97: Talking Leadership with Felicity Walsh
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Release Date: 04/02/2024
117: Geopolitics with Alan Dupont – Tech wars, Geoeconomics and the Mag 7
Conversations with Institutional Investors
In this episode, I'm speaking with Dr Alan Dupont, who is the founder and CEO of Cognoscenti Group. Alan is a highly respected geopolitical strategist and has advised a wide range of governmental and commercial organisations, including the Northern Territory Government, Asia Society, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and Outcomes Australia. He has advised several Australian ministers of defence and foreign affairs, and in 2013 established and led the Abbott government's defence white paper team. Alan started his career in government, including as an Army officer, intelligence analyst...
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116: Igneo Infrastructure Partners' Danny Latham – Infrastructure 2.0, Waste to Energy and Transition Assets
Conversations with Institutional Investors
In this episode of the [i3] podcast, Conversations with Institutional Investors, we speak with Danny Latham, Partner and Head of Australia and New Zealand for Igneo Infrastructure Partners. We discuss the evolution of infrastructure assets, termed "Infrastructure 2.0," which includes renewable energy, digitalisation, and waste management. Danny highlights the shift from traditional infrastructure to more dynamic, B2B-focused assets, emphasising the importance of cash flow predictability and regulatory risks. He also touches on the role of gas as a transition fuel, the potential of...
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115: Gain Line Analytics' Ben Darwin – Performance Analytics, Team Cohesion and The Wallabies
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Ben Darwin is the Co-founder and General Manager of Corporate at Gain Line Analytics and in this episode we're going to take a look at what makes teams successful and stay successful. Ben is a former Wallaby player, having played 28 test matches for Australia. He's a former coach and a performance analyst, having worked with a number of rugby teams, including a Japanese team, the NTT Shining Arcs and Suntory Sungoliath, he started Gain Line in 2013 out of a desire to introduce a greater degree of empirical analysis into professional sports. But his research goes broader than just...
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114: Bellmont Securities' Michael Block – The Michael Block Roadmap to Investing
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Michael Block is Chief Investment Officer of Bellmont Securities and Adjunct Industry Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where he helped establish the UTS Anchor Fund. The UTS Anchor Fund is a live investment portfolio managed by students to give them hands on experience with managing portfolios. In this episode, we take a look at Michael's extensive career in investing, spanning roles with Future Plus, Nambawan Super, Australian Catholic Superannuation & Retirement Fund and now Bellmont Securities, and discuss the lessons learned during this time and how you can...
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113: FCLT's Eduard van Gelderen – Long Term Investing, Concentrated Portfolios and Decarbonisation
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Eduard van Gelderen is Head of Research for Focusing Capital on the Long Term (FCLT), an organisation that was established in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, or Great Recession as it is known in the US, to move away from a so-called “quarterly capitalism”, which arguably contributed to the crisis, and towards a true long-term mind-set.
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112: Fulcrum's Suhail Shaikh – Absolute Return Investing, Market Timing and The Role of Luck
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Suhail Shaikh is Chief Investment Officer of Fulcrum Asset Management and is the portfolio manager of Fulcrum’s Discretionary Macro and Diversified Absolute Return strategies. In today’s incredibly volatile environment of tariff wars and deglobalisation, investors tend to be more sensitive about the level of their absolute returns, than their performance against the benchmark. In this episode, we delve into the philosophy of absolute return investing, we talk about the role of skill versus luck, the use
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111: ART's Michael Weaver – The Role of Real Assets in a Pension Portfolio
Conversations with Institutional Investors
In episode 111 of the [i3] Podcast, we speak with Michael Weaver, who is the Head of Global Real Assets with the Australian Retirement Trust. We discussed the role of real assets in the context of a multi-asset, pension portfolio, the ever-lurking threat of inflation, the return of office property and more. Please enjoy the show!
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110: Allspring Global Investment's Jamie Newton – Is Now The Time to Add Duration?
Conversations with Institutional Investors
In episode 110 of the [i3] Podcast, we speak with Jamie Newton, Head of Global Fixed Income Research and Deputy Head of Sustainability at Allspring Global Investments. We discuss why now is a good time to add duration to fixed income portfolios, concerns over the lack of experience with high default rates in private credit and opportunities in data centres and other digital assets. Enjoy the Show!
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109: Is DeepSeek What It Promised To Be? – Will Liang Explains New AI Model
Conversations with Institutional Investors
In episode 109, we are back with Will Liang, Executive Director at MA Financial, to discuss the introduction of DeepSeek and the impact on the future development of artificial intelligence and the global economy. Are tech firms going to scale back their investments due to this low cost model, or is it all a bit of a hype? Enjoy the Show!
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108: Victory Park Capital's Brendan Carroll – Private Credit, Asset-backed Lending, ChatGPT
Conversations with Institutional Investors
Private credit has evolved significantly since the global financial crisis, and Brendan Carroll, Senior Partner at Victory Park Capital, has been at the forefront of that transformation. In this episode, we explore how private credit investments are adapting to meet the needs of insurers, the growing role of asset-backed lending, and why insurance companies are becoming the fastest-growing investor base in the space.
info_outlineIn this episode of the [i3] Podcast, we speak with Felicity Walsh, Managing Director and Head of Australia & New Zealand for Franklin Templeton about leadership, fostering a great work culture, mentorship and lab coats. Enjoy the show!
Overview of Podcast with Felicity Walsh, Franklin Templeton
01:00 Hanging up the chemistry lab coat and safety specs, and joining Watson Wyatt
05:00 Defined benefit post GFC and getting into client acquisition work
07:00 Differences between UK and Australian pension systems
10:00 When I came to Australia there was no depth in the inflation-linked bond market
13:00 Joining K2, not as different from an asset consultant as you might think it was
17:00 Making my own glossary of hedge fund terminology
19:00 In the early days of K2, there was a clear separation from Franklin Templeton. We even had our own fridge
22:00 On leadership style: “I’m very keen on a flat structure, which is not always how fund management firms operate”.
24:00 In a small team, you need to keep the job varied and interesting
29:00 Culture is incredibly important when you work for a global company
33:00 On the importance of keeping distractions away from your team
35:30 There are certain people whose counsel I seek from time to time, but they are not people who I initially thought were going to be mentors
40:00 Removing the distinction between retail and institutional teams
44:00 Focusing on community this year
46:00 Integrating the acquisition of Putnam investments
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