Billion Dollar Backstory

93% of the population. Almost entirely locked out of an industry that says it wants the best talent.

Laurie Robathan grew up on the wrong side of that statistic. He was raised in inner-city Bristol, went to a state school, and grew up in a single-parent family. He found his way into finance through one thin thread of chance, and he's never forgotten how easily it could have gone the other way.

At some point, that thread started to feel less like luck and more like a problem. Because what about everyone who never gets that thread at all?
So Laurie walked away from a successful career in finance and built Fairfield in its place. It's a charity on paper, but really it's a business proposition designed to fix what he calls an inefficiently functioning labor market. Because when 80% of senior finance leaders come from just 7% of the population, that's not meritocracy. That's a pipeline problem.

And he's not solving it from a boardroom. He's on trains, in school assemblies, at North London career fairs at 8pm. Doing the work.

In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Laurie for one of those conversations that stays with you long after it's over.
Listen in to hear:
Why finance doesn't have a talent problem, it has an access problem 
Why the best person for the job may never make it to the interview room 
How Fairfield prepares students to belong before they ever walk through the door
What individuals and firms can do to help

More About Laurie Robathan:

Prior to his retirement from the finance industry, Laurie worked in the City for over 15 years, the last 10 years being at Kepler Partners LLP as Senior Partner. Before Kepler, he had roles at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Close Brothers Bank. As a member of Kepler’s management committee, Laurie had input into all areas of the asset management business. He holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and has an MSc in Finance & Investment from the University of Bristol.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
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Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

You want to post more on LinkedIn. You know it matters. You've probably even got a draft sitting there.
But the fear of being judged, specifically by people who already know you in real life, keeps stopping you cold.

In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down exactly why that happens, why your brain is making it bigger than it is, and how to move through it without just white-knuckling your way to the post button.

Listen in to learn:
The behavioral bias that makes the fear of being judged feel so intense 
How to make peace with your posts not being everyone’s jam
The art of owning who you are online and letting the wrong people opt out
This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

Robert Gardner has built four ventures in financial services,  including Redington, the UK investment consultancy that’s advised on £800B+ in assets.

Now he’s taking on a new category: Natural Capital.

Because nature has always been “investable”, just usually as a commodity.
The old way looks like squeezing every ounce of value out of the Earth without any regard for long-term consequences. The playbook was essentially cut it down, harvest it, extract the value, and move on. 
Robert thinks that model is outdated, and he’s building the alternative, making nature an investible asset class (more like real estate or infrastructure), where the value comes from what nature does, not what you can take from it.
In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Robert to get concrete about what investing in nature looks like in the real world.
Listen in to hear:
What changes when you’re not raising money for a strategy… but for a new asset class
How Robert translates Natural Capital into familiar investing language (property/infrastructure)
A real case study (Nestlé + oyster reefs) and the incentive chain behind it
What underwriting looks like when your revenue is tied to nature doing its job
Why legitimacy comes from repetition + simplicity (not complexity)
The early-stage trust-building lesson every emerging fund manager needs

More about Rob Gardner:

Robert is Co-Founder & CEO of Rebalance Earth, the UK’s largest dedicated Natural Capital asset manager. He previously served as Investment Director at St. James’s Place and co-founded Redington, Mallowstreet, and RedSTART. His work is focused on making nature an investible asset class and proving finance can be a force for good.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

Let's talk about conference season.
You showed up and collected a gazillion business cards. You smiled until your face hurt. And three days later you got home, looked at that stack of business cards, and thought… now what?

If that sounds familiar, this Story Snack is for you.

In this episode, Stacy breaks down why conferences tend to feel like a huge waste of time. 
She’s sharing what she’s learned over the years about what it actually takes to make a conference worth your time. 
Listen in to learn: 
What most people get backwards about conference ROI
The pre-work that changes who you meet (and how those meetings feel)
How to turn “great meeting you” into “let’s keep talking”
Why doing less on-site and more upfront is the move
This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

---
Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

Shannon is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Wealth at Neuberger Berman, a firm with north of AUM, and she's spent years on the other side of the table, sitting through roughly 300 manager meetings a year. She knows exactly what earns credibility fast. And she knows exactly what kills it.

In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Shannon to pull back the curtain on what allocators are actually looking for,  and why the managers who win aren't the ones performing. They're the ones listening.

Because the real answers don't come out when you're trying to sound smart, they come out when you're genuinely trying to understand. And the questions you ask say a lot more about you than the vocabulary you use.
Shannon also gets into what it actually means to build solutions from real client problems instead of copying the industry playbook and why a $560B firm can still feel boutique when the mindset is right.
Listen in to hear:
Why courage almost always precedes confidence 
What 300 manager meetings a year taught her about what allocators really care about 
How she asks questions that make people drop the script 
Why focusing on trying to sound smart backfires for PMs in meetings 
Why complexity bias can quietly hurt your distribution 
What allocators mean when they say "help us help you" 
 Why simple, repeatable messaging wins,  especially when someone else has to retell your story

More About Shannon Saccocia:

Shannon Saccocia, CFA, is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Wealth at Neuberger Berman, a global investment manager with north of $560B AUM. As a member of the firm's global Asset Allocation Committee, she works closely with investment leadership to establish market views, strategic and tactical asset allocation, and portfolio recommendations for Wealth clients.

Before joining Neuberger Berman in 2023, Shannon served as Chief Investment Officer at SVB Private and Boston Private Wealth, overseeing portfolio construction, manager selection, and asset allocation. She has also held senior roles at Banyan Partners and Silver Bridge Advisors focused on manager selection and portfolio construction.
Shannon holds a BA in Economics and History from Brandeis University and has earned both the CFA and CIMA® designations. She is a longtime CNBC contributor and is regularly featured across financial media. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and two children.

---
Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap