Julian Coulter | Navigating Emerging Markets

Matthew Barnes sits down with Julian Coulter - Global Managing Director at Google, leading the Food, Beverages, and Restaurants vertical, with over two decades operating across emerging markets from Poland and Russia to South Africa, Peru, and Mexico.

Julian's career took him from a graduate sales role at Bass Brewers in the English Midlands to regional director for Britvic International by age 26, through leadership roles at SAB Miller across South Africa and Latin America, and into his current role at Google.

Along the way he built brand strategy under a former Coca-Cola global CMO, launched and lost a premium soft drink in Poland, and helped shape how one of the world's largest companies thinks about marketing in the developing world.

In this conversation, he reflects on why he chose developing markets over the well-trodden banking and consulting path, what a failed product launch in 1990s Poland taught him about strategy, how head office and the operators on the ground negotiate tension, and where AI fits into closing - or widening - the gap between developed and emerging economies.

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]🔔

Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.🎧 Also available on Youtube and Apple Podcasts.

Matthew Barnes sits down with Bethany McLean - contributing editor at Vanity Fair, and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room, the definitive account of Enron's collapse.

In 2001, Bethany was the first journalist to publicly question Enron's valuation, publishing "Is Enron Overpriced?" in Fortune months before the company's implosion became one of the most notorious corporate bankruptcies in American history.

She went on to cover the 2008 financial crisis, co-authoring the book "All the Devils Are Here" with Joe Nocera.

In this conversation, Bethany reflects on the Enron story, the blurry line between visionary and fraudster, and the 2008 financial crisis.

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.

🎧 Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2KCU3PAzG5vzeg6nKshDvk?si=3c1fd802e0064a2a

🔗 Trinity SMF Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-smf/

🔗 Trinity SMF Website | https://trinitysmf.com/

🔗 Host's Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcmbarnes/

Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with more than €800,000 AUM.

#bethanymclean #2008 #financialcrisis #enron #TrinitySMF

🎙 Trinity SMF Podcast | Brendan McDonagh | Lessons from 3 Decades in Global Banking

Matthew Barnes sits down with Brendan McDonagh - former Chief Executive of HSBC North America, former Deputy Chairman of AIB, and Chairman of PEAL Capital.

Brendan's career has spanned more than than thirty years in global banking, holding senior roles in seven countries, Brendan led HSBC out of the 2008 financial crisis.

n this conversation, he reflects on what it takes to lead through a crisis of that scale, the decisions made under pressure when the system was breaking, and the lessons that still hold for finance and leadership today.

Brendan also discusses his time at Trinity, his role on the advisory board of Trinity Business School, and his advice for students still at the university.

For podcast enquiries please contact [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for new conversations with leaders in business, finance, and beyond.

🎧 Also available on Youtube and Apple Podcasts.

🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast - Apple Podcasts⁠🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast - Youtube🔗 Trinity SMF Podcast - Apple Podcasts⁠🔗 ⁠Trinity SMF - Linkedin⁠

🔗 ⁠Host's Linkedin⁠Trinity Student Managed Fund is Europe's oldest and largest student-run investment fund, with over €800,000 AUM.

#TrinitySMF #brendanmcdonagh #hsbc #banking #finance #2008financialcrisis #investmentbanking #leadership #podcast #trinitycollegedublin

🎙 Tune in to the Trinity SMF podcast with Emanuele Roncalli di Montorio-Veronese as he speaks with Trotter's Chiara Bertarelli

Chiara is the founder of Trotter. Chiara, a recent Harvard graduate, was inspired to create a travel social media platform while exploring South America with her friends in 2023. She wanted a centralized platform to help people search, plan, book, and share their travel adventures, while also connecting them with like-minded individuals. Since launching her app, she's expanded her vision and created a luxury lifestyle platform with a 24/7 concierge service, an itinerary planner, a social