In her global wealth management role, Sarah Salamoun is tasked with staying up-to-date on current and emerging developments in the investment management industry. To expand her knowledge alongside the world's top principals, portfolio managers, and executives, and advisors, she chose to attend our Investment Management Workshop.
It was great. I met people from all over the world with different backgrounds and roles within the investment management industry. In examining case studies, it was helpful to have so many diverse perspectives and understand how people are approaching different issues within the industry. This was my first time analyzing case studies, and I found the method very compelling.
Two cases that I found particularly interesting were the North Forty and The Harvard Management Company case studies. The way that managers are changing the investment landscape: North Forty's case demonstrates the rise of family offices and the reliance on CIO's vs. private wealth managers, and in the case of HMC, as it related to the many challenges money managers face today like short vs. long-term management and moving from a specialist to a generalist model. Both served as microcosms to the bigger challenges we are seeing today. The Vanguard case was also interesting as it highlighted the importance of people and culture. Overall, hearing firsthand insights from case protagonists was extremely valuable.
It was fascinating to hear how the investment management industry is developing across the world. In some places, structural changes are taking place whereas regulation is coming to the forefront, in others. It was helpful to compare the experiences of the other participants to my own.
Absolutely do it! It is nice to take a step back from your day-to-day responsibilities, discussing the latest trends and learning what is going on with professional peers from around the world.
