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Catherine Foot is Director at Phoenix Insights, a new longevity think tank launched in 2021, which reimagines how we work, learn, save and live in an age of longer lives. She previously was Director of Evidence at the Centre for Aging Better and prior to that was Assistant Director, Policy, at the King’s Fund.
Our conversation traces Catherine's early interest in older people, aging with dignity and thinking about what it means to live longer, fuller lives. She relays an anecdote around thinking about a life span like a play to which a 15 minute addition has been given and challenges us as to how we would amend the play with that in mind. Would we simply add another 15 minutes to the end.. without a plan or would we add some minutes to different stages of life. Would we add a few minutes to our work lives, to our volunteering and to the phases that pre-date the end of life.
This thought experiment is a trigger to "talk" more about age - the topic of a recent campaign at Phoenix Insights around the later years in life and how to make them count. It is a powerful and important movement.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Veronica O’Keane has recently retired from her position which was as a professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trinity College Dublin. She has over 30 years of experience in the field and has published numerous research papers, especially on mood disorders and on perinatal depression. She is the author of the book A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are and The Rag & Bone Shop, How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us. She lives by the sea in north Dublin and is a passionate open sea swimmer.
Our wide-ranging conversation starts with what drew Veronica to psychiatry and her path through medicine. We speak about the evolution of psychiatry over her career, and the integration of it with our growing understanding of neuroscience and neuro-imaging. We speak about an age of enlightment of sorts that the area is entering given the ability for neuroscience to further explain the mysteries of the brain.
We dive in then to some of the specialist areas that Veronica focuses on, some of which are the subject of her books, such as the science of memory and how it evolves, as well as the way that studying the extreme expressions of an illness can help us to understand more mainstream versions of it. We speak about the development of the brain as we age and some of the abstraction that we can develop, which is, in effect an advantage.
A lifelong advocate for women in medicine, Veronica speaks about her own experience as a practitioner and the position of women in the healthcare system and how much improvement still needs to occur.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
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Charlotte Gibson is a coach, actuary and pensions consultant. She is a senior manager at ISIO and the founder of The Rewirement, which is focused on redefining retirement through coaching . She previously worked in management at KPMG and prior to that was an Actuarial Analyst at AON Consulting.
Our conversation focuses on modern definitions of retirement and how they are evolving. We discuss the different life experiences that are now commonplace and question whether the traditional model of retirement applies. We explore the difference between retiring "from" something and retiring "to" something and look at why many people benefit from coaching to aid and frame that transition.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Gareth Miller is Head of Change at Artemis Investment and has had a long career in asset management, in particular delivering enterprise-wide change and transformation within the asset management sector. He leads the flexible working workstream at The Diversity Project.
Our conversation starts with Gareth's path into asset management and some of the twists and turns along the way. As is often the case in a volatile financial services industry there were some setbacks and cancelled projects, requiring pivots and agility along the way. This agility served as a training ground for Gareth's work around flexibility and the importance of facilitating it in the workplace as the key to better employee engagement and
In the discussion we trace the importance of flexible working and what it means - looking at the different ways it can be executed. We look at how this can be particularly beneficial for older workers and how Covid acted as the accelerant that was needed to propel it into the mainstream.
Gareth mentions groundbreaking work by Jenny Segal in his podcast and Jenny featured on an earlier episode of the Fiftyfaces Podcast which you can find here: https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/jenny-segal-speaking-and-motivating-with-images/You can also find more information on this short video: https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/jenny-segal-the-power-of-culture-at-work/
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Steve Butler is Chief Executive at Punter Southall Aspire, an investment consulting group. He was previously the founder of Camradata, a business author and a visiting industry fellow at Oxford Brookes Business School. He has a particular focus on areas such as #futureofwork, #olderworkers, #inclusiveculture, #intergenerational, and #retirementplanning and writes extensively on the topics on LinkedIN, which is where we met. He is pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration which is examining the effect of Covid 19 on different generations in the workplace.
