Kirk Sims (Teacher Retirement System of Texas) "Fostering Opportunity"
Successful Investors
Kirk Sims is an opportunity builder. With a career shaped by seizing the right moments at the right time, Kirk works every day to create valuable opportunities for emerging managers. His multifaceted background cultivated guiding principles that spearhead his current investment approach. With the goal of leaving the industry better than he found it, Kirk works diligently to embark some of his hard-earned wisdom on the next generation of investment professionals. Kirk now heads the Emerging Manager Program at the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas, an initiative that focuses on building...
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Katherine Molnar (Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System) "Diversification 101"
Successful Investors
Intellectual curiosity is a guiding principle for Katherine Molnar, CIO at Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System (PORS). Katherine began investing as a teenager with the money she earned from summer jobs. She regularly questioned the critical elements of investing and often explored deep technical details in search of an answer. Eagerness for knowledge is a through line in Katherine’s career, motivating her to find innovative methods to strengthen portfolios. Prior to working at Fairfax County PORS, Katherine spent a decade at AIG Investments (later Pinebridge Investments) where...
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Charmel Maynard (University of Miami) “Paying It Forward”
Successful Investors
Growing up in Trinidad, Charmel Maynard was exposed to a wide array of cultures and backgrounds—an experience that taught him the sky’s the limit. Now, as CIO and Treasurer at the University of Miami, Charmel utilizes data-driven and DEI-focused methods to strengthen his investment processes. Throughout his career, Charmel stressed the importance of context when it came to investing, focusing on the “why” rather than just the numbers. Charmel attributes much of his success to the mentors who guided him throughout his career. Now, as a seasoned investment professional, Charmel...
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Aoifinn Devitt (Moneta Group) “Finding Clarity“
Successful Investors
Aoifinn Devitt compares her career journey to a “patchwork quilt”, each with a unique meaning and purpose. Her continual quest for knowledge is evidenced in her approach to investing, community-building, and continuing education. Aoifinn currently serves as CIO at Moneta Group. She also founded The Fiftyfaces Podcast in 2020, a series dedicated to sharing the untold stories of individuals in the investment world. As an avid learner, Aoifinn approaches life with a healthy dose of curiosity. Whether she is performing manager due diligence, interviewing a guest on her podcast,...
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Shannon O'Leary (Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation) "Saying It Out Loud"
Successful Investors
Shannon O’Leary is the Chief Investment Officer of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, a $2 billion community foundation. Since joining the Foundation in 2019, Shannon has thoughtfully implemented DEI and ESG investment strategies to create a portfolio that supports grant creation and includes investments that are in line with the Foundation's mission. Shannon will call out the elephant in the room (and the elephant hidden in the room next door). Her emotional acuity and analytical prowess have served her investment teams well throughout her career—from sharing grades on...
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Ted Seides (Capital Allocators) “Compelling Narratives”
Successful Investors
As host and founder of the internationally recognized Capital Allocators podcast, Ted Seides gathers insights from an elite group of asset owners and asset managers. Ted’s own story encompasses a wealth of stories. His unique skillset includes capturing the essence of a firm or person in a genuine and compelling narrative. During his 20 years on the investment side, Ted listened to numerous manager presentations at Yale and worked with a subset of managers at Protégé to help them build their story. Recognizing the unique value in developmental discussions with both CIOs and managers, he...
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Marcello Sallusti (Engadine) “Connecting the Dots”
Successful Investors
Marcello Sallusti leaves very little up to chance. His success as an investor comes from an incredibly principled and methodical approach to investing. Decisions are qualitatively evaluated and quantitatively researched during the consideration stage, then reconsidered before execution. While data collection is a necessity, Marcello finds the most meaningful insights come from connecting the dots. Adding to the challenge, the ever-accelerating information cycle leaves little time for evaluation before a decision must be made. In Marcello’s own words, “Not taking action would be to...
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Matt Earl (ShadowFall) “Policy of Truth”
Successful Investors
Short specialist fund manager, Matthew Earl, unearths companies with suspicious or unreliable business practices. Putting his money where his mouth is, Matt shorts these snaky companies—sometimes sharing his research when there’s a strong public interest. Matt’s career is filled with research projects in which he delineated what many others struggled to see, from identifying flawed business models to recognizing signs of aggressive accounting. Among the most public of Matt’s endeavors lies Wirecard; he started raising concerns about the payment processing company in 2015—five...
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Ari Bergmann (Penso Advisors) "The Edge in Hedges"
Successful Investors
In 2007, Dr. Ari Bergmann saw an iceberg approaching. Looking at the housing market, Dr. Bergmann’s firm (then called Sentinel Advisors) noticed the leverage of the banks increasing and the banks’ exposure to the housing market increasing—but no one seemed to be hedging the risk. After recognizing the house-of-cards situation, the team decided to open their own overlay, betting against the banks. Dr. Bergmann is adamant that a strong hedging strategy is not designed to be an “insurance policy.” After all, the insurance companies are the only ones making the money, not the...
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Dusty Granet (Green Trading Capital) "Green Trading"
Successful Investors
As a bond analyst with AIG Investments, David “Dusty” Granet was charged with hedging the insurer’s risks associated with the European carbon markets. He quickly became hooked with the asset class. His passion for geopolitical supply and demand, as well as the environmental attributes of these up-and-coming markets, inspired a new career path. The shift in social and investor expectations towards climate action requires companies to confront and adopt measures to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases to our planet. Investors in this space aim to use the potential of carbon and...
info_outlineWhile working for McKinsey & Company, Jennifer Oppold developed a passion for discovering what makes companies tick. At the same time, she grew frustrated at not being able to ever stay with a problem long enough to see it through, as consultants are required to quickly move on from one assignment to the next.
With a newly discovered professional calling very clear in her mind, Jennifer left McKinsey to enter a dual J.D./M.B.A. program at Harvard. While there, she spent a summer with Select Equity, a firm investing in small- and mid-cap companies with a value tilt. It was love at first sight.
At Select Equity, Jennifer started working with George Loening, the firm’s founder, who would become her most influential mentor. Under George, Jennifer learned the art of shorting, as well as how to wait for the “value moment.”
About two years ago, Jennifer launched her own firm, Alpine Peaks, where Select Equity’s legacy of intellectual honestly and personal mentorship lives on—now with Jennifer’s touch.
Hearing Jennifer’s story, we get to witness firsthand how the power of intellectual honesty creates an investment edge. Key to her success, she says, is diligence in writing down her assumptions.
Anyone can talk about intellectual honesty, but Jennifer lives and breathes it. Those who seek to make a career on the buy side (and truly, investors of all stripes) can learn much from Jennifer Oppold’s journey.