Our conversation starts with Steve’s upbringing in England’s idyllic New Forest and how his university career endured some twists and turned, but ultimately led to an appreciation of the importance of hard work. He found he was naturally inclined to the people aspect of a business development role within financial services and thrived there, in roles that also took him to Latin America.
We move then to what drove him to found Camradata and the problem that that was designed to serve – the provision of investment data at a time when few data sources were consolidated in that way. The business caught a wave of when analytics and peer group analysis were burgeoning, although Steve does describe the scrappy start-up stage quite vividly.
We move then to his current focus at Punter Southall Aspire and his particular focus on ageism and busting myths that persist about older workers, their preferences and their strengths. Covid and the shift to remote and hybrid working has had an effect on this as well as other demographic groups.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Laura Walker is an award-winning researcher, author and experienced practioner whose book “Dancing with Fear and Confidence: How to Liberate Yourself and Your Career in Mid-life” was published in November 2020. She runs her own business which blends consulting, writing and coaching. She previously held director level positions for businesses across six sectors including retail (John Lewis partnership), pharmaceuticals (GSK), insurance (Aviva), oil and gas (Centrica), defence (BAE Systems), Luxury goods (Burberry).
Our conversation starts with Laura’s varied career journey and how she developed an interest in the psychology of mid-life. She starts with her early interest in psychology, which arose when she and her sister (as identical twins) participated in some studies during their childhood. In her career she made a number of moves, some due to opportunistic openings, and In this discussion she describes some ups and downs of that journey.
Moving then to her current focus – the psychology of middle age and the dance of fear and confidence that many have to do, we bust some myths about middle life – the first being that it typically a time of “crisis”. Other myths include beliefs about the desire to retrain and adapt as well as the willingness to contribute well into mid-life and beyond.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Tony Watts, OBE, is MD at Hartley Watts Communications, a director of EngAgeNet.org.uk, Director of RetireEasy.co.Uk, co-founder of the Age Action Alliance and co-author of The Midlife Review. He built his career as a writer, communicator, campaigner and strategist in the areas of PR, journalism and marketing and is now focusing increasingly on later life issues.
We trace the many chapters of Tony’s extraordinary career, in which he spent time as a speech writer, magazine editor and activist, and examine the thread of activism for older people that has been a constant throughout.
We ask what society is missing as it readies itself for a growing body of retired seniors and where funding is inadequate and preparation is poor. Tony describes the ebbing and flowing of government interest in this area, and how funding for it can be volatile and unpredictable. He talks about having to rebuild a campaign from stratch after funding was pulled and the momentum that he had to regain to do that.Overall, Tony is convinced of the treasure and value that older people present to society and continues campaigning tirelessly to achieve more recognition for this.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Debbie Marshall is managing director of the Silver Marketing Association, a membership B2B organization connecting and informing businesses and individuals with an interest in marketing to older consumers. She previously founded the Silver Travel Advisor, an information website that provides travel advice and reviews for the mature traveler and is a Chair of the Board of Trustees of Dementia Adventure as well as holding other Non-Executive Director Roles.
We start by tracing Debbie’s roots in marketing and the gap in the market that she perceived when she realized that older consumers were spending a lot of money on travel but rarely getting a service tailored to them. When she successfully sold the Silver Travel Advisor she turned her skills to marketing more generally, again focusing on the diverse needs of older consumers.
Debbie reveals some common tropes around age that are often exploited in marketing – whether in the birthday card market or in the media as a whole and why she believes that calling these out is the way to eradicate them and the biases that they reinforce. We speak about the impact that targeted marketing can have and the potential growth of the market as the wealth and empowerment of older consumer grows.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Alistair McQueen is Head of Savings & Retirement at Aviva UK plc, where he has spent over 23 years. He has been instrumental in raising awareness of the importance of older workers, and initiated the >45 mid-life review for Aviva’s staff and is an advocate for the importance of diversity within financial firms.
Our conversation starts with Alistair's own journey into pensions, his long career at Aviva and how his interest in protecting the talent within Aviva particularly among older workers originated. We describe in detail the elements of the mid-life review and its focus on Wealth, Work and Wellbeing and how well-received the initiative was. It was impactful too - leading to more employee engagement, lower absenteeism and higher rates of retention of talent. The practice has actually been perceived as so effective that it is likely to now be rolled out on a national level.
Age discrimination an area that currently sits in the shadows of some of the diversity debate, and this series is an effort to bring it out of there. Let’s ensure that all of us can look forward to a future of dignity, purpose and security.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
Last year we launched a podcast with Steve Butler of Puntall Southall Aspire which shone a light on ageism as one of the last acceptable forms of discrimination. This received such a groundswell of a response that we wanted to dig deeper into this area to develop a special next chapter series around the problems of ageism, the importance of having access to meaningful productive work as we age and some of the barriers – both invisible and visible – that exist in society to this. Tune in for insights from psychology, marketing, work, activism and psychiatry.
This series looks at the unique challenges of mid-life and the growth of interest in the psychology of mid-life and beyond and hear from Laura Walker who focuses on this area and has written a book about the intersection of fear and confidence. We look at the obsession with age and some of the deeply entrenched biases that exist around age in popular culture hearing from Debbie Marshall, who has specialized in marketing to older consumers for years.
We hear updates from Steve Butler about recruiting habits that tend to discriminate against older candidates and from Alistair McQueen about the Mid Life Review that has been offered to staff at Aviva. Tony Watts shares his life's passion and work at Age Action Alliance which earned him an OBE, while Professor Veronica O'Keane shares the medical basis of the wisdom of old age.
This is an area that currently sits in the shadows of some of the diversity debate, and we want to bring it out of there Let’s ensure that all of us can look forward to a future of dignity, purpose and security.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives. Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
In this last episode in this collection we go primarily to the US and Middle East, where we meet with some seasoned as well as newer directors to hear their thoughts on the evolution of the role and the power of diversity. We also hear from two guests, Dr. Rania Azmi and Kim Smith, who will feature in the first series of our 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast.
First we hear from Jan Nicholson, who is president of two private family foundations, the Nicholson Foundation in New Jersey, and the Grable Foundation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has held board positions at Rubbermaid bowl Corporation and Radian Group, Inc, from 1990 to 2015. I asked her about how her investment experience fed in to her Board roles, and how even without specific industry experience it is really possible to add value by leveraging her own expertise – e.g. on the Audit Committee of a board.
Staying in the US we then hear from legal legend, former Michigan Supreme Court Judge and Mayor of Detroit, Dennis Archer. Dennis has committed his life to lifting up people behind him on the ladder, and he reflects on the levels of diversity within Board level roles and why diversity has such value.
We hear then from Gerald Chen-Young, who was formerly CIO of the United Negro College Fund as well as holding numerous board roles and now running his own consultancy. He is candid about his reflections on his time in the executive role and how he wishes he had done even more to promote inclusion.
Moving then to our 2022 guest, we hear from Kuwait-based Dr. Rania Azmi about her Board Roles and how she has seen value in thinking outside the box to add value. The outstanding Kimberly Smith rounds out this podcast and the entire series by distinguishing between having a seat at the table and having a voice, and the importance of ground rules to establish Board norms.
Setting the tone, starting as we mean to continue. I hope that you found these insights useful across the Next Chapter Series. I hope you found some food for thought here in this episode of FIftyfaces focus – The Next Chapter.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives.
Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
In Series 3 of this FiftyFaces Focus Series focusing on the Next Chapter – and specifically portfolio careers and what makes an effective Board Member and Chari we meet with Alexandra Noble, Daniele Beasley, Susan Martin and Henry Tapper. We hear from a group of leaders committed to training the next generation of leaders, coaching through change and ensuring that all pensioners get to retire with dignity and informed choices.
First we hear from Alexandra Noble, who's an independent strategic adviser to financial institutions and charities and has a particular interest in mentoring the next generation of investment leaders. She shares what it means to be a good leader, the importance of listening and key it is to allow all meeting participants to have a voice.
We cross over to California then to hear from a financial advisor, Daniele Beasley about her own Board Roles and her views on diversity initiatives from her vantage point. She has built a career of service focused on giving, and encourages us to do the same.
Susan Martin is also a “giver” and as a change consultant is frequently called up to bring institutions through periods of transformational change. She describes the role of a Non-Executive Director as akin to a coach or a mentor, something that is more essential than ever now given the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) circumstances that we are living with today.
Our final guest Henry Tapper, dives into a subject that has been a lifelong passion for him – pensions transparency and equity. Given that many Board and Trustee roles cover pensions we wanted to provide some insight into the themes of this area, such as the levels of choice available, the pensions gap between women and men and the future evolution of this area.
Her portfolio career includes a consulting role for pensions for purpose, coaching and strategic advice to firms, a chair role of future fit limited and roles as a charity trustee and director.
It is clear that there is massive change ahead in the world of pensions – an area that will be relevant to all of us, but equally where many directors and trustees will find themselves in fiduciary positions. I hope you found some food for thought here in this episode of FIftyfaces focus – The Next Chapter. Follow us on Linked In, Twitter, apple podcasts, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives.
Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
In our second podcast of our Fiftyfaces Focus Next Chapter Series we hear from four more seasoned voices who are all pursuing a rich and diverse set of roles. First we meet with Margaret Casely Hayford, CBE, Chancellor of Coventry University, Special Trustee at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Chair at Shakespeare’s Globe, among other board roles. She talks about the steep learning curve in gaining familiarity with the mission and purpose of each organization as well as the importance of learning to listen and for a Board to be a supportive Board. We speak also about the current levels of Board Diversity and the pace of change.
William Bourne is an independent adviser to a number of LGPS pension funds and also chairs pension boards as well as being the founder of his own firm Linchpin, which provides advice on investments and governance to institutional investors. He shares his views on the importance of bringing about better decision making as a board member, as well as the role of a Chair to ensure that all voices are heard and that meetings stay on course.
We then cross the Atlantic to meet with Sandra Urie, Chairman Emeritus of Cambridge Associates, and the holder of a range of investment committee and Board roles. She shares her views on the ideal size of an investment committee, and the importance of instilling an institutional quality process. We speak about the importance of good governance, sticking with the appropriate time horizon and about how the role changes through good and bad market environments.
Finally we hear from Julian Tregoning. Julian, like William, is another familiar face in the City of London, and he has throughout his career held many board roles in positions that sit “outside the envelope” of his City career. This is the ideal place to cut one’s teeth in his view.
So following your passion and interests, learning to think like a fiduciary, build a process and listening deeply, some tips from our seasoned board and committee members on this episode. Thank you for listening to the Fiftyfaces focus Next Chapter podcast. I hope you have enjoyed listening to these tips for the next chapter. Follow us on Linked In, Twitter, apple podcasts, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives.
Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns. -
In this inaugural "next chapter" podcast episode, we hear from four extraordinary leaders in investment management circles - each pathbreakers in their own right, and each of whom is dedicating this current chapter of their career to a portfolio of Board and other roles.
Many executives enter a portfolio or "plural" career once they finish up a traditional executive role, but there is a distinct lack of guidance as to what it is that makes a good director or investment committee member, and particular a good chair. We hear from these experts about the benefit of perspective, the mantra of "eyes on, hands off", the role of providing counsel to executives and to contributing to the efficacy of a Board.
We hear what it is to coach and nurture the next generation of leaders, and why helping to shape diversity on Boards is an important way of bringing about lasting change. We hear about the importance of an organization's mission, how a good chair will draw out the optimal contributions of everyone around a table, keep time and bring about effective decision-making.
This podcast series was made possible by the kind support of Darwin Alternatives.
Darwin Alternative Investment Management Limited offers innovative, alpha-driven investment solutions that are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes and feature business areas which have not previously been considered by investment funds. The firm aims to create new opportunities for investors to further diversify their portfolios and achieve stable absolute returns.
